From Immigrant to Advocate: How Abhinav Tripathi Built His Practice on Personal Experience and Professional Excellence
22nd October 2025
Date
Interviewee
Abhinav Tripathi
Abhinav Tripathi | Protego Law Group, LLP
The courtroom was heavy with emotion that day. Five small children sat in the back with their mother, their cries echoing off the walls as they watched their father appear on a video screen from detention. For Abhinav Tripathi, it was his first case in immigration court, a moment that would define his understanding of what immigration law truly means.
"The stakes were way, way higher than I could even think of," Tripathi recalls of that day a decade ago. "Given it was my first case, I also did not have a lot of experience from any prior cases that I could probably gather more confidence from."
The case involved a permanent resident who, after leaving the country for a funeral, was arrested upon return due to decades-old driving offenses from his youth. Tripathi fought for a waiver that would allow the man to remain with his family. Throughout the hearing, the children's cries served as a constant reminder of what hung in the balance.
"If we can represent these people and make sure families remain united and help them through the tough parts of their life, I think that makes the practice worth it," Tripathi reflects. "All the anxiety or all the emotional toll that comes along with it is worth it, as long as the end result is like that."
From Immigrant to Advocate
Tripathi's path to immigration law began with his own journey. Arriving in the United States on an F1 student visa to pursue his master's in law at Washington University in St. Louis, he lived through the very experiences he would later help others navigate: the transition from F1 to H1B, the uncertainty, the constant need to stay informed.
"I've lived through that path of moving from an F1 student visa to an H1B and then moving on from there," he explains. "I've known a lot of immigrants all my life."
Even before becoming licensed to practice, Tripathi found himself answering immigration questions from friends and fellow immigrants who knew he was studying law. This informal role as a go-to resource sparked his interest and drove him to study immigration law deeply, not just for others but for his own future as well. His eight-month master's program meant he needed to immediately think about OPT and H1B planning.
During his second semester, Tripathi took a course that would cement his career direction. The professor, Stephen Legomsky, had just returned from serving as general counsel of USCIS and was teaching his final semester before retirement. Legomsky wasn't just teaching theory. During the course, he was called as an expert witness in DACA litigation, and students watched him prepare for testimony, deliver it, and then return to discuss it in detail.
"That gave me a good overview of what the policy side of immigration or the more high-level judicial side of immigration could look like," Tripathi says. "That was enough, I guess, for me to get me interested in immigration law."
Building Experience Across Firm Structures
After graduation, Tripathi joined a boutique immigration law firm in St. Louis, where he spent seven years gaining exposure to a wide variety of cases. The smaller firm structure meant he wasn't confined to one type of case, allowing him to explore the breadth of immigration law before deciding where to specialize.
"Immigration law is extremely wide," he notes. "There are so many different practice areas within immigration that you can probably plan on specializing in. But with a smaller or a boutique law firm, you basically get to explore very different kinds of cases."
He then moved to Berry Appleman & Leiden, where he spent three and a half years focused specifically on business immigration: H1Bs, L1s, EB1s, PERMs, etc.. The shift to a larger firm taught him about volume, program management, and high-level decision-making processes.
"That experience taught me how to deal with volume and how programs work and how decisions are made on a higher level at a program level," Tripathi explains.
Launching a Solo Practice in Turbulent Times
In June 2025, Tripathi took the leap he had always envisioned: founding his own practice. The timing came with both advantages and challenges. Having worked at both boutique and large firms, he felt equipped with the diverse experience and management skills needed to run his own operation. But he was launching during an administration where immigration policies shift rapidly and unpredictably.
"Currently we're in an administration where a lot of things are moving rapidly, things changing every day," he says. "It has kept me busy, which is definitely a good thing, just because of all that's happening in immigration."
The variety he missed at larger firms became possible again. Tripathi now handles everything from EB1s and O1s for individuals with extraordinary ability to H1B cases for startups, L1s for international companies, E2 investor visas, and removal defense in immigration court. The writing-intensive cases particularly appeal to him.
But starting a practice meant learning an entirely new skill set. "Business is something that is new to me," Tripathi admits. "I'm still learning the business side of running a law firm. Those new things are keeping my work exciting for now because I'm getting to learn a lot of new things which I have not done in the past."
Weathering the Storm of Constant Change
Practicing immigration law means accepting that uncertainty and change are constants. Tripathi has practiced through multiple administrations, from Obama to Trump to Biden and back to Trump, and he's seen how dramatically enforcement priorities and adjudication patterns can shift even when the underlying law remains the same.
"I've practiced through multiple administrations," he reflects. "You'll have to be agile enough to be able to make sure that you also change your practices or you change your point of view or your advice as per the administration."
The challenge extends beyond major policy shifts. Sometimes change arrives on a Friday afternoon in the form of a tweet, proclamation, or executive order. Tripathi recalls the recent chaos when Notices to Appear in immigration court were automatically issued to anyone whose H1B was withdrawn, regardless of whether they had an approved transfer, a pending change of status application, or had already left the country.
"While they've started using it, obviously they've not learned how to use it properly, or there are a lot of mistakes that they're also learning from, as everyone else is," he says of the government's use of automated systems.
The evidentiary requirements for cases can also shift dramatically between administrations even though the statutory requirements remain unchanged. An EB1A extraordinary ability petition that might have been approvable with a certain amount of evidence two years ago may require substantially more documentation today. Reference letters need to be framed differently. Case files have grown thicker.
"A lot has changed in terms of how we practice, how much evidence we provide, how we provide our arguments, while the law remains the same," Tripathi explains. "If you're reading the law, you'll probably be thinking it's the same thing that I'm doing. But it's definitely not the same in terms of how the practice actually looks like."
