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. As a staff attorney, he obtained extensive appellate experience reviewing appellate records, preparing bench memoranda, reviewing appellate motions, and preparing orders and opinions published in the Florida Law Weekly Supplement. His appellate experience also includes assisting 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 in September 2008 and then served as an internal 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 Florida’s Code of Judicial Conduct. He also assisted the general counsel in representing judges as respondents in mandamus and prohibition proceedings in Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal.
Sebastien’s immigration practice includes representing clients before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”). This practice includes filing family-based I-130 & I-360 petitions, special immigrant I-360 petitions, temporary protected status, business immigration, status adjustment, consular processing, naturalization, and inadmissibility matters. He assists clients with their requests for evidence, notices of intent to deny, and motions to reopen.
Sebastien completed his undergraduate studies (B.A. Comparative Literature & B.A. in Russian) at the University of Rochester and studied law at the University of Miami School of Law. He is licensed to practice by the Washington State Bar and is an inactive member of the Florida and District of Columbia Bars. He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the AILA Washington State Chapter. On 4 February 2022, AILA included a short quote from Sebastien in “My Moment–When Immigration Law Became My Path, Part 3.”
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).