The Partners

Matthew L. Kolken

Matthew L. Kolken is a trial lawyer with experience in all aspects of United States Immigration Law – including deportation defense before Immigration Courts throughout the United States, appellate practice before the Board of Immigration Appeals, the U.S. District Courts, and U.S. Courts of Appeals. 

He is an elected member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association's Board of Governors where he has been a member since 1997. He is admitted to practice in the courts of the State of New York, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits.  

Mr. Kolken has received the highest AV peer rating by Martindale-Hubbell, has been named a "Super Lawyer" in Upstate New York by Super Lawyers magazine, was listed by Business First of Buffalo as being among the “Legal Elite of Western New York," and has received a "Superb" rating and "Client's Choice" award on Avvo.com. The New York Law Journal has recognized him as a "Lawyer Who Leads by Example" for his work providing pro bono legal services to unaccompanied refugee children, and he is the recipient of the 2018 Marquis Who's Who in American Law Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.  Mr. Kolken was also awarded the American Immigration Lawyers Association Upstate New York Chapter's Equal Justice Under the Law Peter J. Murrett III Pro Bono Award in recognition for community service, and the Erie County Bar Association's Pro Bono Award in recognition and appreciation for legal services performed in immigration matters before the Court.

Mr. Kolken has appeared nationally on FOX News, MSNBC, and CNN.  His legal analysis has been solicited by the Washington Post's Fact Check of the immigration statements of Secretary Hillary Clinton, then Presidential candidate Donald Trump, and the immigration status of the parents of First Lady Melania Trump.  His opinions on immigration law have been published in Forbes Magazine, Bloomberg, The Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, and FOX News among others.  He has been an invited speaker at AILA's annual conference on grounds of removability, is the author of the Deportation and Removal Blog on ILW.com, where he is a member of the advisory board of the Immigration Daily, an online immigration news periodical with more than 35,000 readers. He is also a prominent immigration reform activist having been ranked as the most influential person on Twitter in the area of Immigration Law.

Robert D. Kolken - Retired

A former member of the Board of Governors of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, a past Chair of the Upstate New York Chapter, and a current member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.  He is also past Chair of the Immigration Law Committee of the Erie County Bar Association.  He is a frequent speaker at AILA and New York State Bar Association immigration law conferences.  He is admitted to practice before the the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 11th Circuits, and has appeared in Immigration Courts throughout the United States.  He has been practicing law for over 50 years.