Ariel Rawls is an Attorney at Grossman Young & Hammond who specializes in immigration and international human rights law. Ariel regularly secures relief for clients who are subject to INTERPOL Red Notices that are inaccurate or issued for improper and persecutory purposes. Ariel also litigates immigration cases in immigration court, before the Board of Immigration Appeals, and in federal court. She additionally helps clients obtain immigration benefits before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, including asylum and parole.
Prior to joining Grossman Young & Hammond, Ariel represented clients before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an independent human rights body that reviews human rights abuses committed by countries in the Americas, including all of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Canada and the United States. Ariel also supported members of the U.N. Committee Against Torture in reviewing countries’ noncompliance with the international prohibition on the use of torture and inhumane treatment. Ariel has additionally supported members of the International Law Commission in developing human rights protections and has interned at several nonprofit organizations, including Human Rights Watch (Middle East and North Africa Division), the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (U.S. nonprofit dedicated to protecting human rights in Haiti), and Rabbis for Human Rights (Israeli nonprofit advocating for Palestinian rights).
Ariel graduated from the American University Washington College of Law magna cum laude and was one of two students in her graduating class to be named by the faculty as an outstanding J.D. graduate. Ariel led her school’s chapters of the International Refugee Assistance Project (legal aid and advocacy organization for refugee rights) and International Law Students Association (nonprofit association dedicated to the promotion of international law). She additionally co-founded the school’s Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief, a legal publication that addresses pressing migration and refugee related topics.
Ariel is an active member of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She is barred in the District of Columbia and admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
