Humility and Immigration Law

Today I consulted with a man with a very difficult immigration case.  Nothing new about that.  But what happened was very educational to me as an attorney. 

I asked all of my questions and reviewed his papers.  He kept pointing to one section of one page.  It was a commonly generated notice of action from the Immigration Service. 

I responded that I have seen this language thousands of times.  So I did not bother to read the thing word for word, rather jumping for law books to support my initial conclusions about how to resolve the case.

Finally, when I reentered my office, I sat down again at my desk and looked at the paper, which was still in the center of my desk.  The man sat silently as I finally read the document.  And wouldn’t you know it?  There were some sentences in there that I had never seen before, important stuff that might help solve his problem. 

I was so caught up in analysis that I glossed over the diagnosis.  In other words, ego got in the way.  Luckily, I returned to the important lesson that I had learned from my days of training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which I often apply to Immigration Law:

“What’s the key to ground fighting?  What should I focus on?  The answer, when it comes from Zé or Murilo, is enlightening: humility.  Always assume that your opponent is better than you, that he knows more – you have to work harder in training and learn more. You know only 5 percent of what there is to know.  Fight your own pride and ego and be open-minded and always learning new techniques, new things from anyone.”

The thing is, I just found out that I had been named to Best Lawyers in America for the seventh year in a row, and that sort of honor is humbling. 

I never want to let the awards go to my head.  Instead, I want to remember that I only know 5 percent of what there is to know, because just like ground fighting, Immigration Law is a never-ending series of combinations and confusing twists.  And you have to always focus on humility.  

Today I learned the answer to this fellow’s problem, not by reading it in a statute or sharing information with my colleagues, although those elements are crucial as well.  The answer was staring me right in the face.

 

(Quotation above from A Fighter’s Heart by Sam Sheridan)

 

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