ILW.COM - Legal Education: Seminars: Consular Processing For Experts

Consular Processing For Experts

Speakers: Liam Schwartz, Brian Bolton, Poorvi Chothani, Douglas Hauer, Magdale Labbe Henke, Kehrela Hodkinson, Michelle Lazerow, Steve Pattison, Paul Samartin and Lois Gimpel Shaukat

Each call features an hour of analysis, strategy and practice tips, followed by 30 minutes of questions and answers from participants.

SEMINAR OUTLINE

FIRST Phone Session on September 24: Consular Waiver Practice: Updates and Tips

A wide-ranging discussion on waivers of inadmissibilities in the NIV and IV contexts. Our panel of experienced professionals will address topics including the following:

Post-specific updates on visa processing issues at as many of the U.S. visa processing posts in India as possible, including:

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Liam Schwartz (Discussion Leader) is principal of Liam Schwartz and Associates. Mr. Schwartz is a recognized authority in employment-based visas and consular law. In all his professional endeavors, Liam is assisted and supported by his extraordinarily talented staff of Liam Schwartz & Associates. Liam has been named by Who's Who Legal as one of the worlds' top ten most highly regarded corporate immigration lawyers for 2009. Liam is on the Executive Committee of the Rome District Chapter of the American Immigration Law Association (AILA) and is a past chair of AILA - Department of State Liaison Committee. He authors the monthly "Consular Corner" column for ILW.COM and moderates two Internet visa fora. Earlier this year, Liam chaired the 2009 AILA Rome District Chapter Spring Conference in Tel-Aviv. Most recently, Liam is the author of "Israeli Work Visas: A Primer" and "The Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions"; and the co-author of "'DOs' and 'DON'Ts' for Attorneys Representing Visa Applicants (and for Consular Officers, Too!)" and "99 State Ten Years On: Is the Relationship between Consular Officers and Immigration Attorneys Advancing the Visa Application Process?" Liam holds a J.D. degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School and a B.A. degree from Johns Hopkins University. He is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey and Israel. Liam can be reached at: Liam@lsa-law.com.

Brian Bolton is Consular Affairs Specialist at Liam Schwartz & Associates. A former Foreign Service Officer, Brian has worked at U.S. Embassies in Mexico City, London, and Tel Aviv, as well as serving in the Department of State in Washington, DC. He holds a degree in linguistics and cognitive science from the University of Virginia.

Poorvi Chothani, an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, is the Founder of LawQuest, a general business law firm that has a practice in IP, Corporate, Real Estate, Employment and Global Immigration Law. Ms. Chothani is licensed to practice law in India and the State of New York, which enables her to practice U.S. Immigration Law. In addition, she is a registered and practicing Solicitor in England and Wales. The media frequently seeks Ms. Chothani's opinion on immigration related issues. Poorvi is often quoted in the Economic Times, India's leading business daily and on radio, CNBC-TV 18 and Zee Business News. She regularly speaks at events organized by leading national and international organizations including the Society for Human Resource Management, Recharger Magazine, the International Bar Association, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce, the Indian Merchants' Chambers, the Confederation of Indian Industries and the Federation of Indian Exporters to name a few.

Douglas Hauer has substantial experience in business immigration law, related government investigations, family-based green card sponsorship processes, immigration litigation and corporate immigration policy development. He is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Council (formerly the American Immigration Law Foundation) and has served for two years on the Council's J-1 Exchange Visitor Committee. Doug is an expert on J-1 training and intern visas and speaks on broader immigration law issues, ethics, marketing and business development and employment immigration law for national and international legal organizations, universities and industry forums. Doug founded his firm, Douglas Hauer LLC, with an entrepreneurial vision for building sustainable relationships with clients, law firms and business partners across the globe. Doug serves as Of Counsel with Liam Schwartz & Associates, a leading law firm in Tel Aviv focusing on immigration and relocation law. Doug's firm is also a U.S. based Pro-Link GLOBAL | Keiretsu Global Network Member. As a PLG | KGNM, Douglas Hauer is a member of an alliance of immigration specialists and counsel offering concierge quality immigration services to companies in most of the 194 countries in the world today. Before founding his firm, Doug was a Partner with a prominent business immigration law firm in Boston.

Magdale Labbe Henke is the founder and principal of MLH Consular Consulting. She is a licensed U.S. attorney for seven years, as well as qualified as a Solicitor in England & Wales. Ms. Henke has extensive experience in U.S. immigration law and international HR issues. She has experience handling complex immigration law matters and consular issues, and has counseled a variety of clients, including large pharmaceutical companies, smaller businesses, and individual clients on issues relating to business visas, investor visas, employment and family-based permanent residence petitions, exchange visitor and student visas, and waiver applications.

Kehrela Hodkinson is the principal of Hodkinson Law Group. She was admitted to the California State Bar in 1980, after graduating from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. She established her first law office in Los Angeles, California in 1982, where her practice concentrated on nonimmigrant visas and employment and family-based immigration matters. After moving to San Francisco, California in 1987, she founded a second immigration law firm and continued to provide expertise relating to temporary and permanent visas for business personnel and family-based immigration. Since 1994, Ms. Hodkinson has exclusively practiced US immigration and nationality law in London, representing a broad range of corporate and individual clients in connection with nonimmigrant visa matters, immigrant visa petitions, extraordinary ability petitions and family-based immigrant petitions. In addition, she provides advice relating to maintaining permanent resident status and expatriation issues.

Michelle Lazerow practices exclusively immigration law in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, primarily in the areas of business, family and naturalization; She has served on numerous AILA liaison committees on both a local and national level; She has also served on numerous conference committees, as Chair, Co-Chair and Committee Member. She has participated as a panelist on a large variety of immigration issues in conferences nationwide. Ms. Lazerow served 6 years on the board of AILF, has served as Chair of the Annual Immigrant Achievement Awards (D.C.) for 11 years and as Chair of the Immigrant Achievement Awards (Annual Conference, Utah); Ms. Lazerow graduated with a law degree and a post-graduate degree in corporate law, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, and a Master of Law, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Steve Pattison is a Partner with Magrath LLP advising companies and private individuals on all aspects of U.S. immigration and consular operations, including applications for business, investment and professional visas. Also advises clients on legislative changes to U.S. immigration law affecting their ability to pursue commercial and professional objectives in the U.S. Mr. Pattison received his JD from the University of Texas Law School, Austin.

Paul Samartin is attorney in the Law Firm of Laura Devine. He specializes in business and personal immigration to the US. He advises clients ranging from multinational businesses to private individuals and has extensive experience working with US Consulates throughout Europe.

Lois Gimpel Shaukat is an experienced practitioner in the field of immigration law. She is currently in-house Immigration Counsel at McKinsey & Company, Inc. Lois previously worked for several years with the New York office of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy. She also worked with indigent clients while a lawyer with Florida Rural Legal Services. Lois completed her J.D. degree at Temple University and holds an undergraduate degree from Barnard College. She has participated as a panel member in several business immigration related speaking engagements.

FINANCIAL AID POLICY:

50% discount to attorneys working for a non-profit organization
50% discount to any attorney employed by any government agency
50% discount to an attorney that is unemployed

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Disclaimer: participation in this seminar does not create an attorney-client relationship with the speakers

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