Rate My Professor Kate Melloy Goettel

Kate Melloy Goettel is a Clinical Associate Professor in Law at The University of Iowa College of Law, having joined the faculty in August 2024. A 2007 J.D. graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law, she is a national leader in immigration law and federal court practice. Goettel directs the Federal Impact Litigation Clinic, supervising students who represent immigrants and immigrant organizations in federal civil cases at the intersection of immigration, civil rights, and administrative law. Under her guidance, students draft complaints, motions, opposition briefs, motions for summary judgment, engage in discovery, negotiate with federal government lawyers, and argue in hearings and status conferences before federal judges, developing essential civil litigation skills applicable to diverse legal careers.

Prior to academia, Goettel served as Senior Legal Director at the American Immigration Council, leading high-impact class-action and multi-plaintiff litigation under federal statutes and the U.S. Constitution. She was previously Associate Director of Litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center. From 2009 to 2017, as Trial Attorney and Senior Litigation Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Immigration Litigation, she litigated immigration enforcement cases in nearly 40 federal district courts nationwide, handled appeals in the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits as well as the Supreme Court, defended federal immigration agencies, trained and supervised attorneys, advised U.S. Attorney's Offices on civil immigration enforcement, and contributed to the inter-agency team that overturned the Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor. Her leadership extended to chairing the Executive Board of the Federal Bar Association's Immigration Law Section in 2022-2023. Goettel has received the Federal Bar Association's NGO Lawyer of the Year award in 2019 and the 2023 Barry Frager Award for Service to the Immigration Law Section. She is a frequent presenter and lecturer to bar associations and attorney groups, co-authors amicus briefs, delivers continuing legal education sessions, and is regularly quoted in media outlets on immigration policy and litigation.