AILA Presents the Pereira Litigation Team with the 2019 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award

WASHINGTON, DC - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will recognize the Pereira Litigation Team with the 2019 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for excellence in litigation in the field of immigration law this week during AILA's Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. The team's members are:

Kathleen M. Gillespie has been practicing immigration law since 2004. Earlier in her career, she worked as an associate at a Boston firm specializing in removal defense and post-conviction relief, and later acted as the interim supervising attorney at the Post-Deportation Human Rights Project at Boston College. Since 2007, Ms. Gillespie serves as a mentor attorney for the Immigration Impact Unit of the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services.

William Jay is a partner in and co-chair of Goodwin's Appellate Litigation practice. A former Assistant to the Solicitor General, Willy has argued 17 cases before the Supreme Court, briefed 50 Supreme Court cases on the merits, briefed more than 150 cases at the certiorari stage, and handled cases in every federal court of appeals. Willy is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and a former law clerk to Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court.

Alexandra Lu is an associate in the Intellectual Property Litigation group at Goodwin. She has extensive experience representing companies in all stages of patent litigation, from pre-suit analysis through trial and appeal, with a particular emphasis on pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. Alex also devotes a significant portion of her practice to pro bono matters including representing unaccompanied minors in immigration matters through the firm's partnership with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). Alex received her undergraduate degree in Social Studies from Harvard College and received her law degree from Yale Law School, where she was a student director in the Immigration Legal Services Clinic.

Todd C. Pomerleau specializes in the intersection of criminal defense and immigration law. He received his B.A. and M.S. degrees from the University of Central Florida and his J.D. from New England Law | Boston, where he was an editor of the Law Review and graduated magna cum laude. He clerked for the Honorable Robert W. Clifford of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court before becoming a public defender in Boston. He entered private practice in 2007 and cofounded Rubin | Pomerleau in 2013.

After graduating from Boston University then Suffolk University Law School, Jeffrey B. Rubin began his solo practice in 1999 at the age of 28 at the intersection of criminal and immigration law. He co-founded Rubin Pomerleau, P.C. in 2013 and represented Wescley Pereira at the Immigration Court and BIA before arguing Pereira v. Sessions at the 1st Circuit. For the past 20 years, he has appeared at state and federal courts specializing in immigration and criminal defense matters. His achievements include several published circuit decisions and he has provided commentary to the national and local media on immigration related issues.

David Zimmer is a partner in Goodwin's Appellate Litigation practice, and argued Pereira v. Sessions before the Supreme Court. David has a wide-ranging Supreme Court and appellate practice, with a particular focus on intellectual property and consumer financial services. He dedicates significant pro bono time to immigration cases. Among other things, he has represented noncitizens in multiple federal courts of appeals challenging the BIA's classification of crimes of "child endangerment" as removable offenses, and he is currently representing two Boston-area District Attorneys in challenging ICE's policy of conducting civil immigration arrests in Massachusetts courthouses. David is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and a former law clerk to Judge William Fletcher on the Ninth Circuit and Justice Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court.