Amy Lighter

“Growing up in a family of second-generation immigrants and having navigated the immigration process with my own family when we lived abroad, I have real empathy for the challenges families face when living and working in a country other than where they were born. Getting to use my training and experience to help other families resolve those challenges is a privilege.”

Amy is a partner in the Santa Clara office of BAL. She focuses on U.S. immigration matters, consulting with high-volume corporate clients to craft long-term plans that ensure mobility of their executives, managers and specialized knowledge workers in a volatile regulatory environment. In addition to experience in complex individual immigration matters, including waivers and extraordinary ability cases for scientists and researchers, she advises clients in matters including permanent residence, compliance issues and corporate restructuring. She has a particular interest in leveraging technology to improve the delivery of quality of legal services, and has trained in Six Sigma and quality improvement principles.

Amy has spoken on immigration at many professional events for American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and other bar associations. When DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was established, she coordinated with local nonprofits to train volunteers and recruited other immigration attorneys to offer pro bono legal clinics helping high school students to apply for the new status. Amy was awarded the AILA Pro Bono Champion Award for this work.