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BAL Partners Roberto D. Caballero and Frieda Garcia have been named to the Lawyers of Color Power List 2020. The Power List recognizes the most influential minority attorneys in the U.S. and represents the only comprehensive list of minority leaders in the legal profession. The nonprofit Lawyers of Color began compiling the list to encourage diversity in the legal community.
Rob Caballero is the Managing Partner for BAL’s Houston and Austin offices, and oversees the firm’s business development, marketing and social media strategies. His clients range from Global Fortune 100 corporations to regional companies within the U.S., and he is known for his expertise in the energy, engineering and technology industries.
“It’s an honor and privilege to receive this recognition. BAL is a tremendously diverse and dynamic law firm at every level. We don’t just tout the benefits of diversity—we live it,” said Caballero.
Frieda Garcia is a Senior Partner based in BAL’s San Francisco office, where she serves on the firm’s Management Committee and oversees and manages West Coast operations. Frieda also advises companies on global immigration initiatives and how to implement best-in-class global programs. She manages some of the largest immigration programs for companies in the technology, finance and travel services industries.
“It’s such an honor, and we are truly grateful to be recognized in this way,” Garcia said. “At BAL, our ability to nurture and promote diverse legal talent into top leadership roles is one of our greatest strengths. This commitment empowers us to connect with our clients and build meaningful relationships with them.”
We are pleased to announce that Kelli J. Duehning has been named a partner at Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. Ms. Duehning joined BAL in 2017 after a 17-year career with the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). She practices out of the San Francisco office where she concentrates on government relations and compliance legal services as they relate to all U.S. employment-based corporate immigration matters. Ms. Duehning currently provides legislative/policy updates, immigration program management, and compliance legal advice to some of BAL’s most high-profile clients and is a key leader in the firm’s compliance practice. Kelli is a subject matter expert in her field and is a frequent speaker at local and national continuing legal education courses, as well as industry-related seminars and conferences.
Ms. Duehning is a member of the Federal Bar Association: Immigration Law Section and Northern District of CA Chapters. She earned her Juris Doctorate at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law and her dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Behavioral Science and Law from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is admitted to the State Bar of Minnesota.
Media Contact: Emily Albrecht Senior Director — Marketing & Communications ealbrecht@bal.com 469-559-0174
We are pleased to announce that Nassim Mahzoon has been named a partner at Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. She concentrates on business immigration matters, including PERM labor certification applications, immigrant visa petitions and adjustment of status applications.
Ms. Mahzoon is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Bar Association of San Francisco and the Iranian American Legal Association. She earned her Juris Doctorate at Whittier College School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts, Law and Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is admitted to the State Bar of California.
U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers ranks Berry Appleman & Leiden as a Tier 1 “Best Law Firm.” BAL is also ranked as a “Best Law Firm” in the metropolitan areas of Boston, Mass., Houston, Texas, San Francisco, Calif., Oakland, Calif., and Washington, D.C.
The U.S. News – Best Lawyers rankings of the “Best Law Firms” are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a ranking in a particular practice area and metro region, a law firm must have at least one lawyer who is currently recognized in Best Lawyers in that particular practice and metro area. Clients are asked to provide feedback on firm practice groups, addressing expertise, responsiveness, understanding of a business and its needs, cost-effectiveness, civility and whether they would refer another client to the firm.
This August, the publication named eleven Berry Appleman & Leiden attorneys as the “Best Lawyers in America.” They are:
Best Lawyers recognized twelve Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP lawyers as “The Best Lawyers in America” for 2020. The BAL attorneys listed by Best Lawyers are:
For 2019, U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers ranked BAL as a “Law Firm of the Year” in the immigration law category. BAL also received First Tier ranking in Houston, San Francisco and Washington D.C. by Best Lawyers.
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based on a peer review process designed to capture the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
Copyright © 2019 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@bal.com.
DiMascio to Discuss the Future of Process Automation: Leveraging RPA & AI at the Nation’s Premier CIO Conference.
