Thank you for your donation!
It is so heartening when a donor makes it possible for us to say "yes" to providing vulnerable immigrants with quality legal services. We greatly appreciate your support and the powerful impact it has on immigrants, their families, and those who serve them. Thank you for being a part of their journey. As required by IRS regulations, we provide the following information: The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., is a 501 (c)(3) not for profit organization. Our federal tax identification number is 52-1584951. As no goods or services have been provided in connection with these gifts, the full amount is deductible to the fullest extent provided by law. Please keep this receipt for your records.
As required by IRS regulations, we provide the following information: The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., is a 501 (c)(3) not for profit organization. Our federal tax identification number is 52-1584951. As no goods or services have been provided in connection with these gifts, the full amount is deductible to the fullest extent provided by law. Please keep this receipt for your records.
Interview With Mentorship Project Participant Ezra Rash
CLINIC sat down to hear from Ezra Rash, an attorney and Immigrant Justice Corp fellow at the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy in Charlotte, North Carolina. Rash is a former participant in CLINIC’s Mentorship Project (MP) who received direct guidance from CLINIC experts on two tough legal cases in the past year.
How did you first hear about the Mentorship Project?
Rebekah Niblock, the CLINIC attorney who manages the project, used to work at our organization, though our times here did not overlap.
What prompted you to reach out for mentorship?
I am a “baby attorney.” I have only been out of law school a few years and am relatively new to immigration law. Shortly after I started work as an immigration attorney, one of my asylum cases had an asylum interview scheduled, and I was panicking about it. I had never guided a client through the asylum process before, and it had been a while since my supervisor had, so we decided to reach out to the CLINIC team via the Mentorship Project.
Tell us a little about the cases you received help on and what the mentorship looked like.
I received help with two cases. The first one – the one which had the quickly scheduled asylum interview – was related to two brothers who came as unaccompanied minors, a 14-year-old and a 9-year-old. I had just two months to prepare all the supplemental materials for their case and get them ready for the interview. Rebekah and Maddie, the MP’s senior paralegal, walked me through every step, preparing the boys’ declarations and paperwork, and even did a full mock interview with the clients, with Rebekah pretending to be the immigration officer.
Afterward, my supervisor and I were able to model this and do a couple more preparatory interviews with the boys. It helped so much – all the advice, constructive feedback, comments on the declaration, etc.
The boys were able to go into the interview with less anxiety. They knew what to expect and how it would be structured. They did a great job.
And we won their case – they were granted asylum and were able to reunite with family here in the United States! I don’t believe we would have gotten the approval without the MP’s help.
The second case was with a 17-year-old Guatemalan girl who was fleeing persecution in Mexico. She came alone and has no family in the United States. The fact that her fear of persecution was based in a different country than her country of origin made her case quite tricky.
I approached the MP team about it, and they put me in touch with two experts in Mexico whom I could speak to who could help support the client’s claim of persecution.
Speaking with the two Mexican experts was remarkably helpful and I’m not sure I would have known where to turn without their knowledge and advice.
We’re still waiting for an asylum interview to be scheduled for that case.
How has the experience enriched your legal practice overall?
Oh, tremendously. After each mentorship experience, I downloaded and saved all the resources they shared with us. Now I can share my experience and new knowledge with my colleagues, to help teach others. Mentorship is hugely valuable beyond a single case. It impacts the whole organization.
Part of what is great about the program is it just gives you the confidence and assurance that someone experienced is looking over your work to make sure you’re not missing anything, someone who can ask the questions that maybe you hadn’t thought of. Then you can carry that knowledge and confidence with you going forward on your next case.
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Comprehensive Overview of Immigration Law (COIL)
June 16 - Sept. 4, 2025 | CA MCLE: Self-Study
Course Description
Immigration law is often described as one of the most complicated areas of practice in the United States. How can new and aspiring practitioners learn the necessary immigration law and skills to be effective advocates for their clients? CLINIC’s Comprehensive Overview of Immigration Law (COIL) e-learning course provides an overview of core immigration law concepts and legal skills to enable new practitioners to quickly learn the fundamentals of immigration law and gain the training background to help support an application for Department of Justice accreditation.
