How Personal Experience Impacts This Immigration Lawyer's Work

What it's really like to be an immigration attorney.

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In this episode, I welcome Karine Sokpoh, Managing Attorney at 402 Legal, to talk about the highs and the lows of focusing on immigration law. Karine reveals that she did not consider other career paths because she wanted to help people and had a goal to work for an international organization in war zones and help with peacekeeping and refugee resettlement efforts. She also recalls how she started from having a very limited budget when she established her own practice to building trust with clients and having her own clientele. On a day-to-day basis, she does consultations, reviews paperwork, prepares applications, and may have to take clients to interviews or represent them in court. Karine believes that being an attorney requires both legal and interpersonal skills.

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The Jabot podcast is an offshoot of the Above the Law brand focused on the challenges women, people of color, LGBTQIA, and other diverse populations face in the legal industry. Our name comes from none other than the Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the jabot (decorative collar) she wore when delivering dissents from the bench. It’s a reminder that even when we aren’t winning, we’re still a powerful force to be reckoned with.

Happy listening!


Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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