Headshot of Katherine Reynolds

Katherine Reynolds

Director of Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic at Elon University School of Law and Associate Professor of Law

Department: Elon University School of Law

Office and address: Elon University School of Law, Office 105C 2005 Campus Box Greensboro, NC 27401

Phone number: (336) 279-9291

Brief Biography

Katherine has been working in the area of refugee law since 2012. She was a member of the inaugural class of the University of Virginia School of Law's Program in Law and Public Service (2009-2012).

Prior to becoming an attorney, Katherine served as a volunteer in the US Peace Corps in Kazakhstan (2006-2008) and Americorps in Franklin, Indiana (2006).

 

News & Notes

Education

University of Virginia School of Law, J.D. 2012

Franklin College (IN), B.A., magna cum laude 2006

Employment History

Katherine was previously the Immigration Legal Services Program Coordinator at a refugee resettlement agency in Greensboro. There she assisted refugees with adjustment of status and helped more than 150 lawful permanent residents to naturalize through a USCIS Citizenship and Integration Grant.

Katherine was a supervising attorney at a refugee legal aid agency in Cairo, Egypt for three years, serving as director in her final year. She managed an international staff of interpreters, attorneys, and volunteer legal advocates who provided assistance in obtaining UNHCR protection, refugee status, and resettlement for refugees and asylum-seekers from Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, and Syria. Katherine also provided legal representation to Iraqis seeking admission to the US through the DAP and SIV programs.

Prior to graduating law school, Katherine interned at el Centro Para la Accion Legal en Derechos Humanos in Guatemala City, working alongside indigenous rights activists fighting against hyrdroelectric projects, demanding an end to impunity of corrupt state actors, and promoting intercultural bilingual education. She was a Martin Luther King Jr. Intern at Legal Aid of North Carolina's Battered Immigrant Project in 2011.

Courses Taught

Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic

Publications

I-730 Refugee/Asylee Family Reunification Practice Manual The manual was co-authored in 2019. It was edited and updated in 2023.

Lindsey Wilkes, Robin Nice, and Katherine A. Reynolds, I-730 Follow-to-Join Refugees and 
Asylees, in IMMIGRATION PRACTICE POINTERS: TIPS FOR HANDLING COMPLEX CASES 455-464 
(American Immigration Lawyers Association ed. 2023-24)

Presentations

Presenter at AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education in April 2023.

Panelist at AILA's Annual Conference in June 2023.

Katherine presented "Pro Bono with 1Ls as a Wellness Practice" at the 2021 AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education  

Katherine presented at the second annual Forced Migration Institute on January 17, 2020 at Guilford College (Greensboro). Shifting Worlds: Displacement and Forced Migration in Modern Times

Professional Activities

Member of:

American Immigration Lawyers Association

Clinical Legal Education Association

Personal Information

Katherine is a first-generation college student and proud member of the LGBTQIA community.