About Kathleen
Kathleen Maloney completed her undergraduate studies at American University in 1999 and earned a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2004. She arrived in the legal profession at a time when immigration law was changing rapidly. The early dates mark the start of a career that would cross public service, direct representation and legal education.
Her on-the-ground work began at the Legal Aid Society, where she handled juvenile rights matters starting in 2008 and moved into the Immigration Law Unit in 2011. Those years involved courtroom advocacy and client counseling in high-stakes settings. In 2013 she took a turn toward teaching, serving as an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School and bringing practical courtroom lessons into the classroom.
Maloney later joined U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as an asylum officer in 2017. She stayed on to serve as a training officer in 2019, a role that combined casework experience with programmatic instruction for colleagues. In 2023 she worked as a consultant for the Feerick Center for Social Justice at Fordham University School of Law, advising on projects that intersect policy and practice. She launched Maloney PLLC in 2024 and has operated the firm since then.
Her casework spans asylum claims, removal defense, and juvenile immigration matters. She has handled individual representation and administrative roles that required adjudicative judgment. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and holds licenses in New York and Texas. Her professional memberships include the New York City Bar Committee on Immigration and Nationality Law, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the State Bar of Texas.
Colleagues describe her path as one that moved between direct client work and institutional roles. Teaching at Columbia and training at USCIS shaped how she approaches difficult factual records and complex statutes. Her practice draws on experience in both front-line advocacy and internal government decision-making. She brings that combination to litigation strategies and client counseling.
She now runs Maloney PLLC, where she manages case intake, litigation, and administrative appeals. She represents clients in immigration proceedings and related federal court litigation.
