Clinical Staff

The Cornell University Law School Immigration Appellate Law and Advocacy Clinic is directed by two law school faculty members who, with support from the Clinic’s administrative assistant, supervise student work and provide classroom instruction. You are encouraged to contact any member of the clinical team with questions about the program.

Stephen Yale-Loehr, Co-Director
Professor Yale-Loehr is one of the nation's preeminent authorities on U.S. immigration and asylum law. A prolific scholar, he has written many law review articles, and is author or co-author of four standard reference works. He is of counsel to the Ithaca law firm of Miller Mayer, where he practices immigration law. In addition to co-directing the  Immigration Appellate Law and Advocacy Clinic each spring he teaches an immigration seminar every fall at the law school. He is the 2001 recipient of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)'s Elmer Fried Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 2004 recipient of AILA's Edith Lowenstein Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law. You can contact Professor Yale-Loehr via email at swy1@cornell.edu or by phone at (607) 254-5061.

Walter Ruehle, Co-Director

Professor Ruehle has practiced immigration law for over three decades in three law offices that provide legal representation to the poor. For the last 18 years, one of the concentrations of his practice has been asylum representation. He has handled numerous appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Currently, he is the director of the Immigration Program of the Legal Aid Society of Rochester. He is also the director of the Upstate New York Immigration Law Program, a partnership between his office and the immigration programs of legal aid offices in Syracuse and Albany. Professor Ruehle is a 1976 graduate of SUNY Oneonta (high honors) and a 1979 graduate of Albany Law School of Union University.