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Andres C. Benach
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
Suite 1000
505 9th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20004-2166
USA

Phone: +1 202 776 7812
Fax: +1 202 478 1799
Email: acbenach@duanemorris.com

Andres Benach practices in the area of immigration law, concentrating his practice on litigation matters before the federal courts and the immigration courts, specifically in complex matters regarding removability, inadmissibility, citizenship and the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. Mr. Benach has over ten years of experience handling sensitive, complex and challenging matters involving naturalization, asylum, complex removal, adjustment of status, federal litigation and waivers of inadmissibility. Mr. Benach has developed a highly regarded immigration litigation practice in the capital area, identified as being at the "forefront of an emerging generation of litigators" in the immigration field by Chambers International.

Mr. Benach was the inaugural chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Washington, D.C. Chapter Litigation Committee in 2007 and co-chairs the committee in 2008 with Thomas Ragland. Mr. Benach is a 1998 cum laude graduate of George Washington University Law School and a graduate of Boston College. Mr. Benach is fluent in Spanish.

Areas of Practice

• Immigration Law

Professional Activities

• American Immigration Lawyers Association, D.C. Chapter
  - Co-Chair, Litigation Committee, 2007-2008
  - Former Vice Chair of D.C. Chapter
• CAIR Coalition
• National Immigration Project
• National Hispanic Bar Association
• Immigrant's List

Admissions

• District of Columbia
• New York
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Fourth Circuits
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, pro hac vice
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, pro hac vice

Education

• George Washington University Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1998
• Boston College, B.A., 1994

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2008-present
• Maggio & Kattar
  - Senior Attorney and Shareholder, 2001-2008
• Law Office of Cyrus D. Mehta
  - Attorney, 1998-2001
• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Deputy Attorney General
  - Law Clerk, 1998

Honors and Awards

• Named to Best Lawyers in America, 2006, 2007, 2008
• Named to Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009
• Named one of Washington's top immigration lawyers by Washingtonian magazine, 2005, 2007, 2009

Selected Publications

• Quoted in "Young undocumented migrant can stay in U.S. another year," Miami Herald, July 2, 2009
• "Oops I Forgot to Tell You," Immigration & Nationality Law Handbook, 2007-2008 ed.
• Co-Author, "Keeping Battered Aliens in the U.S.," 77 Interpreter Releases 225, Feb. 28, 2000
• "Effective Advocacy Through Private Bills," Third Annual New York Chapter Immigration Law Symposium Handbook, December 2000

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Faculty, American Immigration Law Foundation 2009 Litigation Institute, Dallas, Texas, October 9-11, 2009
• Speaker, American Immigration Lawyers Association Fall CLE, Pittsburgh, October 2, 2009
• "Cutting-Edge Issues in Removal Defense," American Immigration Lawyers Association Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 3-6, 2009
• "Removal For Experts," ILW Teleseminar, March 19, 2009
• "DHS Violated the Law and My Client Is in Trouble? Can I Sue Someone and Who? Advanced Issues in Federal Court Litigation," AILA Webinar, November 2008
• "How to Pass Go: Procedural Issues on Admission," AILA National Conference, Vancouver, Canada, June 2008
• "Fundamentals of Immigration Practice," District of Columbia Bar Continuing Legal Education, May 2008, 2007, 2005, 2004 and 2003
• "Fundamentals of Removal Proceedings," ALI-ABA, Washington, D.C., May 2008
• "Oops, I Forgot to Tell You: Non-Business Issues That Can Affect Your Business Immigration Client," AILA National Conference, Orlando, Florida, June 2007
• "Adjustment of Status in Removal Proceedings," AILA Telephonic Seminar, October 2007
• "Hot Topics: INA §212(c) and Cancellation of Removal," National Immigration Project, Spring CLE, Boston, Massachusetts, April 2007
• "Fundamentals-Preparing the Marriage Based Case and Mock Interview," AILA National Conference, San Antonio, Texas, June 2006
• "Fundamentals of Asylum Law," National Center for Refugee Children, Washington, D.C., November 2005
• "Immigration Consequences of Crime," 38th Annual Immigration & Naturalization Institute, Practising Law Institute, New York, New York, October 2005
• "After the Grant: Issues After a Client Is Granted Relief," AILA Telephonic Seminar, May 2005