Immigrants Need Better Protection -- from Their Lawyers

choi

Benjamin Edwards, Immigrants Need Better Protection -- from Their Lawyers. This area of law is prone to abuse. It's difficult to file a bar complaint after you've been deported. Wall Street Journal, Nov 27, 2017 (op-ed).
https://www.wsj.com/articles/imm ... -lawyers-1511730450

Quote:

"Walls and travel bans get most of the attention, but there is another serious immigration problem that few talk about: incompetent and predatory immigration lawyers. * * * A 2011 survey of federal judges by Richard Posner and Albert Yoon found that, of all practice areas appearing in federal courts, immigration lawyers provided the lowest-quality representation. * * * A 2015 study found that immigrants would be better off without an attorney than entrusting their fate to the bottom 10% of immigration lawyers.

"Not all immigration lawyers are atrocious. Pro-bono lawyers -- who handle less than 10% of the cases -- win about 90% of the asylum claims they file. Law school clinics also deliver excellent results for their clients.

"Bad lawyers generate real costs -- and not only for their clients. A predatory lawyer might take immigrant's money and file baseless asylum claims. These meritless claims clog judicial dockets and increase detention times for immigrants. And cost quickly add up: The federal government spends about $158 a day to detain someone, according to 2014 Government Accountability Office report.

"Predatory immigrant lawyers sometimes enjoy good reputation in the community because the US deports their victims. When only winners remain, immigrants never hear about the lost cases.

"One 2015 study found that only 37% of people in removal proceedings have lawyers.

"Mr Edwards is a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

My comment: There is no need to read the rest.