Sofia Hidalgo (Fratti) recently passed the Texas July 2024 Bar with a 293 score as a first-time taker. Upon immigrating to the United States in 2017 as a Magna Cum Laude graduated attorney licensed to practice in El Salvador, she discovered her passion for immigration law. Sofia received her LL.M. degree in Immigration and Nationality Law from Thurgood Marshall School of Law (TMSL) in May 2019 with a 4.0 GPA.

For over 5 years, Sofia worked as a Foreign Legal Consultant licensed with the State Bar of Texas in a boutique immigration law firm in Houston, where she supervised the family department. Sofia is currently an Associate Immigration Attorney at Herrera Firm, focusing on family and employment-based immigration.

 

 

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Nkeiruka Grace Smith is a Senior Associate Attorney with Daniel Ogbeide Law PLLC where she practices Family Law, and Immigration and Naturalization Laws. A graduate of Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University, where she received her Master of Laws degree (LL.M) in US Immigration and Naturalization Law, graduating top 2% of the class. She earned her Legum Baccalaureaus degree (LL. B), graduating magna cum laude, from Imo University, and her BL from Nig Law School. Ms. Smith has more than a decade of experience in legal practice and has excelled both as a corporate attorney with prestigious corporations and private practice, over different continents, and diverse workplaces. Ms. Smith is a member of the State Bar of Texas, she also admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. She is a proud mother of one child (Laura), and loves to travel, dine out, attend concerts, and spend quality time with loved ones.

LL.M – Master of Laws in US Immigration and Naturalization Laws – Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University (graduated top 2%)
LL.B – Legum Baccalaureaus– Imo University (graduated magna cum laude)
B.L – Nig. Law School (Barrister at Law)

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LL.M. Program - Immigration and Nationality Law

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
The United States and Houston are experiencing a shortage of qualified immigration and nationality law attorneys.   In Houston’s three immigration courts, about 71% of the Respondents represent themselves in civil removal proceedings against the United States Departments of Homeland Security and Justice and their endless resources.  While many of our students and alumni may not have initially considered immigration and nationality law, they are being drawn in through the holistic needs of their clients and the intersections with other bodies of law.  When our students and alumni learn of the due process challenges and injustices faced by the immigrant populations, they rise to the occasion.

If you went to law school to make a difference, our program, the first and only program in Houston and in Texas was designed to provide you with specialized knowledge and practical legal training in Immigration and Nationality Law.  If you are a licensed lawyer, seeking to sit for the Texas Board Certification examination in Immigration and Nationality Law, our faculty includes Board Certified Immigration and Nationality Attorneys, who have been appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas to write and grade the examination.  Now that Texas is one of the few states to provide the foreign licensed lawyer with an opportunity to sit for the Texas Bar upon completion of an LL.M,  you will be in a more diverse classroom networking with foreign licensed attorneys.  Come join us to help fill the void!

 

Maurice Hew, Jr.
Director of the LL.M. Program, and Professor of Law
Board Certified, Immigration and Nationality Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization

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- Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association, website: https://www.americanbar.org/

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is the body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. Website: https://sacscoc.org/about-sacscoc/

 

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