A Panamanian-born man whose family lives in the U.S. may be spared from deportation, thanks to the efforts of two graduates who worked on his case when they were enrolled in the law school’s Appellate Litigation Clinic.

In early January, the federal Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that the crime for which the man was previously convicted may not meet the standards for deportation.

That was precisely one of the arguments made in motions that former students Tori Caracciolo and Kristan Saubert filed on the man’s behalf through the clinic before they graduated in 2012.

The ruling represents a significant victory, said Professor Richard Frankel, who directs the clinic.

“The students were very effective and creative advocates,” Frankel said. “We employed several arguments on the man’s behalf, and we actually prevailed on the most challenging one, which gives him the best shot of staying in the U.S.”

The man’s case now goes back to an immigration judge in Florida, who will decide his fate.