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Principal Founding Partner
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Ryan R. Wood brings more than twenty years of experience at every level of the federal immigration system — as an Army JAG officer, ICE prosecutor, federal AUSA, Immigration Judge, and Assistant Chief Immigration Judge supervising courts in four states. He retired from EOIR in February 2025 and co-founded Emeriti Law to provide the kind of direct, experience-based counsel that the current immigration enforcement environment demands.
Ryan has led the firm's organizational consulting practice since its founding, providing immigration enforcement presentations, policy reviews, and strategic guidance to organizations ranging from a major health system and hospital association to an agricultural industry organization, a financial services company, media organizations, regional restaurant groups, nonprofits, and small businesses. Ryan has also been interviewed and relied on as a source by national publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker, and has appeared on MSNBC and CBS Sunday Morning with Ted Koppel. He has provided expert declarations in immigration cases and has served as co-counsel with large law firms on complex immigration matters. He works closely with solo practitioners and small firms seeking strategic guidance on removal proceedings and appellate strategy.
Ryan provides counsel to organizations on worksite enforcement investigations, I-9 compliance, enforcement encounter protocols, and white-collar investigations with an immigration nexus. He has delivered presentations to C-suite executives, HR leadership, and frontline managers on understanding their immigration risk, the legal boundaries of federal officer authority, and proactive measures to mitigate organizational exposure. His perspective on immigration enforcement and court operations has been sought by journalists at national and regional outlets covering these issues.
The firm's partners routinely collaborate on appellate matters — providing strategic guidance, counsel, and review before briefs are filed. Ryan works closely with Aliza Lopes Baker, Elizabeth Young, and Wynne Kelly on the firm's appellate docket, drawing on his experience presiding over thousands of cases from the bench.
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Drawing on four years as ICE Associate Chief Counsel, including designation as a National Security Attorney and embedded service with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Ryan advises organizations on I-9 compliance, enforcement encounter protocols, and crisis response.
As a former IJ who presided over thousands of detained cases and as ACIJ who supervised some of the country's highest-volume dockets, he brings a decision-maker's perspective to both trial-level strategy and appellate practice.
Three years as Special AUSA in the District of Minnesota's Major Crimes and Priority Prosecutions section, including 35+ felony convictions, inform his counsel on criminal-immigration crossover matters and expert declarations.
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