Why a 25-Year Attorney Rebuilt Her Practice Around Immigration Law

Episode 2 · 53 min · October 15, 2026

Aileen Salud Rose practiced law for more than two decades before rebuilding her firm around immigration in 2024. In this episode she explains why she made the change, how 22 years of project-based work shaped the practice she runs now, how a listserv post for a Kentucky-licensed lawyer led to her first federal habeas case, and why a career built entirely on referrals is getting a website now.

Key takeaways for firm owners

She ran a profitable practice for 22 years on relationships alone, no website, no social media.
Project-based engagements let her set her own capacity long before remote work was normal.
Everyone she asked for help in the immigration bar said yes, which she did not expect.
Her first habeas case came from answering a listserv post nobody else was answering.
She is building a website now because in 2026 it is intake and invoicing, not a billboard.

About the guest

Aileen Salud Rose has been an attorney for more than 25 years. She interned for a judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, practiced at Frost Brown Todd, served as an assistant attorney general for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and edited for LexisNexis before opening her own practice in 2002. Her national immigration practice serves universities, international students, healthcare professionals, and nonprofit organizations. She co-chairs the immigration section of the Nashville Bar Association, is a member of AILA, and takes federal habeas cases pro bono through the National Immigrant Justice Center.

Website: aileenroselaw.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aileen-salud-rose/

In this episode

Why did Aileen Salud Rose rebuild her law practice around immigration after 22 years?

She is a first-generation immigrant, the cases that meant the most to her were about building community, and by 2025 the need for immigration attorneys was impossible to ignore. She had already been laying the groundwork; the timing made the decision. (02:20 to 04:31)

How did 22 years of project-based legal work shape the firm she runs now?

From 2002 to 2024 she took one matter at a time for small businesses that could not afford in-house counsel, work now called fractional general counsel. It let her decide her own capacity and work remotely when both were unusual, and she carried that model into her immigration practice. (11:54 to 15:57)

How does an immigration attorney keep up when the rules change by the hour?

By checking every day, and by leaning on AILA, NAFSA, and the listservs that flag changes and the court challenges to them. “The advice that you gave your client on a Wednesday at three o’clock is not the same advice that is relevant on a Friday at nine AM.” (06:45)

What surprised her about starting over in a new practice area?

How many people helped. “Everyone that I met said yes.” (22:03) She calls herself a reluctant networker and says the immigration bar was the most welcoming professional space she has worked in.

How did she end up taking federal habeas cases pro bono?

A listserv post asked for a Kentucky-licensed attorney to take a detention case. She answered it, got connected with the National Immigrant Justice Center, and that became her first habeas case. The client was released. She says the federal court work translates well for any immigration attorney who already does the research and writes the briefs. (31:31 to 36:25, 45:34)

How does she handle a habeas case that does not go her way?

The doubt comes first. The facts matched cases she had won; the district was different. Not long after, the Sixth Circuit ruled that detainees should get a bond hearing, which she took as confirmation it was not her work. (46:33 to 48:11)

Why does a 24-year career without a website end now?

Because in 2026 the website is the front door: intake, invoicing, and the place a client finds out whether you can help. She says she could not have launched a solo practice this way in 2010 or 2015, and that relationships are still what the practice runs on. (39:38 to 44:46)

What does she hope clients say about her?

“I hope that they will say that I listened to their story, that I walked with them on their journey, and that they were able to find opportunity here, and that I did good work.” (51:19)

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
02:20 Why she rebuilt her practice around immigration
06:14 What the hard work looks like from inside a practice
08:30 Keeping up with form changes and court challenges
11:54 Project-based counsel for 22 years, and what it taught her
13:54 Balance, and remote work before it was normal
16:39 How 25 years of experience shows up in immigration work
17:55 How the RFE policy change affects case preparation
21:43 What surprised her about starting over
24:42 Who her practice serves
31:31 Taking federal habeas cases through the National Immigrant Justice Center
39:38 Why a website after 24 years without one
44:46 A colleague’s review, read on air
46:33 The habeas case that did not go her way
48:11 Why the detention cases stay with her
50:52 What she hopes clients say about her

Informational only. Not legal advice.