Second Chances: Winning Strategies for Petitions for Review
In the complex world of federal court appellate practice, petitions for review (PFRs) offer a valuable option of last resort. While the March 202 6 DOJ interim final rule regarding BIA appeals faces litigation, immigration practitioners will have to consider whether, when, and how to file PFRs for their clients. Our federal appellate court litigation experts will outline the essentials of the timing of filing petitions for review, briefing schedules, and presenting oral arguments.
Featured Topics
- Timing of filing: BIA decisions and DHS final administrative removal orders (Riley v. Bondi)
- Jurisdictional Issues
- Stays of removal (temporary versus full stay pending adjudication of PFR)
- Legal arguments: questions of law, constitutional claims, mixed questions of law and fact
- Circuit-specific procedural rules
- Certified administrative record: timing for filing and preparing the required appendix for briefing
- Requesting and preparing for oral argument
AILA Membership Benefit – Access to Free Seminar Recordings
Enjoy access to free seminar recordings as an AILA Member. AILA encourages live attendance for those wishing to ask the speaker questions. Recordings will be available approximately two weeks after the live event date. AILA members can access these seminars, with no CLE credit, for free.
| Product Details | |
| Event Date | May 13, 2026 |
| Format | Web Seminar |
| Length | 90 minutes |
| CLE Eligible | No CLE Credit. |
| Digital Library | Digital goods (MP3, PDF, ZIP, etc.) are available for download for two years after purchase. |
Maria T. Baldini-Potermin(DL), Glenview, IL
Maria T. Baldini-Potermin is in private practice in the Chicago area. Maria has written and spoken extensively about criminal immigration, asylum, humanitarian relief, removal proceedings, and federal litigation. She received the 2010 Edith Lowenstein Award for Excellence in Advancing the Practice of Immigration Law. Working in the field since 1990, she strives to move the interpretation of immigration law forward. Maria served as an Immigration Judge in the Chicago Immigration Court between 2023 and 2025.
Evan Benz, AILA Federal Court Litigation Section Steering Committee, Durham, NC
Evan Benz is a Senior Attorney with the Immigration Impact Lab at Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, which seeks to reduce the disproportionate legal injustices detained immigrants face through cutting-edge impact litigation, and to engender systematic change that benefits broad groups of immigrants. Evan's work focuses on protecting and expanding access to asylum and other fear-based protections, minimizing the immigration impacts of criminal convictions, and ensuring due process for immigrants, especially those in detention.
Rex Chen, New York, NY
Rex Chen (he/him) is the Supervising Counsel for Immigrant Rights at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. In 2024, AILA gave him its annual award for advancing the practice of immigration law. He co-chaired the 2024 AILA Federal District Court Litigation Online Course and chaired the 2023 AILA Litigation Institute on federal court litigation skills. He is an expert on suppression motions in immigration court. In 2024, he created a training about interrupting immigration judges’ anti-Black bias. He is Asian-American, Taiwanese-American, and years ago made an activist video to help an immigrant wrongly convicted of murder.
Jessica Dawgert, Denver, CO
Jess Dawgert is a founding partner of Ariela Lake Law & Consulting, where she focuses on federal litigation and helping clients, companies, and attorneys understand both immigration and federal court practice. Prior to joining private practice in 2025, she worked for the Department of Justice as an Associate Deputy Attorney General and a Senior Litigation Counsel for OIL. Jess earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Miami and a Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School.
