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Attorney Profile
Kerry Bretz
Kerry Bretz
New York
New York (NY)
Practice Areas:
Immigration (100%)
Immigration
Law School:
The City University of New York School of Law
Languages Spoken:
English, Spanish
Profile
Bretz & Coven, LLP is a full-service immigration law firm in NYC. Individuals, families, and corporations regularly turn to us for help. Our attorneys are admitted to Immigration Courts, Federal Courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
We are experienced in all immigration matters, including the following:
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Our New York City immigration law attorneys are committed to you!
Our full-service firm is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review RatedSM by Martindale-Hubbell®, the highest peer-review rating a law firm can receive for legal knowledge and ethical practices. Bretz & Coven works with clients and takes on cases that other attorneys cannot handle. Our firm concentrates on deportation defense and immigration laws, and we speak over twenty languages.
At Bretz & Coven, LLP, many of our staff members and New York City immigration lawyers have gone through the federal immigration process before working with our firm. We know what you are going through, and we want to help. We explain what is happening with your case in clear, understandable language, how we plan to handle it, and we keep you up-to-date on any changes as soon as we are able to do so.
KERRY BRETZ
Kerry Bretz is a former INS trial attorney and partner at Bretz & Coven. His private practice is defined by his dedication to progressive, fair immigration laws that reflect the true value immigrants bring to the United States and the original promises of the United States as a place where people can pursue life, liberty, and happiness.
Kerry Bretz has played a major role in challenging the retroactive application of new immigration laws and mandatory detention. He was instrumental in winning major deportation cases such as Henderson v INS and Calcano-Martinez v INS, which cases have changed the national scene on the availability of relief to aliens with criminal convictions.
Additionally, in St John v McElroy, Kerry Bretz helped acheive the release of a mentally disabled women from INS custody and was awarded approximately $88,000 in attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act by a federal court judge. Further, he obtained an additional monetary settlement to Ms. St John under the Federal Tort Claims Act for alleged abuses she suffered while detained by the INS.
Prior to private practice, Kerry Bretz was a Trial Attorney for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service. As a result, he brings a unique perspective to every client's case and is able to effectively strategize each individual case. He is regularly consulted by the criminal defense bar, is frequently quoted in newspapers, has appeared on reputable television programs and radio shows.
Kerry Bretz is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyer's Association and is often asked to speak at its annual conference. He is also Commissioner for the Archdiocese's Commission for the Dignity of Immigrants.
Kerry Bretz is Martindale-Hubbell® AV-Rated®, the highest peer-review rating an attorney can receive.
Visit us at www.bretzlaw.com
Selected To
New York Super Lawyers 2011 - Metro Edition
New York Super Lawyers 2010 - Metro
About Kerry Bretz
Admitted: 1992, New York
Professional Webpage: www.bretzlaw.com/attorneys/partners/kerry-bretz/
Bar/Professional Activity:
- American Immigration Lawyers Association (frequent lecturer) New York County Lawyers Association (Immigration Committee) Bar Association of the City of New York New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Pro bono/Community Service:
- Bretz & Coven is committed to helping the poor and indigent in instances where we believe we can make a difference on a compelling legal issue. We are very proud of our track record providing pro bono representation for immigrants in New York, New Jersey, and other areas and welcome the opportunity to learn more about instances where we may provide pro bono immigration help to sympathetic individuals and families. For a list of our recent pro bono cases please see http://www.bretzlaw.com/pro-bono/
Scholarly Lectures and Writings:
- September 22, 2007 Kerry William Bretz, Speaker Impact of Immigration Fraud on You and Your Family and How to Avoid It 1st Annual Immigration Law Seminar for the Public Korean American Association of Greater New York/Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York Open Village Townhall, Flushing, NY , Speaker, Impact of Immigration Fraud on You and Your Family and How to Avoid It , 2007
- October 20, 2010 Kerry William Bretz, Co-Speaker, Advanced Criminal Law Series Part II, Co-sponsored by Queens County Bar Association & Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County, The Immigration Consequences of Alleged Criminal Conduct, Co-Speaker, Advanced Criminal Law Series Part II, 2010
- March 4, 2011, Kerry Bretz, Panel Speaker Redefining Borders: Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the United StatesSponsored by Rutgers Law Record and The Immigrant Rights CollectiveRutgers School of Law - Newark, Panel Speaker, Redefining Borders: Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the United States, 2011
- June 15-18, 2011 Kerry Bretz, Panel Leader Crimmigration: Working with the Criminal Defense Bar and Post Conviction Motions after Padilla vs. KentuckyAmerican Immigration Lawyers Association Annual ConferenceSan Diego, California, Panel Leader, 2011
- August 17-18, 2011 Kerry Bretz, Co-Speaker & Trainer Immigration Law Training for Non-Immigration Lawyers Sponsored by AILA, NY State Bar Association, and Judge Katzmann's Study Group on Immigrant Representation The Association of the Bar of the City of New York (City Bar Justice Center) , Co-Speaker & Trainer, Immigration Law Training for Non-immigration Lawyers, 2011
- January 25, 2012 Kerry Bretz, Speaker on Removal and Deportation, Overview of Representation of Non-US Citizens, Young Lawyers Section Annual Meeting of New York State Bar Association, Hilton New York, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, Speaker, Overview of Representation of Non-US Citizens, 2012
- February 2, 2012 Kerry Bretz, Co-Presenter Padilla v Kentucky and the Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions and Motions to Reopen Sponsored by the Immigration and Naturalization Committee, Queens County Bar Association, Co-Presenter, Padilla v Kentucky and the Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions and Motions to Reopen, 2012
Other Outstanding Achievements:
- At Bretz & Coven, LLP, we take pride in our work. Over the years, many of our cases have resulted in published decisions in federal courts and at the Board of Immigration Appeals that are binding precedents. These cases have had a tremendous impact on the way that immigration law is practiced. In 2011, we won four federal cases, two of them precedent-setting, at three different U.S. Courts of Appeals. These were Gonzales Bordonave v. Holder (2d. Cir. September 28, 2011); Andrews v. United States Attorney General (3d. Cir. April 15, 2011); Accardo v. United States Attorney General, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 4962 (11th Cir. March 10, 2011); and Galluzzo v. Holder, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1566 (2d. Cir. N.Y. Jan. 26, 2011). For a full list of our successful federal court cases, see http://www.bretzlaw.com/federal-decisions/
Map Location
Blog entries — Kerry Bretz
What is Super Lawyers
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.
