Meet the Attorney

Elizabeth M. Trinidad opened her Law Office back in April 2001.

For well over 25 years, the office has represented mostly working-class clients from Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere.

Elizabeth is a member of AILA, the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

AILA is a voluntary association of over 18,000 attorneys. Membership is considered a prerequisite to being taken seriously as an immigration attorney. (That said, AILA membership is not merit-based).

Education & Professional

University of Pennsylvania, Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude (1993) in Linguistics, with minors in African Studies and in Folklore & Folklife Studies; Temple University School of Law, J.D. (1998). Elizabeth is licensed to practice law in the State of New Jersey & admitted to practice law before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She can accept immigration law cases from anywhere in the United States but strongly prefers clients to live within driving distance. Elizabeth has provided immigration-related training to other lawyers, to Superior Court judges, and public defenders. She maintains close relationships with fellow immigration lawyers and with other defense attorneys.

Travel, Languages, Personal

Elizabeth grew up in the former West Germany. She’s been to Mexico, South Africa, Peru, Guatemala, Venezuela, Nigeria, Switzerland, France, Spain, the U.K., Italy, and the former USSR & former East Germany. Elizabeth speaks, reads, and writes English, Spanish, German, and French. In the past, Elizabeth was proficient in Russian, Yoruba, and Hausa. Elizabeth has tried learning basic Arabic.

Precedential Case Law

In 2014, Elizabeth won a seminal published case in the NJ Appellate Division, State v. Armando Carreon. That case, for the first time ever, interpreted the sentencing provisions of NJ’s unlicensed driver statute. In 2023, Elizabeth won in the Third Circuit (federal appeals court): B.L.L. v. Attorney General (non-precedential) is important to humanitarian asylum claims.