Elizabeth Montano

Elizabeth Montano has been an associate with KKTP since September 2019. She practices in all areas of immigration law, but focuses primarily on federal immigration litigation, investor-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visa applications, and other complex cases in front of the Immigration Court and before USCIS or the Department of State. Elizabeth is passionate about immigration law and goes the extra mile to help her clients achieve their goals.

Elizabeth graduated summa cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in May 2019. While in law school, Elizabeth served as the Editor-in-Chief of the University of Miami Law Review, for which she received the Daniel B. Gaubatz Memorial Award for her dedication and contribution to the Law Review. Elizabeth was a student intern and fellow in the Immigration Clinic from 2017 to 2019, for which she won the 2018 CLEA Outstanding Clinical Student Award. She also served as a Dean's Fellow for Professor Irwin Stotzky and a Research Assistant for Professor Shara Pelz. During her final semester in law school, Elizabeth was awarded the Society of Bar & Gavel's Roger Sorino Award, which is given to a graduating law student at Miami Law who best exemplifies leadership, dedication to the school, and service to the community.

Elizabeth is an avid writer and has published numerous academic articles about timely and important topics. In 2019, Elizabeth won the Law360 Distinguish Legal Writing Award for her article, The Bring Your Own Tampon Policy: Why Menstrual Hygiene Products Should Be Provided for Free in Restrooms, which was published in 2018. She also won the Yale Law Journal's 2019 Student Writing Competition for her Essay, The Rise and Fall of Administrative Closure in Immigration Courts, which was published in 2020. This article has been cited by several federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Elizabeth has also co-authored an article with Professor Rebecca Sharpless, entitled Divisibility Redux: "Alternatively Phrased Statutes" and State Law in the Post-Mathis Categorical Approach, which was published in 2019, and an article with KKTP Partner Edward F. Ramos, entitled Does It Really Matter?: Making the Case for a Materiality Requirement in False Claims to U.S. Citizenship Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which was published in 2021.