Carmen Iguina González is counsel at Kaplan Hecker & Fink, resident in the DC office. She specializes in appellate and complex civil litigation and has substantial experience representing clients in matters related to administrative, constitutional, and civil rights law. She is a nationally renowned civil rights and immigrants’ rights litigator whose work has advanced the rights of immigrants and people of color. She has won path-breaking court rulings, advocated for the rights of asylum seekers, unaccompanied immigrant children, families, and other immigrants seeking refuge in the United States, and has worked with federal, state, and local governments to enact policies aimed at protecting immigrant communities. In addition to her legal work, Carmen advocates for immigrants’ rights and has frequently written on related topics.
Carmen joined Kaplan Hecker & Fink from the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, where she worked as a Senior Staff Attorney. Carmen has served as a law clerk at every level of the federal judiciary, having clerked for the Hon. Sonia Sotomayor of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Hon. Stephen R. Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Hon. Kiyo A. Matsumoto of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Prior to joining the ACLU as Senior Staff Attorney, Carmen was an associate for Jones Day, where she represented clients in complex civil, criminal, and administrative matters as an attorney in the Issues and Appeals practice group. From 2012 to 2017, Carmen was an Equal Justice Works Fellow and Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Southern California, where she worked on cases concerning the right to counsel in immigration proceedings.
Beyond her work pertaining to immigrant rights, Carmen has done critical work related to criminal justice. Carmen is a member of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the DC Circuit Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services. She also serves as a mentor to young lawyers through The Appellate Project, NYU Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network Fellows Program, and the NYU Law Alumni of Color Association.
