Faculty Profile: Dawn Garcia

Dawn Garcia has practiced primarily in immigration law for the past 17 years. She enjoys immigration law because she learns something new and exciting every day, which is both interesting and terrifying. Graduating from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2006, Dawn holds bar licenses in both Tennessee and Wisconsin. She thought she would return to the state of her birth after law school but that didn’t end up happening and she has lived in Tennessee since 2001. (She does not miss the cold and snowy winters, but she will always be a Green Bay Packers fan!)

Beginning her legal journey in 2007, Dawn initially operated a successful solo practice focusing on immigration law. During this period, from 2008 to 2014, Dawn also expanded her expertise to include consumer bankruptcy law. In 2020, Dawn and colleague Venus Niner formed Niner Garcia PLLC, a boutique practice focused on Immigration Law and Civil Litigation. In 2024, Dawn returned to solo practice, founding Garcia Immigration Law PLLC, where she continues to provide dedicated and personalized legal advice on both simple and complex immigration matters. Dawn focuses her immigration practice on family and humanitarian cases, as well as some limited removal defense.

Outside the courtroom, which is where she prefers to spend most of her time, Dawn is a parent to three children (ages 14, 12, and almost 5) and indulges in creative writing, refinishing furniture (usually badly), and raising backyard chickens. Previously, she served on the board of directors for the Refuge Center for Counseling. She is currently actively involved in the local advocacy group Citizens Against Reckless Expansion (C.A.R.E.) that seeks to promote intentional community-focused planning for growth.