Norton Tooby

 

Located in Oakland, California, Norton Tooby holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College (1967) and a Juris Doctorate degree from Stanford Law School (1970), where he was the President of the Stanford Law Review from 1969-1970.  Mr. Tooby specializes in criminal defense of immigrants, immigration consequences of criminal convictions, and post-conviction relief for immigrants.  He has written numerous practice manuals in these areas.  For nearly 20 years, he has organized CLE seminars.  He maintains www.NortonTooby.com, this criminal immigration research site.

 

Bar Memberships:

 

Active member of the State Bar of California from January, 1971 to the present.
Also admitted to practice before:

  • the United States Supreme Court;

  • the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit;

  • the United States District Courts for the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of California and the District of South Dakota, and

  • the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court, Pine Ridge, South Dakota. 

 

Professional Associations, Current and Former:

 

Educational Background:

  • J.D., Stanford School of Law, 1970

  • President, Stanford Law Review, 1969-1970

  • B.A., Harvard University, 1967, with Honors 

 

Awards:

  • Honored in 2011 with the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for Excellence in Litigation in the field of Immigration Law as a member of the legal team that successfully litigated Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S.Ct. 1473 (2010)

  • Honored in 2010 by the National Lawyers Guild National Immigration Project “for outstanding work in defense of immigrant rights”

  • Listed in Best Lawyers in America

  • Named by Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the best 100 lawyers in California, 2008

  • 2000 Burton Award of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, San Francisco, for excellence in lawyering on behalf of immigrants

  • National Merit Scholarship, 1963-1967 

 

Criminal Defense Experience:

  • Almost exclusive criminal law practice since 1971, including:

  • Appeals: Approximately 90 criminal appeals,including one capital appeal before the California Supreme Court (under C.J.Malcolm Lucas) in which all convictions were reversed.

  • Post-Conviction Work:  Approximately 300 petitions for writs of habeas corpus, petitions for coram nobis, motions to vacate, expungements, and other federal and state actions for post-conviction relief.

  • Representation of Non-Citizens:  Since 1986, specializing in representation of foreign nationals in criminal courts to minimize adverse immigration effects of criminal cases and to obtain post-conviction relief to erase convictions or eliminate immigration consequences.

  • Trials:  Approximately 60 jury trials and 10 court trials in state and federal court.  Two homicide trials, one of which resulted in acquittal on all charges.

  • Expert Witness Experience:  Frequent consultation concerning immigration consequences of criminal  convictions; service as expert witness in habeas corpus and other post-conviction and immigration cases. 

 

Employment History:

  • Law Offices of Norton Tooby, 1989 - Present

  • East Oakland Community Law Office, 1976-1988 (Founding Partner and Trial Attorney)

  • Romines, Wolpman, Tooby, Eichner, Sorensen, Constantinides & Cohen, 1970-1976 (Founding Partner and Trial Attorney) 

 

Selected Published Appellate Cases:

 

People v. Kim (2009) 45 Cal.4th 1078, 202 P.3d 436 (holding petitioner ineligible for a writ of error coram nobis on the facts of the case).

 

People v. Totari (2003) 111 Cal.App.4th 1202, 4 Cal.Rptr.3d 613 (reversing trial court’s order denying a motion to vacate a conviction under Penal Code § 1016.5).

 

People v. Totari (2002) 28 Cal.4th 876, 123 Cal.Rptr.2d 76 (holding that denial of a motion to vacate a conviction under Penal Code § 1016.5 is appealable).

 

In re Resendiz (2001) 25 Cal.4th 230 (holding that defense counsel’s misadvice concerning actual immigration consequences of plea constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel, resulting in reversal if prejudice is shown, even if the defendant was given the advice on possible immigration consequences required by Penal Code § 1016.5)(represented amici curiae).

 

People v. Jaspal (5th Dist. 1991) 234 Cal.App.3d 1446, 286 Cal.Rptr. 337 (reversal of first-degree murder conviction).

 

People v. Huynh, In re Huynh (6th Dist. 1991) 229 Cal.App.3d 1067, 281 Cal.Rptr. 785 (second-degree murder, habeas corpus order to show cause granted).

