AILA Presents David Leopold with the 2012 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 14, 2012
George Tzamaras or Belle Woods
202-507-7649 - 202-507-7675
gtzamaras@aila.org - bwoods@aila.org

NASHVILLE, TN - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will award David Leopold, founder of David Wolfe Leopold & Associates, with the 2012 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law. He will receive the award today during AILA's Annual Conference in Nashville, TN.

Mr. Leopold has practiced law for nearly 20 years and his passion for immigrants' rights has put him at the forefront of groundbreaking litigation in the immigration and federal courts. Since September 11th, he has passionately defended the rights of non-citizens subject to closed hearings, special registration, mandatory detention, and "voluntary" FBI interrogation.

Committed to continuing legal education and the advancement of the practice of law, Mr. Leopold frequently lectures on immigration law throughout the U.S. He has served as a senior editor of the Immigration & Nationality Handbook and as a contributing author to the Visa Processing Guide. In 2003, with the streamlining of the Board of Immigration Appeals and the proliferation of removal cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals, he realized that AILA needed a "litigation school" where immigration attorneys could hone their appellate oral argument skills. Working closely with the American Immigration Council's Legal Action Center, he co-designed and co-founded the Litigation Institute. Today the Institute is one of AILA's most successful CLE programs.

In addition to his full-time national immigration practice and AILA service, Mr. Leopold serves as director of the immigration curriculum and adjunct professor at the Case Western Reserve University's (CWRU) George Gund School of Law. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall School of Law. In 1997, he designed and taught the first immigration course ever offered at CWRU. In the years since, he developed full immigration curricula for both law schools including an introductory course in immigration law, and advanced courses in business immigration and asylum law. He was also instrumental in designing CWRU's immigration practicum.

Mr. Leopold provides frequent commentary and analysis to national and international media on cutting-edge immigration issues. His views appear in a variety of print and electronic media including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, Newsweek, Time, USA Today, CNN, MSNBC, ABC Radio, National Public Radio, Voice of America, the BBC, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He is an avid blogger, frequently writing about cutting-edge immigration issues for the AILA Leadership Blog and posting updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Mr. Leopold has earned Martindale-Hubbell's highest AV rating, is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and has been named an "Ohio Super Lawyer."

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.