Rachel Goodman, Associate

Rachel Goodman practices all aspects of U.S. immigration law with a particular emphasis on deportation defense, asylum, and appellate cases. As the granddaughter of refugees, Ms. Goodman is committed to helping other immigrants pursue their own American dreams. She has extensive
courtroom experience and passionately represents clients at removal hearings, federal appeals courts, and USCIS interviews.

Ms. Goodman’s work as a Spanish translator and paralegal at a small immigration and criminal defense firm in Philadelphia inspired her to go to law school. She earned a full-tuition scholarship at the top-ranked trial advocacy program in the country. As a law student, Ms. Goodman briefed and argued an appeal of a foreign national’s final order of deportation in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, collaborated on immigration detention center policy challenges, and served as an editor for the Temple International and Comparative Law Journal. She also interned for the Honorable Gerald J. Pappert in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as part of the Federal Judicial Clerkship Honors Program and was appointed as a Foreign Service Consular Fellow by the U.S. Department of State. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Goodman was a litigation associate at a large law firm in Philadelphia and a removal defense trial attorney at another San Francisco immigration firm.

Ms. Goodman’s practice also reflects her deep commitment to pro bono work and community service. She won parole eligibility for a client serving two life sentences, and collaborated on § 1983 civil rights actions, record expungements, and death penalty defense work. As a Homeless Advocacy Project volunteer attorney, she counseled for clients facing eviction in landlord-tenant court. She also represented returning citizens through the Supervision to Aid Reentry Program (Federal Reentry Court). She is a founding member of a committee to establish prison arts programming through the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program.

Bar Admissions
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Executive Office for Immigration Review
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

* Practice limited to federal immigration & nationality law

Education
University of Pennsylvania: Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude
Temple University, Beasley School of Law: Juris Doctor, magna cum laude