Areas of Practice
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.
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 too small or too 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.