Ronald Nguyen

Practice areas: Immigration, criminal

Law School: University of Missouri-Kansas City

Ronald Nguyen was born a U.S. citizen but that was a title his mother and father had to gain later in life as refugees from the Vietnam War who came to American shores with little more than they could carry.

Understanding his parents’ struggle to become citizens has driven Nguyen to help others in similar circumstances.

Working with Legal Aid of Western Missouri for more than five years, he rose from intern to paralegal to staff attorney to supervising immigration attorney with the organization where he was able to guide new arrivals through the perils and pitfalls of residency and naturalization. This year, he even helped set up a single-day citizenship clinic with various groups to help more than 25 people gain citizenship.

In 2015, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Young Lawyers Section honored him with their President’s Award and he’s been a regular panelist on immigration topics for various legal education events in the Kansas City area.

In August, Nguyen left Legal Aid to found his own law firm, but his ethos remains the same.

“In each of the cases that I handle, I envision my clients as my parents and want them to know that their case is very important to me,” he said.

What has been your favorite moment as an attorney?

The joy my first husband and wife clients had when they simultaneously became U.S. citizens. Afterward, I realized that my parents must have felt a similar joy when they became citizens.