 In 1978 he was a teaching assistant to professor Peter W. Brown at the Franklin Pierce Law Center.He began his legal career as an Honor Law Graduate under the United States Attorney General's Honors Program.He served in various capacities with the Justice Department's Chicago District of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), with jurisdiction over the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, including as a trial attorney from 1978 to 1982, district counsel from 1982 to 2000, and acting district director from 1986 to 1987.