Jones Day Attorney Starts With Immigration Work, Expands to Trial Team Leader
A Jones Day attorney in Miami volunteered to take on an immigration asylum case, then moved on to coordinating trial team efforts at an immigration facility in Laredo, Texas.
December 11, 2017 at 06:00 AM
2 minute read
Cristina Perez Soto
Jones Day
More than 400 Jones Day lawyers have donated almost 80,000 hours representing hundreds of women and children seeking asylum in the United States.
Cristina Perez Soto, of counsel in Jones Day's Miami office, got involved in the law firm's commitment to pro bono immigration legal assistance by seeking an adjustment of immigration status for unaccompanied children in 2015.
That's when the immigration court for the South Texas Family Residential Center, the nation's largest immigration detention center, transferred its docket to immigration court in Miami. The center houses women and children, and hearings are conducted via video conference.
The major addition to the Miami docket significantly increased the number of cases being heard in South Florida. A native Spanish-speaker, Perez Soto started by taking on one of the South Texas cases, and her commitment expanded expanded from there.
In 2017, the firm's pro bono immigration project opened a dedicated site at the Laredo Detention Center in Texas. No other law firm has opened an entire facility like this, and Jones Day has set a new national standard for commitment to the pro bono representation of refugees.
The onsite operation at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Laredo, Texas, focuses on representing women and children with viable immigration claims.
As the trial team leader for Jones Day's work in Laredo, Perez Soto supervises a team of lawyers, coordinates assignments for incoming cases and ensures the team — including paralegals and assistants — has all the necessary resources to support the immigration relief being sought.
She is in contact with experts and trauma specialists who help the clients prepare for cross-examination and support the trial effort. Almost every lawyer in Jones Day's Miami office, which is heavy on Spanish speakers, has been involved in these cases.
Perez Soto helps all Jones Day offices nationwide in interviewing Spanish-speaking witnesses in other countries who may have information to support asylum claims.
Her normal work focus is on cross-border investigations, disputes and arbitration.
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