Home > News > Press Releases and Announcements
Press Release
Duane Morris' Washington, D.C. Office Adds Two Immigration Practice Group Partners
December 8, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 8, 2008 - Duane Morris LLP has added Andres Benach and Thomas Ragland as partners in its Immigration Practice Group in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Benach and Ragland were formerly shareholders at immigration law boutique Maggio & Kattar, P.C., where they served as the leaders of its immigration litigation practice.
Based in the firm's Washington, D.C. and San Francisco offices, Duane Morris' full-service Immigration Practice Group assists both corporate and individual clients in navigating the complex areas of immigration law and litigation. With the addition of Benach and Ragland, Duane Morris further strengthens its top-tier Washington, D.C. immigration practice and expands its related litigation capabilities. The well-respected Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business cites Duane Morris' immigration practice as one of the foremost in the nation's capital and notes client feedback praising its "breadth of coverage" of immigration law.
Benach represents clients in complex removal, asylum, naturalization, adjustment of status, waivers of inadmissibility and federal litigation cases. An experienced litigator, he has represented many individuals in immigration matters before the U.S. Immigration Courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals and the U.S. District Courts and Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and other federal agencies. Prior to entering private practice, Benach worked as a law clerk in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he assisted attorneys in implementing the nation's immigration law.
Benach has garnered national recognition for his work, having been named one of Washington's top immigration lawyers by Washingtonian Magazine and cited in the Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA. With Ragland, he has served as co-chair of the litigation committee of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. In that role, they have led the committee in coordinating local immigration litigation efforts. Benach is also an active member of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and Immigrant's List. He frequently writes and speaks on immigration litigation issues.
Benach earned his J.D., cum laude, from George Washington Law School in 1998 and his B.A. in Political Science from Boston College. He is admitted to practice in New York and Washington, D.C., and is fluent in Spanish.
Ragland focuses his practice on immigration litigation with an emphasis on complex removal proceedings, administrative and federal court appeals, habeas corpus actions and petitions for hearing on naturalization. He has extensive experience representing individuals in immigration proceedings resulting from criminal convictions, waivers of inadmissibility, asylum and adjustment of status. He has also advised clients on detention and bond issues, deportation defense and defense against bars to admission related to terrorism and security concerns. Ragland has represented individuals before the immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals and federal district and circuit courts of appeals. Prior to entering private practice, Ragland acted in several roles in government related to immigration litigation. He served as an appellate attorney in the Office of Immigration Litigation in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as an attorney advisor and senior attorney manager in the Executive Office for Immigration Review in the Board of Immigration Appeals. Prior to that, he was a judicial law clerk in the U.S. Immigration Court in Boston, after being selected through the U.S. Attorney General's Honor Program.
Ragland is an active member of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and co-chair, with Benach, of the litigation committee of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He frequently writes and speaks on immigration issues.
Ragland earned his J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law School in 1994 and graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy, with honors, from the University of Virginia in 1988. He is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, and is proficient in Burmese.
About Duane Morris
Duane Morris LLP, a full-service law firm of more than 650 attorneys, offers innovative solutions across diverse industries in the United States and internationally to address the legal and business challenges of today's evolving global markets.
