MEET YOUR ATTORNEY
William Patrick York II
William P. York focuses his practice on family, business, and humanitarian immigration; civil rights litigation to vindicate the constitutional rights of immigrants; immigration appeals; the protection and defense of immigrant workers’ rights, including victims of human trafficking, advocating for immigrant victims of crime in the workplace; and civil litigation in state and federal courts. Mr. York has more than a decade of legal experience advocating for immigrants’ rights. Mr. York is a 2011 graduate of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor and a Certificate of Concentration in Litigation with Honors. Mr. York is a proud member of the National Lawyers Guild and is a founding member of the NLG’s Nashville chapter, which, to date, has focused its work primarily through public education and policy and legal reform on issues of homelessness, policing and criminalization, and issues related to income disparities. For years, Will was the general counsel for Workers’ Dignity (Dignidad Obrera), a Nashville nonprofit workers’ center dedicated to organizing low-wage and immigrant workers against wage theft. In addition to volunteering for immigration-related causes, Mr. York regularly volunteers his time advocating for the rights of prisoners, unhoused and vulnerably housed persons, workers, and the LGBTQ community. The proud son of a public school teacher, Mr. York serves on the board of directors for multiple educational organizations in the South.
In law school, Mr. York lent his expertise to the Henry T. King War Crimes Research Lab on a project for the Office of the Prosecutor for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and was on his school’s national moot court team. Mr. York earned a regional award as best oral advocate in the American College of Trial Lawyers National Moot Court Competition and the Justice Lewis Powell Medal for Excellence in Advocacy. His team advanced to the final rounds of the New York City Bar Association’s National Moot Court Competition. Prior to law school, Will was a prolific writer and the award-winning managing editor and senior reporter for his college’s student newspaper.
Will earned numerous journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Southeast Journalism Conference, where he won the coveted “Best in the South” prize for best news reporting. Will brings his creative writing talents to work for his clients and drafts a wide array of pleadings and briefs in immigration court (including the Board of Immigration Appeals), state court, and federal court.
Areas of Practice
80% Immigration Law 10% Civil Rights 5% Litigation & Appeals 5% Employment Law — Employee
Bar Admissions
Tennessee, 2011 U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, 2012 U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, 2015 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2018 U.S. Dept. of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Education
Case Western Reserve University Law School, Cleveland, Ohio
- J.D. – 2011
- Honors: National Moot Court Team; Henry T. King War Crimes Research Lab
- Honors: Cert. of Concentration in Litigation with Honors
University of Tennessee at Martin, Martin, Tennessee
- B.S., summa cum laude – 2008
- Major: Communications (News-Editorial)
- Minor: Business Administration
- Certificate of Proficiency in French Language and Literature
Published Works
Occupy Nashville Overview, 11 Nash. Bar J. 11, 14-15 (2011), Winter 2011
Honors and Awards
Young Leader Award, Tennessee Alliance for Progress Tennessee Supreme Court Attorney for Justice, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Professional Associations and Memberships
American Immigration Lawyers Association National Lawyers Guild, National Lawyers Guild, 2011 – Present
Past Employment Positions
Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison, LLC, Contract Attorney and Class Action Clerk, 2012 – 2013 Private Practice, Principal, 2011 – 2014
Pro Bono Activities
Work on Fair Housing Act case w/ Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, 2013 Know-your-rights, legal advice clinics, legal observing, training legal observers, popular education on legal topics representing protesters – National Lawyers Guild Workers’ Dignity (Dignidad Obrera), past general counsel No Exceptions Prison Collective Foster Woods Folk School Destination Imagination Inc. (Tennessee)
Languages
French
Spanish