ophelia in virginia. so we bring different perspectives. i want to share if you you what is going known tate of maryland in terms of immigrant opportunities in the aftermath of the padilla decision. ophelia mentioned one of the big questions that calm out of the padilla case which it would apply retroactively. for those in law school you know when there's a new law that comes out, one over the big decisions whether that means from that time forward we take a look at things in a different way or look backwards. after the padilla decision we had a case in maryland calls denizio vs. state and the case said pa dia should be retroactive. in other words, if a criminal defense attorney had given ineffective assistance of counsel many years ago prior to the padilla decision, that person could bring an action in maryland to get the criminal defense case -- the actual criminal conviction looked at again. and it didn't matter how far back you wanted to go. if you had ineffective assistance of counsel you could go back as far as you wanted. the supreme

so'll start with you, ophelia.can you give us an overview as to what exactly are the duties that -- can you give us a brief context what led to this ruling. >> okay. at the time of the issuance in 2010, he had been a permanent resident of the united states for more than 40 years. in -- i should point out he lived in the united states, ties in the u.s., had served in the vietnam war, in the armed forces, really been a part of this community. in 2001, for whatever reason, he was charged with -- he was arrested, driving a tractor-trailer with 1,000 pounds of marijuana, and in the end he had multiple charges, i think it was like -- i want to say two misdemeanor trafficking or felony trafficking,'s of paraphernalia and then a weight issue on his tractor. he pleaded guilty to three counts of -- i'm sorry -- in any event pleading guilty to the distribution of the marijuana, which under immigration laws is considered an aggravated felony, was considered an aggravated felony, now potentially as well, some he was rendered re

that is what ophelia and jonathan talked-about but it is difficult to reverse an act once it is donend is not retroactive and similarly when you have applied for something it is difficult to undo an application for immigration especially if you never eligible in the first place. one quick comment along with it. with the ramirez case, he did solicit sort of i guess other businesses where there was an attorney and he would want to go to the business and say i will bring you the client and you hire me as your paralegal for each representation and where you come and an ethical issue with that is if you are the supervising attorney of this non attorney who is engaged in the practice of law because he is the only one with a client contact, the only one giving legal advice and assistance then you have this 5.5 the shoe. that prohibits an attorney from assisting someone engage in the unauthorized practice of law and if you make a complaint to the virginia state or d.c. bar with the practice of law committees you can actually have that attorney suspended, disbarred or referred for criminal pr