San Francisco, CA – May 9, 2019 – BAL has announced that Vince DiMascio, CIO, will be a featured speaker at the 16th Annual 2019 MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, the nation’s premier CIO conference on May 22, 2019. Mr. DiMascio will be speaking on the “Future of Process Automation: Leveraging RPA & AI.” He is one of an elite group of presenters from a wide range of industries. To register for the Symposium, please click here.
The premier conference will bring together nearly 900 global CIOs, senior IT executives, technology innovators and MIT academic thought leaders together on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a full day of networking, collaboration and discussions around leading a smarter enterprise, scaling insightful technologies, becoming cultural change agents, and steering executive business peers in transforming their organizations for competitive advantage.
“Intelligent automation is the future of the legal business; but at BAL it’s the present,” affirmed DiMascio. “Our firm has become the leader in the industry when it comes to using intelligent automation to better serve our clients. I’m excited to join this prestigious panel to discuss the groundbreaking work our firm has done to bring innovative cognitive technology to our industry.”
BAL Partner Edward Rios stated, “At BAL, I am responsible for developing innovation strategies for our firm. Our ability to implement these strategies depends entirely on a CIO and Technology group that understands how and where to apply next-generation technologies. That is exactly what Vince and his team have done. They have succeeded because they not only understand the technical promise of automation, but also the power of using it to create practical solutions. Our law firm demands the best tools for our clients and our internal teams and Vince and his Technology group know how to build them.”
“This year’s conference will enable CIOs to integrate data-driven insights into every decision they make,” said Lindsey Anderson, Chair of the 2019 MIT Sloan CIO Symposium. “We are excited to provide opportunities for global business leaders to learn to leverage the latest technologies and scale them across the enterprise, thus enabling a smarter enterprise that is more customer-oriented and quicker to market.” The Symposium will also formally announce the winner of the 12th Annual MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award and finalists during the event. This award recognizes the CIO who is leading their organization by delivering business value and innovative to enterprise IT in exceptional ways. Finalists will be announced in late April and both the winner and finalists will be recognized at a private event the evening of May 21.
The MIT Sloan CIO Symposium is co-organized by the MIT Sloan Boston Alumni Association, the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE), and the MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research (CISR).
About Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP BAL is one of the world’s most recognized corporate immigration law firms, and is the Best Lawyers® “Law Firm of the Year” in Immigration Law in America for 2019. The firm is singularly focused on meeting the immigration challenges of corporate clients around the world in ways that make immigration more strategic and enable clients to be more successful. Established in 1980, the firm provides immigration expertise, top-notch information security and leading technology innovation like its Cobalt® digital immigration services platform. The firm entered into a strategic alliance with Deloitte UK to create the world’s first global immigration service delivery model. BAL and its leaders are highly ranked in every major legal publication, including Best Lawyers, Chambers, The Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal. See website for details: www.bal.com.
For the eleventh year in a row, BAL has been ranked as a “Band 1” firm in the Nationwide, California and Texas categories in the newly released Chambers USA 2019 Guide, an annual ranking of the best law firms based on independent research and interviews with lawyers and clients worldwide.
Chambers calls BAL a “powerful force in corporate immigration with the capacity to handle a range of highly complex matters, with substantial consular, auditing and compliance experience.” BAL is recognized for “regularly advising multinational companies on their immigration programs and global mobility strategies, offering data analytics, management reporting and training services.” Interviewees praise “the breadth, scope and capability of the firm.” Chambers singles out BAL’s alliance with Deloitte UK to provide new global immigration services, as well as the firm’s expanded presence in the U.S. with the opening of the New York City office.
Market sources report that founding partner David Berry is “an excellent, solution-driven and client-focused attorney.” Peers describe managing partner Jeremy Fudge as an “extremely skilled lawyer, acting in a range of immigration matters for corporate clients, covering both policy and operational issues.” Accolades go to Lynden Melmed for leveraging expertise garnered from “his distinguished career in and out of government to advise clients on regulatory compliance matters.” Interviewees report that “he is a very good lawyer, and a fixer in complicated situations.” Interviewees also called Robert S. Groban Jr. “accessible, very knowledgeable and always available to answer any and all questions.”
