The Honorable Immigration Judge Philip S Law

San Diego, CA Immigration Court
Appointed May 1997 · President Bill Clinton Attorney General Janet Reno (AG inferred from date)
29 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Caseload & process (since 2021)
1,074
Completions per year
4,295 total
1.4%
Detained at decision
share of cases
6.8 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
10.1%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
2.1%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
20%
Appeals remanded or reversed
25 appeals decided

Bond decisions

Custody redetermination (bond) rulings since 2021. "Granted" means the judge lowered the bond, ordered release on recognizance, or otherwise granted the request.
80%
Bond requests granted
10 bond decisions Too few cases
$3,500
Median bond when set
8 bonds with amounts
0%
Released on own recognizance
This judge 80%
Court average 0%
National 41.9% · median $6,500

Grant rates by type of relief

Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
53% 134 decisions Moderate
Withholding / CAT
11.2% 143 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
70% 40 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
85.7% 7 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
100% 5 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
69% 29 decisions Too few cases
53%
of asylum claims granted on the merits Moderate
Based on 134 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
53%
This court
37%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 16% of the 825 judges nationally with enough cases to compare.

Does a lawyer matter here?

Asylum grant rate by whether the person had legal representation.
With a lawyerrepresented · 128 decisions since 2021
55.5%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 6 decisions since 2021
0%

Asylum grant rate over time

Each point is that calendar year's grant rate, back to 2015 where the judge was deciding cases — the longer career view. Dashed grey line = current national average (31.8%). Headline rates above use 2021 – today.
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%2015: 18.8% of 16 decisions18.8%20152016: 24.2% of 33 decisions24.2%20162017: 7.8% of 103 decisions7.8%20172018: 12.2% of 230 decisions12.2%20182019: 9.1% of 198 decisions9.1%20192020: 18.5% of 130 decisions18.5%20202021: 34.1% of 44 decisions34.1%20212022: 60% of 55 decisions60%20222023: 65.7% of 35 decisions65.7%2023

Courts where this judge has decided cases

Hearing locations for cases this judge completed since 2021, by number of decisions. Many judges hear cases from more than one court (detained facilities, video dockets, or reassignments).
San Diego, CA · home court
4,248 (99%)
44 (1.0%)
2 (0.05%)
1 (0.02%)