Advice for Aspiring Immigration Attorneys
For those considering a career in immigration law, Tripathi offers honest perspective about both the rewards and the challenges. The emotional investment is real and unavoidable.
"You'll be very close to people that you are representing," he says. "Their life in this country would probably be dependent on you. There will obviously be a lot of emotional aspects of the practice that you'll probably have to be ready for. It does take an emotional toll on you. It does keep you up at night sometimes when you're thinking about those people."
The field also demands perpetual learning. Immigration law changes not just with new legislation but with shifting policies, adjudication trends, and enforcement priorities. An attorney must remain a student throughout their entire career, constantly adapting their approach while maintaining deep knowledge of an ever-evolving system.
"I'm still learning new things today," Tripathi says. "I'll probably be learning new things 10 years from now or even 20 years from now, irrespective of how long I've practiced, just given how these changes just can keep happening in immigration law."
Counsel for Immigrants Navigating Uncertainty
When Tripathi advises immigrants facing today's volatile landscape, his message centers on staying informed and trusting professionals rather than getting swept up in rumors and panic.
"I think just trusting professionals for advice and taking their opinions, taking their services as and when required," he emphasizes. "When your whole career or your family's life in a country depends on it, trust a professional."
He acknowledges that recent events, like sudden proclamations over weekends, make it easy to panic. But he urges immigrants to remember that their attorney knows their specific situation and can provide guidance tailored to their unique circumstances.
"Don't go with what probably a friend did or a friend said, because their situation can be completely different in a nuanced way that may not be very visible to you when you're talking to them," Tripathi advises. "But if you talk to a professional, they will probably be able to let you know how their position was different than it is for you."
He also encourages immigrants to filter out the noise from online forums and social media. While these platforms can provide information, they can also generate anxiety through rumor and speculation. Professional guidance remains essential.
The Promise of AI and the Need for Reform
Tripathi sees artificial intelligence as inevitable and potentially beneficial for immigration practice, though he maintains that it cannot replace attorneys. He uses AI for administrative tasks, document preparation, and research, allowing him to focus more energy on the substantive legal work.
"It in no way replaces lawyers or immigration lawyers," he emphasizes. "Especially because things are changing every day, for AI to be able to keep up with it, you would need to know how to use it."
He's also observed AI's impact on his clients, who increasingly arrive having done their own research through AI tools. This cuts both ways. Well-prompted AI can help clients ask more informed questions, but misinformation from AI can be difficult to correct once a client has absorbed it.
On the government side, Tripathi has learned about partnerships between agencies like CBP and AI companies such as Palantir to track immigrants, monitor visa expirations, and expedite enforcement. While these tools could improve efficiency, the recent wave of seemingly automated errors suggests the technology is still being refined.
Looking at the broader immigration system, Tripathi advocates for fundamental reform. He points out that the Immigration and Nationality Act was written decades ago and hasn't kept pace with modern economic realities. There's still no startup visa despite the proliferation of entrepreneurship in the United States. The PERM labor certification process still requires employers to post job openings in print newspapers twice, a requirement that feels absurdly outdated.
"I think the law does have to move fast enough to cover the changes or the fast-moving economy that we have in the U.S.," Tripathi argues. "Instead of trying to make things harder maybe for immigrants in terms of adjudication and enforcement, I think it's time that more time is spent on looking at the actual visas, looking at the requirements for those visas and making it more aligned towards the current environment."
He also expresses concern about what he sees as erosion of judicial neutrality in immigration proceedings. The scales of justice should be balanced, with evidence from government attorneys and individual immigrants evaluated with equal scrutiny. But Tripathi worries that the expectation placed on immigrants has grown disproportionately high.
"At this point the scales do look tilted," he observes. "The requirement or the expectation from individuals or immigrants is way higher."
A Message of Hope and Resilience
For immigrants feeling overwhelmed by the current environment, Tripathi offers a message grounded in perspective and hope. He reminds them that administrations change, policies shift, and what feels permanent today is often temporary.
"Things will change," he assures them. "Administrations will come and go. Immigration will remain. How things are happening right now may not be the same in the next six months or in a year or when there's a change in administration."
He encourages immigrants to lean on their communities, stay close to loved ones, and maintain their connections with trusted professionals who can guide them through uncertainty. The noise and rumors will continue, but cutting through that noise with reliable information and support can help preserve sanity during difficult times.
"Just weather through the storm, and there's obviously a shining light at the end of it," Tripathi says. "Stay together, stay united, be with your closed ones, be with your community, stick with professionals who are trying to provide their best services to you. We are all in this together and weather through this together, and there's obviously good days looking forward."
That courtroom a decade ago, with five crying children and their detained father, taught Tripathi what immigration law really means. It's not just about forms and petitions and legal arguments. It's about families staying together, about people building lives in a country they've chosen, about human stakes that extend far beyond any single case file.
"If we can represent these people and make sure families remain united," he reflects, "I think that makes the practice worth it."
For Tripathi, now four months into his solo practice, every case carries that same weight. The law may be written in statutes and regulations, but its impact is measured in lives kept whole, in families reunited, in futures made possible. And that, he believes, makes every sleepless night and every emotional investment worthwhile.
Abhinav Tripathi is the founder of Protego Law Group, LLP, based in San Jose, California. He specializes in business immigration, extraordinary ability petitions, and removal defense. For more information about his practice or to schedule a consultation, visit protegolawgroup.com or contact info@protegolawgroup.com.
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