Kate Melloy Goettel, a national leader in immigration law and federal court practice, joined the College of Law in 2024. She will start and lead a federal civil rights clinic with an immigration focus. 

Melloy Goettel most recently served as senior legal director for the American Immigration Council, where she leads impact litigation focusing on unlawful detention, the laws surrounding immigrant youth, interior enforcement, and family separation. Prior to that she was associate director of litigation for the National Immigrant Justice Center. She has practiced in nearly 40 federal district courts, eight courts of appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2019, Kate received the NGO Lawyer of the Year award from the Federal Bar Association’s Immigration Law Section

Melloy Goettel is a member of the Executive Board of the Federal Bar Association’s Immigration Law Section and was its 2022-2023 section chair.