An 18-year-old student, Syed Ziauddin Quadri, son of Syed Tajuddin Meraj Quadri, entered Sultan-ul-Loom College of Law in Hyderabad with a dream of becoming a lawyer. As a first-generation professional, he had big dreams but little experience. The journey ahead was full of challenges, yet it became the foundation that shaped his path in the legal field.
Over the next five years, he worked his way through ten semesters of demanding coursework. There were moments of doubt, but persistence and discipline carried him through. He graduated with distinction, leaving Sultan-ul-Loom not just with a degree, but with a clearer sense of purpose.
Soon after, he began practicing law in India. For two years, he appeared before trial and higher courts, handling civil, family, and criminal cases. The work taught him how to fight for clients, prepare cases with care, and navigate the complexity of the Indian legal system. He was enrolled with the Bar Council of India and the State Bar Council of Telangana and also became a life member of the High Court Advocate Association.
But as much as he valued the early years of his practice, he knew his journey could not stop there. “I wanted to expand my horizons,” he recalls. In late 2023, he made a bold move leaving home to pursue an LL.M. in U.S. Legal Studies at DePaul University in Chicago. The shift was not just geographical, but deeply personal. Suddenly, he was learning a new system, in a new culture, in a city far from everything familiar.
At DePaul, he immersed himself in American law and gained a comparative view of two very different legal systems. It was a challenging year, but also one that built resilience and broadened his perspective. By the time he completed his LL.M., he had not only earned a degree but had also found a new sense of belonging in the U.S. legal community.
Today, he works as an Immigration Paralegal at ER Legal Solutions in Chicago, under the guidance of attorneys Elzara Eminova and John Robeznieks. His day-to-day work is both technical and deeply human, preparing family petitions, employment-based visas, humanitarian relief applications, and citizenship filings. He drafts briefs, conducts research, and helps clients through processes that often decide the course of their lives.
His background in both Indian and U.S. law gives him a rare advantage. He has seen the legal profession from two different worlds and understands the struggles of people trying to cross borders, not just physically but legally.
Looking back, he admits the journey has not been easy. “There were times when giving up seemed easier,” he says. But instead of stepping away, he chose to fight harder. Completing an LL.M. at a prestigious university in Chicago and now working in immigration law are milestones he once thought out of reach.
The next step is clear: he hopes to pursue licensure in the United States and continue serving immigrant communities. His story is one of quiet persistence: from a college classroom in Hyderabad to the courtrooms of India, and now to the legal offices of Chicago.
For him, law is not just about rules or cases. It is about resilience, purpose and the belief that borders whether academic, professional, or national, can always be crossed with persistence.
