Laura Kokotailo

Laura Kokotailo joined the firm in 2023.  Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Kokotailo clerked for Judge Nina R. Morrison on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and Judge Sidney R. Thomas on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  She was also previously a Yale Public Interest Fellow at the Legal Aid Society, where she worked in the Immigration Law Unit’s Federal Practice.  While at the Legal Aid Society, Ms. Kokotailo litigated cases in federal court involving civil rights and immigration law, focusing on habeas corpus petitions on behalf of detained noncitizens.  She also engaged in advocacy efforts on behalf of noncitizens in removal proceedings subject to prolonged electronic monitoring and other restrictive conditions of release.

Ms. Kokotailo graduated from Yale Law School in 2020.  Ms. Kokotailo was a member of the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, where she assisted in litigation challenging the termination of DACA and represented clients including an individual in complex removal proceedings and a class of detained noncitizens at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Ms. Kokotailo was a recipient of the Charles G. Albom prize for excellence in appellate advocacy in a clinical program. While in law school, Ms. Kokotailo also interned for the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project in New York and served as an articles editor for the Yale Journal of International Law.  Ms. Kokotailo received her B.A. in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University.