Immigration law is complex, and naturalization is one of the most significant processes individuals undertake. This free CLE will help attorneys and legal professionals, and members of the public better understand:
• Eligibility requirements and the N-400 process
• English and civics testing, waivers, and exceptions
• Good moral character standards and red flags
• Practical strategies for client preparation and responding to USCIS
Speakers:
• Laura Ferner, Partner, Crouch, Harwell, Fryar & Ferner, PLLC
• Professor Amelia Steadman McGowan, University of Arkansas School of Law
• Edith Chavez De Oseguera, Arkansas Access to Justice
This session is free, open to the public, and offers 1 hour of general CLE credit.
Register today: AA2J.org/CLE
𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗦:
𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿
Laura Ferner is a partner at Crouch, Harwell, Fryar & Ferner, PLLC—the oldest law firm in Washington County, Arkansas. She practices immigration and nationality law and is a certified mediator. Prior to joining the firm, she operated her own law practice in Springdale, Arkansas. She is licensed in Arkansas and admitted to practice before all U.S. immigration courts and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Eighth Circuits.
Laura currently serves as Chair of the Mid-South Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She is a frequent speaker on immigration and related topics at the local, state, national, and international level. Her work and insights have been featured in news reports, podcasts, documentary films, and a book. She is fluent in English, Spanish, German, and Finnish.
In 2023, Laura was named one of the Top Ten Women in Business by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal and one of the Top 100 Women of Impact in Arkansas by the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas.
She was featured on The Immigration Lawyers Podcast in 2024. Her work has also been highlighted in the documentary “Land of Lights and Shadows” and the book Dreams Derailed (University of Arkansas Press). In addition to these features, Laura has been interviewed by local, state, and national news outlets on a range of immigration issues.
Laura has long been involved in community-based legal initiatives. She has volunteered at citizenship and DACA clinics, trained nonprofit staff to become DOJ-accredited representatives, and helped coordinate the legal response to the 2022 Afghan humanitarian crisis in Arkansas. Most recently, she has led Know Your Rights (KYR) presentations and serves as Chair of the Board at Apple Seeds Teaching Farms.
𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝗠𝗰𝗚𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗻
Amelia McGowan, Assistant Professor and Director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Arkansas School of Law, focuses her teaching, advocacy, and scholarship on asylum law, particularly within an inter-American context. Her impact spans from local initiatives, through her work on the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission, to national and international engagement. Since 2021, Professor McGowan has served on the American Bar Association's Commission on Immigration, where she co-drafted a successful ABA resolution for increased protections for people seeking asylum based on gender-based violence. She represents the ABA's Commission on Immigration in an inter-American working group studying the asylum systems of Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States, and presented on the project with a colleague at the Supreme Court of Argentina in 2023. She has also presented on asylum law at universities in Argentina, Uruguay, and Costa Rica and is an active member of the Inter-American Bar Association and the Global Strategic Litigation Council for Refugee Rights. She has published articles on asylum law in the Marquette Law Review and Columbia Human Rights Law Review.
Prior to joining the University of Arkansas faculty in 2022, Professor McGowan served as the Immigration Campaign Director at the Mississippi Center for Justice, where she focused her practice on appellate representation of asylum seekers and led a team of pro bono attorneys charged with representing over 100 Mississippians impacted by the 2019 immigration raids in chicken processing plants around the state. Professor McGowan also served as an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law, where she taught Immigration Law and directed the school’s Immigration Clinic since its founding in 2015 until May 2022.
Professor McGowan received her J.D. and M.A. in Latin American Studies from Tulane University and her B.A. in History and Spanish from the University of Southern Mississippi.
𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘇 𝗗𝗲 𝗢𝘀𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗲𝗿𝗮
Edith started at Access to Justice as the Interim Program Coordinator and served in that role from January 2023 to March 2024. Currently, Edith administers the Free Legal Answers website, spearheads our language access initiatives, and assists with outreach, on a contractual basis.
Edith received her Juris Doctorate from the William H. Bowen School of Law, where she presided over the Hispanic Law Students Association. Before joining Access to Justice, Edith worked as a paralegal and interpreter. Edith’s desire to pursue law stems from her grandfather’s influence as an attorney and activist in Nicaragua.
Edith grew up in Cancun, Mexico. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering.
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