 

People v. Marks (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1335, 248 Cal.Rptr. 874, 756 P.2d 260 (death penalty murder conviction reversed).

 

State v. Catch the Bear, In re Ellison (S.D. 1983) 352 N.W.2d 640  (attorney contempt conviction reversed).

 

People v. Kay (1973) 36 Cal.App.3d 759, 11 Cal.Rptr. 894 (reversal). 

 

 

Selected Publications:


N. Tooby, TOOBY’S CHECKLISTS ON CRIMINAL IMMIGRATION LAW (2009)

 

N. Tooby, ed., TOOBY’S CATEGORICAL ANALYSIS TOOL KIT (2009).

 

N. Tooby, CALIFORNIA POST-CONVICTION RELIEF FOR IMMIGRANTS (2009).

 

N. Tooby, TOOBY’S GUIDE TO CRIMINAL IMMIGRATION LAW (2008).

 

N. Tooby, J. Rollin & J. Foster, CRIMES OF MORAL TURPITUDE (3d ed. 2008).

 

N. Tooby, CRIMINAL DEFENSE OF IMMIGRANTS (2007).

 

N. Tooby, AGGRAVATED FELONIES (3d ed. 2006).

 

N. Tooby & J. Rollin, SAFE HAVENS: HOW TO IDENTIFY AND CONSTRUCT NON-DEPORTABLE CONVICTIONS (2005).

 

N. Tooby, POST-CONVICTION RELIEF FOR IMMIGRANTS (National Edition, 2004).

 

N. Tooby, CALIFORNIA EXPUNGEMENT MANUAL (2002).

 

N. Tooby, VACATING FEDERAL CONVICTIONS: A CASE STUDY (2000).

 

N. Tooby, Update Editor, D. Kesselbrenner & L. Rosenberg, IMMIGRATION LAW AND CRIMES (West Group, 1998-2002).

 

N. Tooby, Reducing Felonies to Misdemeanors in California for Immigration Purposes, Annual AILA California Chapters Conference Handbook 228 (14th ed., M. Mucha, ed. 2001).

 

N. Tooby, Chapter 8 on Post Conviction Relief, and co-author, Chapter 9 on Aggravated Felonies in K. Brady, et al., CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL LAW AND IMMIGRATION (Immigrant Legal Resource Center 2004).

 

K. Brady, Judge Dana Marks Keener, & N. Tooby, Chapter 48, Representing the Noncitizen Criminal Defendant, in CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL LAW PROCEDURE AND PRACTICE (Continuing Education of the Bar, 4th edition, 1998, 5th edition, 2000, 6th edition, 2002, 7th edition 2005).

 

N. Tooby, Recent Developments Concerning Effective Orders Vacating Convictions, 11 BENDER'S IMM. BULL. 534 (June 1, 2006).

 

N. Tooby, Representing the Noncitizen in Juvenile Court, in seminar materials for California Public Defender’s Association, January, 1998 Seminar, Monterey, California.

 

N. Tooby, Evaluating the Chances of Obtaining Post-Conviction Relief: What Immigration Lawyers Need to Know, in American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n, PRACTICE UNDER IIRAIRA: ONE YEAR LATER 223 (R. Murphy, ed. 1997).

 

N. Tooby, Vacating Criminal Convictions, in American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n, II IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY LAW: ADVANCED PRACTICE 339 (1997).

 

K. Brady & N. Tooby, How to Protect Defendants from Immigration Consequences, 24 California Attorneys for Criminal Justice FORUM, No. 3, 42 (August, 1997).

 

N. Tooby, Article, “Criminal Defense of Noncitizens,” National Lawyer’s Guild National Immigration Project 22 Immigration Newsletter, Nos. 3 and 4 (1995).

 

N. Tooby, Article, “Raising Federal Issues in State Court,” in materials published by the Bay Area Community Law Foundation and the National Lawyers Guild for MCLE Seminar entitled, How to Preserve and Strengthen Issues for Appeal, October 1, 1994. 

 

 

Selected Seminars and Presentations:

 

"Master Class on Padilla v. Kentucky: Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants," hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, Berkeley, California, January, 2010.

