Practice/Appeals & Federal Litigation
Practice Area 01
The cases that require a sharper record.
Federal court petitions, BIA appeals, and complex administrative review. When the immigration judge said no, this is where the work continues.
Federal Practice
Most attorneys stop at the immigration court. We start there.
The Board of Immigration Appeals and the federal circuit courts are not theoretical options. They are the place where a well built record, a precisely argued brief, and a lawyer who has been in those rooms before can change what looked like a final outcome. This is the work Jessica Smith Bobadilla has carried for two decades.
An appeal is not a do over. It is a narrow legal argument that the immigration judge or the BIA made a specific, cognizable error. That argument has to be identified in the original proceeding, preserved correctly, and written in a way that speaks to what federal judges actually review. Most immigration practitioners are not trained in federal appellate procedure. This office is.
Scope of representation
Where we litigate.
- 01
BIA Appeals
Challenging immigration judge decisions on asylum, removal, cancellation of removal, and adjustment. Building or rebuilding the record for federal review.
- 02
Petitions for Review
Filing in the Ninth Circuit and other federal circuits when the BIA has affirmed a removal order. Identifying constitutional questions, statutory errors, and due process violations.
- 03
Federal District Court Habeas
Challenging prolonged detention and procedural violations through habeas corpus when administrative remedies have been exhausted.
- 04
Motions to Reopen
When new evidence or changed country conditions provide a legal basis to return to the immigration court or BIA, even years after a prior order.
- 05
Interlocutory Appeals and Stays
Emergency motions to stay removal while a case works through federal review. Requests for expanded briefing and oral argument where available.
The issue in most lost appeals is not the law. It is that the argument was never made at the right moment, in the right form, in the record below.
Working with us
From denial to federal court.
- 01
Record Review
We obtain and read the full administrative record before giving any assessment. What is in the transcript and what is missing from it determines what arguments exist.
- 02
Issue Identification
We identify preserved legal questions, procedural errors, and constitutional issues. If the record does not support an appeal, we say so before you spend the money.
- 03
Brief Construction
A federal brief is a different document than an immigration brief. We write for the standard of review the court will apply, not the standard we wish it would apply.
- 04
Oral Argument
Where courts grant argument, Jessica appears personally. The attorney who wrote the brief is the attorney in the room.
Begin the conversation
Bring us the denial.
Appeals have strict filing deadlines. A petition for review in the Ninth Circuit must be filed within 30 days of a final BIA order. If you have received a BIA decision, call before the deadline passes.
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