Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Ormiston.
Hi Katherine, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I grew up in Idaho, in the mountains. I fell in love with nature and spent a great deal of time hiking, skiing, and wandering in the forests. When I was a teenager, I discovered what would become a lifelong passion, traveling and learning from other cultures, languages, and people with different experiences from my own. Through college, I interned with a refugee resettlement organization. There, I began to understand the complexities of both domestic and international migration, heard stories of the dangers and hardships many immigrants face, and found that serving immigrants in some capacity became a career path I wanted to seek. After I finished law school, I worked as a coordinator for a program that serves immigrant human trafficking survivors. I developed trauma-informed care skills and grew as a leader within the organization. A longing to work abroad pulled me from my coordinator role across the world to Egypt in 2021 to work in policy and advocacy focused on empowerment of refugee-led organizations in Cairo. I worked with talented people from across the world, learned to love the dusty vibrancy of Cairo’s megalopolis, and fell in love with the Nile. On returning to the U.S. late in 2021, I decided to pick up a challenge, starting my own law firm. It’s been a year since then and I’ve served clients from Burundi, Iraq, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Canada. I learned to manage the firm’s finances and complete all administrative tasks. I studied the labyrinth of immigration law so that I could provide the best possible services to clients. I made it all work virtually to keep upstart and overhead costs low. I am still growing the firm, learning to network and develop connections within our community to attract clients. I am grateful to each person who reaches out to K. Ormiston Law for teaching me more about the world, the law, and how to serve.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Is it ever a smooth road? Through my adult life I have grown and learned with chronic medical challenges that sometimes significantly impact my lifestyle. In college and law school I relied on disability accommodations to really thrive. At each of my workplaces, I ensured flexibility in my work life and in most places, was able to thrive as well. With limited mobility on the harder days and constant treatment tweaking for the last ten years, I understand, accept, and am not defined by my health. The Omicron Variant that flooded the world saw to it that I returned earlier than I had planned from Egypt, leaving behind dear friends and colleagues. This quick culture and career upset lead to about of adjustment challenges. Without these and other struggles, I would have less empathy, understand trauma and mental health less, and would not have seen through my own experience the resiliency and strength of the human soul.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
K. Ormiston Law provides compassionate immigration representation. Many immigrants have experienced trauma, harassment, difficulties in the immigration process previously, and a long list of other challenges that have impacted their lives negatively. Compassionate, understandable, and clear legal service is best, particularly if a client has previous negative experiences within or outside of the immigration process. Right now I take cases for people who want to bring a relative to the U.S., asylum cases, cases for people who want to apply for a visa based on a human trafficking experience or being a victim of a crime, citizenship cases, green card cases, and a variety of other types of immigration cases. I am unable to do employment-based immigration work because I don’t have the expertise and I can’t take cases that require court appearances like removal defense. Someday I would like to expand my practice to include removal defense, but given my current health, it will have to wait. Regarding my firm, I am most proud that I am able to connect individually with my clients, hear their stories, and tailor my services to their needs.
What were you like growing up?
When I was a child, I climbed trees, rode horses, and spent hours in imaginary worlds filled with magical creatures and landscapes. I was very social, always wanting someone to accompany me to this world or that. I loved to read and often went to the library during elementary school lunchtime. I have adoring parents who were around for an adventure, a game, or a movie. I was an adventurer as a child and still am to this day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kormistonlaw.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k_ormiston_law/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kormistonlawimmigration
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/k-ormiston-law/
