Asylum Claims Based Upon a “Pattern or Practice” of Persecution and Disfavored Groups
| Live Event Date: 03/20/2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Format | Length | CLE Eligible |
| Web Seminar | 90 min. | Yes |
Understanding the nuances of persecution in the context of “pattern or practice” claims and disfavored groups is essential for attorneys practicing asylum law. Expert panelists will provide a comprehensive legal analysis of the subject, as well as strategies for advocating on behalf of clients facing systemic persecution.
Featured Topics:
- What constitutes a “pattern or practice” in legal terms?
- Differentiating between isolated incidents and systemic violations
- Well-founded fear requirement: 8 CFR §1208.13(b)(2)
- How do different U.S. circuit courts of appeals identify and define disfavored groups in asylum claims?
- Evidentiary challenges establishing a pattern of persecution in court
- Strategic considerations: arguing that a client belongs to a disfavored group, and comparing standards applied in disfavored group analysis to other forms of asylum
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.
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- 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 webCLE.
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.
Rebecca Sharpless (DL), Coral Gables, FL
Rebecca Sharpless is a faculty member of the University of Miami School of Law, where she directs the Immigration Clinic and serves as Associate Dean for Experiential Learning. She is a past president of the South Florida Chapter of AILA and served for many years on AILA's amicus committee. Her narrative nonfiction book Shackled: 92 Refugees Imprisoned On ICE Air was released in 2024 by the University of California Press.
Randall A. Chamberlain, AILA Asylum and Refugee Committee, New York, NY
Randall A. Chamberlain is a solo practitioner in New York and Toronto, practicing U.S. and Canadian immigration law. He is a past chair of the AILA New York Chapter and is currently a member of AILA’s National Asylum & Refugee Committee. He studied law at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, and international affairs at Columbia University.
Dree K. Collopy (DL), AILA Author, AILA’s Asylum Primer: A Practical Guide to U.S. Asylum Law and Procedure, 9th ed., Washington, D.C.
Dree K. Collopy is a partner of Benach Collopy LLP. A recognized expert on U.S. asylum law, Dree chaired AILA’s Asylum and Refugee Committee for nine years, is the author of AILA’s Asylum Primer, and teaches Asylum and Refugee Law at American University Washington College of Law. She has been recognized for her work in advancing and defending the cause of refugees, receiving the President's Commendation Award in 2013, 2016, 2021, and the Joseph Minsky Award in 2014.
Elizabeth Lopez, San Diego, CA
Elizabeth Lopez is the Executive Director and founder of the Southern California Immigration Project. She has been an attorney for over 30 years and the last 15 of those have been as an immigration attorney in San Diego with her focus on representing detained and non-detained asylum seekers from Africa and LGBTQ community members.