United States Ninth Circuit

An attorney's failure to raise the issue of genital mutilation to a child constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel sufficient to warrant a reopening of a plaintiff's claim for asylum.

Appellate Information

• Argued 11/03/2004
• Decided 03/10/2005
• Published 03/10/2005

Judges

• Before REINHARDT, THOMPSON, and MARSHA S. BERZON, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Rochelle A. Fortier Nwadibia, Esq., Privitera & Nwadibia, for the petitioner.


• For Appellees:
  
• Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division;  Emily Anne Radford, Assistant Director;  Keith I. Bernstein, Joshua E. Braunstein, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for the respondent.