Immigration, Criminal, &
Civil Rights Lawyer
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Legal Services
Located in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ratkowski Law provides legal services to individuals in need of legal assistance with all types of immigration, criminal, and civil rights cases.
Immigration
Attorney Nico Ratkowski understands that the immigration process can be intricate and often difficult to comprehend. He is dedicated to helping you navigate the complex and ever-changing immigration landscape. At Ratkowski Law, you will find a dedicated and experienced immigration lawyer ready to guide you through each step of your process and help you overcome hurdles standing between you and your immigration goals. Whether you are seeking a visa, lawful permanent resident status, citizenship, waivers of inadmissibility, assistance with removal or bond proceedings in immigration court or subsequent appeals, or assistance with federal court litigation, Nico Ratkowski is committed to providing you with personalized attention, strategic advice, and excellent representation to achieve the best possible outcome.
Criminal Law
Whether you are facing charges at the state or federal level, Nico Ratkowski is ready to assist. He will work tirelessly to ensure that your constitutional rights are protected while guiding you through your case. Nico has years of experience in dealing with difficult and overzealous prosecutors and police officers. He will examine your case from every angle and fight relentlessly to protect you from the long arm of the law.
Civil Rights & Personal Injury
Nico Ratkowski started practicing in the area of civil rights in 2020 immediately after George Floyd was murdered by the Minneapolis Police Department, representing protesters and other individuals who were injured in the subsequent mayhem that ensued. Since that time, Nico Ratkowski has developed a wide-ranging civil rights practice wherein he represents inmates who have been injured or otherwise had their constitutional rights infringed by their jailors, individuals who have been subjected to unlawful stops, searches, or seizures, individuals who have been exonerated after being wrongly convicted, victims of medical malpractice, and individuals who have been defamed. Nico Ratkowski has obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars for his clients and is committed to assisting you in vindicating your rights and obtaining just compensation for those who have been wronged.
Marriage Services
In addition to being a lawyer, Nico is also an ordained minister vested by the State of Minnesota and the Universal Life Church with the power to officiate marriages. If you are interested in using Nico as your minister, you may contact the office and ask about pricing.
Contact Us
First National Bank Building
332 Minnesota St., Suite W1610
St. Paul, MN 55101
nico@ratkowskilaw.com
(651) 755-5150
Areas of Practice
Civil Rights & Personal Injury
Nico Ratkowski is committed to achieving the best possible results for his clients who have been victimized by police, jails, doctors, dentists, nurses, hospitals, businesses, and even the Minnesota National Guard. No case is to small or to big for Nico to handle. He has successfully sued and recovered settlements from Minnesota and the Minnesota National Guard, the City of Minneapolis and its police officers, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, county jails, privately owned businesses providing medical care to inmates, and the Executive Office for Immigration Review, among others. Whatever the issue, Nico can help.
Immigration
Nico Ratkowski handles all types of immigration cases, including: asylum claims, deportation defense (including representation before the immigration court and, if necessary, the Board of Immigration Appeals), family-based petitions, adjustment of status applications, bond requests and redetermination requests, applications for waivers of inadmissibility, U-visa applications for crime victims, VAWA applications, employment-based visa applications (both immigrant and nonimmigrant), investor visas, affidavit of support enforcement, tourist visa applications, requests for stays of removal, and motions to reopen prior removal orders. Nico has even helped a client obtain from the Minnesota Board of Pardons the first absolute pardon the Board had granted in 35 years. Owing to his previous experience in the University of Minnesota’s tax clinic, Nico occasionally handles immigration-related tax issues. Nico has extensive experience dealing with USCIS, ICE, DHS, and the Department of State, and can help you navigate any type of immigration issue.
Federal Court Litigation
Nico Ratkowski has wide ranging civil litigation experience in both the state and federal spheres, and he has litigated cases before the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and has assisted numerous clients by drafting Writs of Certiorari to request review by the Supreme Court of the United States. Nico’s federal civil litigation experience includes numerous successful lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) seeking to compel intransigent agencies to respond to requests for information. Nico has represented numerous individuals in challenges to USCIS’ erroneous denial of their application for immigration benefits, and he filed a class action lawsuit seeking to invalidate a rule promulgated by the Attorney General which operates to disallow people in deportation proceedings from being able to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver (I-601A). Nico’s experience includes filing requests for injunctive relief, and even complicated post-conviction habeas corpus petitions challenging involuntary guilty pleas, unconstitutional criminal trials, unconstitutional sentencing practices. Occasionally, Nico sues the government to force them to do their job and perform a duty they are supposed to perform but which they are refusing or failing to perform. Nico has had great success in litigating important questions surrounding denials of U-nonimmigrant status, denials of waivers of inadmissibility submitted on Form I-192, denials of applications for adjustment of status from U-nonimmigrant status, and he assists people who have been deprived of their civil or constitutional rights by government actors by regularly filing and litigating federal civil rights claims. Unlike most immigration lawyers, Nico Ratkowski is extremely comfortable in federal court and is willing to use the federal courts as necessary to obtain the best possible result for his clients.
Criminal & Postconviction
Nico Ratkowski has years of experience representing criminal defendants in cases ranging between misdemeanor protester offenses, DWIs, conspiracy allegations, felony drug charges, sex offenses, and gun cases. Nico has also worked on numerous highly contentious, complicated, and sensitive postconviction and habeas corpus petitions in state and federal courts to challenge convictions and sentences arising from allegations of sex trafficking and murder. Nico has successfully had medical marijuana returned to a client by police who wrongly confiscated it after assisting a client in beating a bogus marijuana charge.
