Patrick Long, Esq.

(Managing Attorney)

What Makes Patrick Long Uniquely Qualified To Represent You?

I grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee. I left home and moved to Massachusetts, alone, at 16 so I could start college early. I attended Simon’s Rock College, got a master’s degree at what is now the University of New Hampshire Law School, and then went to Suffolk University for law school. When I finished law school, I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world but didn’t know how yet. A friend who was obsessed with immigration law asked me to work on some cases with her, and it opened my eyes.

Growing up, all the way through law school, I had heard about all the injustices in the criminal “justice” system and knew that was something I was interested in. But immigration is 100x more unfair, and the government keeps that a secret. In immigration court, you don’t have most of the rights you’d have in a real court.

You can be held in jail as long as your case takes, sometimes for many years, and the burden of proof is on you to proof you aren’t dangerous. The government can use whatever hearsay accusations or speculation it wants, with no proof. There is no jury. There is no right to remain silent, no presumption of innocence. The law is so complicated that even most lawyers don’t understand it. You have to navigate this alone, or with the attorney you hire (don’t count on a free attorney if you can’t afford one; those don’t exist in immigration). And all of this exists just to punish you for being born in the wrong place!

When I learned all of this, I wanted to do my part to fix it. So I practice primarily immigration law, combined with some criminal and family law, which I think it’s important to keep current on in order to know how to solve every immigration problem that comes to me. Sometimes the remedy to your problem lies somewhere outside the immigration system.

Experience:

• Attorney, Patrick Long Law Firm, P.C. (2014-Present)

Education:

• JD – Law – Suffolk University Law School (2013)
• MIP – Intellectual Property – Franklin Pierce Law Center (2008)
• BA – Quantitative Studies – Simon’s Rock College (2007)

Significant Reported Cases & Citations:

• Litigated more than 300 immigration cases in front of:
  • Executive Office for Immigration Review,
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service,
  • Department of State,
  • Department of Labor,
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts,
  • Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
• Work included numerous family-based petitions and numerous domestic violence-based petitions.
• Multiple reported cases, including several cited in various practice immigration law practice advisories.
• Swaby v. Yates, 847 F.3d 62 (1st Cir. 2017).
  • Cited in at least seven reported cases, as well as numerous practice advisories, including DOJ newsletters for the education of immigration judges and federal prosecutors.
• De Lima v. Sessions, 867 F.3d 260 (1st Cir. 2017).
  • Cited in numerous practice advisories, including DOJ publication for immigration judges.
• Commonwealth v. Lys, 91 Mass. App. Ct. 718 (2017).