 

“Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants,” panel at American Immigration Lawyers Association, National Harbor, Maryland, June, 2010.

 

“Immigration Consequences of Criminal Conduct,” sponsored by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, San Diego, California, May 2010.

 

"Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants Seminar," hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, Berkeley, California, January, 2010.

 

“Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions” and “Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants,” with K. Brady and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Statewide Seminars held in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Spring, 1998, Fall 1998, Spring 1999, Fall, 1999, Spring 2000, Fall 2000, Spring 2001, Fall 2001, Spring 2002, Fall 2002, Spring 2003, Fall 2004, Fall 2005, Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, and Fall 2009.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, and Manuel Vargas, NYSDA Immigrant Defense Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, the National Immigration Project, and NYSDA Immigrant Defense Project, New York, New York, September, 2009.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby and the National Immigration Project, National Harbor, Maryland, June 2010..

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby and the National Immigration Project, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 2009.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, and Manuel Vargas, NYSDA Immigrant Defense Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, the National Immigration Project, and NYSDA Immigrant Defense Project, New York, New York, September, 2008.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby and the National Immigration Project, Vancouver, Canada, June 2008.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby and the National Immigration Project, Miami, Florida, March, 2008.

 

"Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants Seminar," hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, Berkeley, California, February, 2008.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, and Manuel Vargas, NYSDA Immigrant Defense Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, the National Immigration Project, and NYSDA Immigrant Defense Project, New York, New York, September, 2007.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby and the National Immigration Project, Orlando, Florida, June, 2007.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, and Manuel Vargas, NYSDA Immigrant Defense Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, the National Immigration Project, and NYSDA Immigrant Defense Project, New York, New York, September, 2006.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby and the National Immigration Project, San Antonio, Texas, June 2006.

 

“Immigration Consequences of Domestic Violence Cases.”  Talk at the Practicing Law Institute’s annual Immigration & Naturalization Institute, San Francisco, California, November 2005.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Law.”  Seminar co-sponsored by Wisconsin Public Defender, Young Lawyer’s Division of the State Bar of Wisconsin, and Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin at the State Bar Center, Madison, Wisconsin, October 2005.

 

“Topics in Post-Conviction Relief,” seminar presented by the Young Lawyers Division of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, San Francisco, California, October 2005.

 

“National Immigration Consequences of State Criminal Convictions Training,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, Washington, DC, July 2005.

 

“Criminal Conduct – Advanced Review Workshop,” with fellow panelists Dan Kesselbrenner, Marc Van der Hout, Stacy Tolchin and Lory Rosenberg at American Immigration Lawyers Annual Conference on Immigration Law, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 2005.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby and the National Immigration Project, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 2005.

 

“Post-Conviction Relief.”  Talk at the National Immigration Project Skills Seminar on Immigration Law and Defense: Relief from Removal, San Diego, California, May 2005.

 

“Safe Havens in Crime of Moral Turpitude Cases.”  Teleseminar hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, Oakland, California, February, 2005.

 

Workshop on Analysis of Criminal Convictions with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Lawyer’s Guild.  Sponsored by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyer’s Guild, Birmingham, Alabama, October 2004.

 

“Immigration Institute – Consequences of Criminal Convictions.”  Presentation at the Practicing Law Institute’s annual Immigration & Naturalization Institute, San Francisco, California, October 2004.

 

Faculty, Immigrant Legal Resource Center Seminar, at the Defending Immigrants Partnership National Training Conference, San Francisco, California, June 2004.  

 

“Post-Conviction Relief,” talk with co-presenters Mark T. Kenmore and David J. Lanphier at American Immigration Lawyers Annual Conference on Immigration Law, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 2004.

 

“Crimes and Immigration Seminar,” with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project, presented by the National Immigration Project and the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, Philadelphia, PA, June 2004.

 

“Avoiding Removal in Firearms Cases, Drug Cases, and Domestic Violence Cases.”  Teleseminar with Dan Kesselbrenner of the National Immigration Project and Kathy Brady of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, May 2004.

