From January 2008 until August 2019, Sebastien served as a staff attorney in the General Counsel’s Office, Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court in Miami, Florida. His adventure with The Rogers Firm, P.C. began in 2019.
Professional Experience
As a staff attorney in the Florida court system, he obtained appellate experience reviewing motions and records, preparing bench memoranda, and preparing orders and opinions published in the Florida Law Weekly Supplement. He also assisted panels with requests for extraordinary writs such as common-law certiorari, mandamus, and prohibition petitions.
In addition to appellate and civil experience, Sebastien completed internal investigations certification with the Council on Education in Management and then served as an investigator for Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court. In this capacity, he co-investigated civil rights complaints filed against judges, court employees, and submitted confidential reports for the chief judge and general counsel’s review. Sebastien’s duties included providing advisories to judges and the Administrative Office of the Courts regarding ethical obligations imposed by the Code of Judicial Conduct. In addition, he assisted the general counsel in representing judges as respondents in mandamus and prohibition proceedings in Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal.
Legal Practice
Sebastien’s immigration practice includes representing clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”). This practice includes family-based I-130 & I-360 petitions and special immigrant I-360 petitions. As an immigration attorney, he handles humanitarian applications for temporary protected status, parole, and refugee-based petitions for family members. He assists clients with business immigration, status adjustment, consular processing, naturalization, and inadmissibility matters. Additionally, he helps clients with their requests for evidence, notices of intent to deny, and motions to reopen.
When needed by other law firms, he serves as local counsel for cases filed in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington. Though his practice primarily focuses upon immigration law, occasionally Sebastien litigates in WA State’s superior courts and courts of appeal.
Education & Professional Memberships
Sebastien completed his undergraduate studies (B.A. Comparative Literature & B.A. in Russian) at the University of Rochester. He studied law at the University of Miami School of Law. He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the AILA Washington State Chapter, and the Chicago Bar Association. On 4 February 2022, AILA included a short quote from Sebastien in “My Moment–When Immigration Law Became My Path, Part 3.”
State Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia Bar (inactive)
- Florida Bar (inactive)
- Illinois Bar (active)
- Washington State Bar (active)
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
- Executive Office for Immigration Review
Publication
“The Chasm in Florida Appellate Law: Intra-Circuit Conflicting Appellate Decisions.” The Florida Bar Journal (April 2018).