Registration fees include CLINIC's Introduction to Immigration Law manual and all other material for the course.
Course Structure
The course starts on June 16 with access to the e-learning website. Each week, participants will have two units to complete that focus on separate themes. All 16 units consist of a live webinar and a set of self-directed activities, which include readings, exercises, a video, and a quiz. The webinars will be recorded, allowing students the flexibility to work the sessions into their busy schedules. The course is interactive, with opportunities for online and real-time discussion among students, and between students and instructors. The course concludes with an open-book final exam that students take once other course requirements are met.
Who Should Take This Course?
This course is appropriate for the aspiring or new practitioner who is prepared to make the time commitment needed to fully participate in this course and complete its requirements. The course has an accelerated pace with two 75-minute webinars each week, as well as each unit’s self-directed learning activities. Overall, a participant should expect to spend between eight and ten hours each week to attend or listen to recordings of the weekly webinars and complete the corresponding course activities. At the conclusion of the eight-week course, participants will also need to devote additional time to study and review for the open-book final exam. If you have the time to devote to this learning experience, then this course is a great way to quickly learn the fundamentals of immigration law.
If you are a government employee, you may not register for this training without prior authorization from CLINIC. You may request permission to register by contacting CLINIC at training@cliniclegal.org.
Course Instructors
The trainers for this course are CLINIC Training and Technical Assistance attorneys. For questions about the course content, please contact Kristina Karpinski at kkarpinski@cliniclegal.org or Elizabeth Martin at emartin@cliniclegal.org.
Course Completion Requirements
Course participants will receive a course completion certificate if they: (a) attend or view recordings of each of the 16 course webinars; (b) complete each unit quiz; (c) view each unit video; and (d) receive a passing grade on the open-book final exam. Participants will have until Aug. 28 to complete the webinar, video, and quiz requirements, and until Sept. 4 to complete the final exam.
Registration
The training is for the staff of nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status, and attorneys and legal staff of private law offices. Registrants from nonprofit organizations must scan and email a copy of the IRS 501(c)(3) letter designating their agency as a nonprofit entity to training@cliniclegal.org.
Course registrants may pay only by credit card. Please be sure to register under the correct category and for the correct training. All registration changes or cancellations are subject to an administrative charge of $70.00. Please note that CLINIC can issue refunds for an e-learning course only until one week prior to the first day of the training.
Please provide the full name and a working email address for each individual taking this course. We will communicate with each registrant only via email, so it is very important that we have the correct name and email address for each registrant listed on the registration form.
Additional Information
Certificate of Completion
Certificates of completion are only issued if you meet all the requirements listed in the syllabus and pass the final exam by the posted due dates. To receive a certificate of completion, students must have the following items completed: (1) Read the course syllabus and FAQs; (2) Watch all 16 recorded videos; (3) Watch all 16 unit webinars; (4) Complete all 16 required unit quizzes; (5) Complete and pass the Final Exam with a passing grade or the Re-Test (if eligible)
Training Timezone
This training takes place in the Eastern Time Zone.
CLE for Attorney Participants
CLINIC is authorized by the State Bar of California to provide minimum continuing legal education (MCLE) training. If you are an attorney licensed in California, you may seek 1.25 hours of MCLE self-study credits per webinar, for a total of 20 credits. If you are an attorney licensed in another state, please check with your state bar to determine whether this training qualifies for MCLE credit.
Type of Training
Date of Event
Time of Event
Registration Deadline
Course Opens
First Webinar
Agenda/Schedule
Training Prices
Eligible Grant(s) Discount
Payment and Cancellation
Payment by credit card only. All registration changes or cancellations are subject to an administrative charge of $70. Please note that CLINIC can only issue refunds for an e-learning course until one week prior to the course opening date.