 

“Post-Conviction Relief,” talk as part of the Challenging Immigration Consequences of Crimes National Immigration Project Skills Seminar, Seattle, Washington, May 2004.

 

“Immigration Consequences of Crimes, Post-Conviction Relief & Immigration Update,” with Zachary Nightingale.  Seminar presented by the Barristers Club of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, April 2004.

 

“Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants,” with Joseph Justin Rollin.  Teleseminar hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, Oakland, California, April 2004.

 

“Defending Noncitizens in Juvenile Court,” with Matt Millen and IJ Nickerson.  Presentation on the definition of “conviction” for immigration purposes, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Los Angeles, California, March 2004.

 

“Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants,” Meet the Mentor Series, sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, San Francisco, California, February 2004.

 

“Avoiding Removal in Drug Cases in the Ninth Circuit,” Teleseminar hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, Oakland, California, February 2004.

 

“Changing Times for Immigration: Life After INS Reorganization,” at American Immigration Lawyers Association Convention, San Diego, California, November 2003.

 

“Post-Conviction Relief Regarding Immigration Issues,” with Brent Ferreira, Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.  Joint seminar held by the Immigration Law Section and the Criminal Justice Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Los Angeles, California, October 2003.

 

“Post-Conviction Options; Working with Immigration & Defense Counsel,” with Susan Compernolle, at the Defending Immigrants Partnership National Training Conference, San Francisco, California, September 2003.

“Determining the Boundaries of an Aggravated Felony Definition.”  Teleseminar hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, Oakland, California, September 2003.

 

“Avoiding Deportation of LPRs for Aggravated Felonies.”  Teleseminar hosted by the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, Oakland, California, August 2003.

 

“Like Bridge Over Troubled Water” – Post Conviction Relief, with Dan Kesselbrenner and Wayne McMillan at American Immigration Lawyers Annual Conference on Immigration Law, New Orleans, Louisiana, June 2003.

 

“Immigration Consequences of Criminal Cases,” talk at a conference on the Basics of Immigration Law Practice, sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Los Angeles, California, April 2003.

 

“Criminal Defense of Immigrants in California.” Advanced Seminar sponsored by the Defending Immigrants Partnership, San Francisco, California, February 2003.  

 

“Criminal Law Issues in Immigration Court,” talk at the Annual NW Regional American Immigration Lawyers Association Conference, Portland, Oregon, February 2003.

 

AILA California Chapter Conference.  11/15/02

“Challenges to Deportation and Removal: Selected Advanced Issues.”  Seminar sponsored by National Lawyers Guild. Pasadena: October 16, 2002.

 

“Immigration Consequences of Criminal Cases,” cosponsored with National Immigration Project of National Lawyers Guild and Immigrant Legal Resource Center.  San Francisco: June 14, 2002.

 

“Vacating Criminal Convictions,” talk at workshop on “Avoiding the Consequences of Criminal Convictions,” at American Immigration Lawyers’ Association Convention, Orlando, Florida, June 1997.

 

“Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions.”  Seminar sponsored by ILRC, National Lawyers Guild, and others.  San Francisco: June 25, 1994.

 

“The Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions.”  Seminar sponsored by the ILRC and the California Bar Association, Criminal Law Section.  San Francisco:  April 3, 1993.

 

“The Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions.”  Seminar sponsored by the ILRC and California Bar Ass'n, Criminal Law Section.  Los Angeles: June 12, 1993.

 

“The Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions.”  Seminar sponsored by the ILRC and the California Bar Association, Criminal Law Section.  Davis:  March 6, 1993.

 

“Immigration Consequences of Criminal Offenses.”  Seminar sponsored by the ILRC; State Bar Association; National Lawyers Guild; American Immigration Lawyers Association; and the U.C. Davis Immigration Law Clinic.  Davis: October 26, 1991.

 

“Immigration Consequences of Crimes.”  Seminar sponsored by the ILRC.  Hastings College of Law.  San Francisco: October 5, 1991.

 

“Post-Conviction Relief and Its Impact on Immigration Cases.”  Seminar sponsored by the ILRC and Golden Gate Law School.  San Francisco: September 18, 1990; San Jose: September 25, 1990.

 

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