Previously, Ms. Wurtzel was Director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the William S. Richardson School of Law. She has extensive experience in immigration law and was a Senior Staff Attorney at Hawaiʻi Immigrant Justice Center (formerly Nā Loio) for over a decade. For many years, Ms. Wurtzel was the only attorney in Hawaiʻi representing victims of human trafficking in immigration matters. She also had an extensive private practice specializing in immigration removal proceedings, and political asylum.