Expert Witnesses for Immigration Court and Appeals
| Live Event Date: 09/16/2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Format | Length | CLE Eligible |
| Web Seminar | 90 min. | Yes |
Panelists will discuss the use of expert evidence in immigration proceedings, including questions of admissibility and weight. They also will examine case law from the Board of Immigration Appeals and the U.S. circuit courts of appeals regarding expert witnesses.
Featured Topics:
- Should you use an expert witness for your client’s removal case?
- Factors to consider before making a decision
- How can attorneys find an expert witness, what’s the cost, and how can a client afford them?
- Who qualifies as an expert? How do the federal rules of evidence apply?
- “To testify or not to testify”? Is a written report enough?
- Strategically using an expert report in your appellate brief
AILA Membership Benefit – Access to Free Seminar Recordings (CLE Credit Available for $35)
Enjoy access to free seminar recordings (from October 2020–present) as an AILA Member. AILA encourages live attendance for those wishing to ask the speaker questions. CLE credit is included with purchase for live participants.
Recordings will be available approximately two weeks after the live event date. AILA members can access these seminars, with no CLE credit, for free. Recordings are CLE eligible in most jurisdictions and an administration fee is required to obtain CLE credit.
Contact us at cle@aila.org or visit AILA’s Web Seminar Recordings page for more information about receiving CLE credit for a web seminar recording.
Eligible participants can receive up to 1.8 CLE credit hours. AILA will administer CLE credit only to individuals who register and log into the web seminar. AILA cannot verify your attendance and participation in this program unless you register directly for the web seminar and use your name to log in to participate in the program. Therefore, persons who log in or listen in on the web seminar as part of a group will not be able to obtain CLE credit.
Please note that your jurisdiction may limit the amount of distance learning credit you can earn. To view details on your jurisdiction's credit restrictions and CLE requirements, visit the CLE Center.
AILA has filed for CLE and specialized credit in all jurisdictions with mandatory CLE requirements. For details about specific approvals, contact us at cle@aila.org.
- AILA applies for accreditation upon attorneys’ request after participation for the following states: AR, DE, IA, ID, KS, KY, LA, ME, MN, MS, OR, TN and WY. Programs are typically approved.
- Florida and Rhode Island - Attorneys must apply on their own for approval of seminars in FL and RI. Programs are typically approved.
- The OnDemand Recording format does not qualify for CLE credit in the following jurisdictions: MO and PR. Please note that your jurisdiction may limit OnDemand credit based on the date of the original presentation. View the OnDemand Downloadable Expiration Chart for more details.
To receive CLE credit for the live event, attorneys must record web seminar attendance and the CLE code provided within one week of the web seminar date via My CLE.
Contact us at cle@aila.org or visit AILA’s Web Seminar Recordings page for more information about receiving CLE credit for a seminar recording.
Ofelia Calderón (DL), Fairfax, VA
Ofelia Calderón is a partner at Calderón Seguin PLC. She is a past chair of the AILA DC Chapter and has served on various AILA National committees. She has spoken nationally and locally on a variety of topics and is known for her service to the immigrant community at large. Ofelia received her JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law.
Lauren Cusitello, San Diego, CA
Bradley Maze, Ann Arbor, MI
Bradley Maze is a partner and co-founder of Palmer Rey, LLC, an immigration law firm in the Detroit area. He focuses on asylum, removal defense, and appellate work before the BIA and federal courts. He currently serves as Secretary of the Michigan AILA Chapter and has presented at past annual AILA conferences. Brad has also been featured as an immigration expert on NPR and CNN.
Arturo Rios, St. Petersburg, FL
Arturo R. Rios, Esq. (Art), obtained his JD at Stetson University College of Law in 2006, and an LLM in Trial Advocacy at Temple University in 2008. Mr. Rios is Board Certified in Immigration Law, and his practice, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, is focused on deportation defense and immigration litigation in Federal Courts. Mr. Rios serves on the Board of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (CFC), and has served as the Tampa Regional Vice-Chair, as well as the EOIR and OPLA Liaison. Mr. Rios has written many articles in the field of immigration litigation and is a well-known national speaker in the subject of deportation defense. Mr. Rios is also an Adjunct Professor at Stetson Law, where he teaches Immigration Litigation and Advocacy.
