Vera Serova

Greenberg Glusker LLP is proud to announce that a 20-year-old transgender woman from Ukraine has been released from immigration detention after more than 13 months in custody. With the help of two attorneys in the firm's Litigation Department, the client is now home with her mother for the first time in over a year.

The case was led by attorneys Brianna Deigan and Vera Serova. The result was achieved entirely through legal advocacy, with no court filings or formal hearings required.

When Greenberg Glusker took on this matter in April, the client faced an imminent deportation flight to Ukraine. Viewed as a biological male under Ukrainian law, she would have faced immediate military conscription and deployment to a combat zone. She had been held for over a year in a male-only detention facility under conditions of severe harassment, including solitary confinement for her own protection and special precautions to prevent assault. The toll of those conditions on her was profound. A Temporary Protected Status (TPS) application had been pending with USCIS for over a year with no movement, and a history of misdemeanor charges threatened to derail it entirely.

Brianna constructed a detailed legal memorandum for USCIS arguing that the client's prior misdemeanor dispositions did not constitute "convictions" under immigration law, a nuanced question on which the law was unsettled. The submission was filed just in time to prevent an outright denial for non-disclosure. Brianna and the client's mother then worked alongside several members of Congress to urge USCIS to adjudicate the application before a deportation could occur. The TPS application was approved.

When ICE took the position that a prior charge required the client's continued detention, Brianna engaged ICE directly and methodically. Despite receiving no response to multiple written communications, she continued to press the legal case, ultimately advising ICE in a final email that the firm would file a habeas corpus petition the following Monday. The client was released that same afternoon.

"This outcome reflects everything we believe pro bono work should be," said Steve Stein, Litigation Partner and member of the firm's Pro Bono Committee. "Brianna and Vera demonstrated that passion, determination, and unwavering devotion to a client can make a real difference. The result is profound for this person and her family, and it makes us all proud to be lawyers and part of this team."

"For a young person who came to this country seeking refuge from war, the stakes could not have been higher," Vera Serova, Counsel in the Litigation Group and also a member of the firm's Pro Bono Committee. "We are proud to have been able to help her come home to her family and to demonstrate what determined advocacy can achieve."

Brianna Deigan reflected on the result: "Thank you to Vera for her mentorship and for her deep knowledge of this particularly complex area of the law. I'm honored to have been trusted by our client to take her case into our hands and to be a part of celebrating her success."

At Greenberg Glusker, providing free legal assistance to those who need it most is both a moral obligation and an honor. It is a value the firm has upheld since its founding and one it considers fundamental to the practice of law. Greenberg Glusker does not cap the billable-hour credit that associates can receive for pro bono work and is committed to making this service a meaningful and supported part of every attorney's practice.