About Chambers and Partners
Chambers, covering 185 jurisdictions, has ranked the best lawyers since 1990 and is known for its strength-in-depth editorial and research team. Chambers publishes an annual guide ranking the world’s best lawyers on the basis of technical expertise, business acumen, prompt delivery, and value for the money. A team of more than 170 researchers conducts thousands of interviews worldwide to produce the rankings. Lawyers cannot buy their way into Chamber’s rankings; as a result, its annual directories are considered among the most accurate and reliable.
BAL again is ranked as a top firm in the Global-wide category in the newly released Chambers Global Guide, an annual ranking of the best international law firms based on independent research and interviews with lawyers and clients worldwide.
Chambers recognizes BAL as an “acclaimed group of immigration specialists evoking praise for its deep experience in corporate global mobility.” According to research by Chambers, the firm offers a broad spectrum of services from application support and immigration programme management to strategic advice on compliance and government relations. The firm’s impressive client base benefits from its ever-expanding US footprint and recent alliance with Deloitte UK, combining centralised global mobility advice with on-the-ground expertise in more than 135 countries. BAL’s innovative case management technology and recent launch of its Cobalt mobile application innovate and distinguish client service.
The firm earns strong praise from clients, who report, “They are extremely responsive to our needs and proactive in their thinking,” adding, “Their Cobalt technology and reporting capabilities are excellent.” Others describe the team as “top quality, knowledgeable, prompt, and personable” and particularly appreciate its “eye for detail.”
Many distinguished attorneys lead BAL, and Chambers’ notable practitioners included Founding Partner David Berry, based in San Francisco, and Managing Partner, Jeremy Fudge, in Dallas.
About Chambers GlobalSince 1990, Chambers has published an annual guide ranking the world’s best lawyers based on technical expertise, business acumen, prompt delivery, and value for money. A team of over 200 researchers conducts thousands of interviews worldwide to produce the rankings. Lawyers cannot buy their way into Chamber’s rankings; as a result, its annual directories are considered among the most accurate and reliable.
Berry Appleman & Leiden (BAL) LLP, one of the world’s largest immigration law firms, has been named “Immigration Law Firm of the Year” by US News – Best Lawyers®. Only one law firm per legal practice area receives this recognition, making the award a significant achievement. BAL has also received a First Tier ranking in Houston, San Francisco and Washington D.C. by Best Lawyers.
The award caps a tremendous milestone year for the firm:
Commenting on the award, Managing Partner Jeremy Fudge stated, “This has been another extraordinary year for BAL. We have been quietly leading the industry for several years now and are honored to receive the US News – Best Lawyers® ‘‘Law Firm of the Year’ in immigration.”
About Best LawyersBest Lawyers “Law Firm of the Year” awards are country and practice area specific. They are determined based on a handful of factors, including: feedback from lawyers recognized by Best Lawyers on individual lawyer and firm-wide work, the size and coverage of the firm in a specific practice area, historical analysis of the firm’s “Lawyer of the Year” awards in this area, and research surrounding the firm’s overall scope and areas of expertise.
DALLAS, November 1, 2018 – Berry Appleman & Leiden (BAL) LLP, one of the world’s largest immigration law firms, has been named “Immigration Law Firm of the Year” by US News – Best Lawyers®. Only one law firm per legal practice area receives this recognition, making the award a significant achievement. BAL has also received a First Tier ranking in Houston, San Francisco and Washington D.C. by Best Lawyers.
About Best Lawyers Best Lawyers “Law Firm of the Year” awards are country and practice area specific. They are determined based on a handful of factors, including: feedback from lawyers recognized by Best Lawyers on individual lawyer and firm-wide work, the size and coverage of the firm in a specific practice area, historical analysis of the firm’s “Lawyer of the Year” awards in this area, and research surrounding the firm’s overall scope and areas of expertise.
About BAL BAL is singularly focused on meeting the immigration challenges of corporate clients around the world in ways that make immigration more strategic and enable clients to be more successful. Established in 1980, the firm provides immigration expertise, top-notch information security and leading technology innovation like its Cobalt® digital immigration services platform. In 2018, the firm formed a strategic alliance with Deloitte UK to create the world’s first global immigration service delivery model. BAL and its leaders are highly ranked in every major legal publication, including Best Lawyers, Chambers, The Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal. See website for details: www.bal.com.