SELECTING AN IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY Rev. 4/21/06

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1 SELECTING AN IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY Rev. 4/21/06 Attached is a list of attorneys who have handled immigration law matters for students, faculty and other employees at Ohio State. This list is provided as a convenience to assist you in identifying lawyers who may have expertise in immigration matters. The Office of International Education is not in a position to evaluate the professional competence or experience of these individuals. However, to assist you in selecting an attorney, we have prepared the following suggestions. Select an attorney early in the process Immigration procedures can be very slow and time consuming. Therefore, we recommend that you select your legal advisor early in the process. Do not wait until a few weeks before your deadline. In order to present your application in the best possible manner, you should allow sufficient time for your lawyer to do a thorough job of researching your case. Consult others concerning the immigration process Before you contact an attorney on our list, consult family members, friends or associates who have been involved with the immigration process. They may be able to share with you their experiences with the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), their legal costs, and recommendations concerning attorneys they worked with. Begin your evaluation of the attorney when you make your initial call Once you have selected a prospective attorney, you should call to make an appointment to discuss your case. This call should be an important part of your evaluation of the attorney. You should begin the call with a short description of your situation and the immigration problem you wish to address. You do not have to give all the details at this time. You should merely describe in general terms the nature of the issue and you should include any deadlines you are facing. You should then ask the following questions:! Do you handle these types of cases?! How long have you been doing this type of work? (It is best to hire a lawyer who has a lot of experience.)! How many cases similar to mine have you handled?! What percentage of your practice is devoted to immigration law? (Some attorneys have a general practice and immigration is only a small part of their work. It is best to hire a specialist who devotes a major percentage of his or her time to this area.)! Do you charge an initial consultation fee? (Some lawyers will charge a fee for your first meeting.)! How do you set your fees for these types of cases? 1

2 You may wish to contact several attorneys to compare their answers to these questions. Once you have identified a lawyer who you may wish to hire, you should schedule a meeting to discuss your case in greater detail. The first meeting It is important to remember that at this meeting, you are still evaluating the lawyer. If you are not confident that this person can do the best job for you, you may decide to seek another legal advisor. You should be prepared to give a concise statement of your situation and the goals you would like to achieve. You may save time by writing a short chronology of your experiences and contacts with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Be sure to bring with you your passport (including visa stamps), copies of correspondence with government agencies and other immigration documents. Questions that you should ask the lawyer during the initial meeting:! What are the CIS procedures for handling my case?! How long might it take to resolve my case? (Every case is different and more complex cases will take longer to resolve. The attorney should be able to give you some idea of the length of time it may take to get an INS decision in cases such as yours.)! What are my prospects for success? (The lawyer cannot guarantee a successful outcome. However, based on his or her experience, the attorney should be able to give you a preliminary evaluation of the strengths or weaknesses of your case.)! What is the fee that you will charge for my case? (It is important that you understand how you will be charged for the attorney s services and when you will be required to make payments.) Questions you should ask yourself during the initial meeting:! Does the lawyer demonstrate an understanding of immigration law and procedures?! Does the lawyer communicate ideas to you in a clear and effective manner?! Does he or she seem to care about your problem?! Are you confident that this person has the ability to handle your case competently and honestly?! Do you understand the fee arrangement, and can you afford it? If the answers to these questions are affirmative, you may proceed to retain the attorney to handle your case. As the case proceeds, you should remember that you are paying the lawyer to provide a service to you. You should feel free to give explicit instructions on the way you would like your case to be handled. If, at any time, you have concerns about the level of service you are receiving, you should be comfortable discussing this with the attorney. 2

3 OHIO IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS (OIE does not endorse or recommend immigration attorneys.) COLUMBUS AREA David S. Bloomfield Bloomfield & Kempf 199 South Fifth St., Suite 302 Columbus OH (fax) Bernard G. Boiston 1620 East Broad St. Suite 107 Columbus OH Oscar A. Budde Perez & Morris LLC 8000 Ravine's Edge Court, Suite 300 Columbus, Ohio (fax) Robert H. Cohen Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP 41 South High St. Columbus Ohio (fax) David Cook Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease LLP 52 East Gay St. PO Box 1008 Columbus OH (general) Andrew C. Hall Strip Hoppers Leithart McGrath&Terlecky Co., LPA 575 S. Third St. Columbus, OH (fax) Robert A. Harris Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, LLP 52 East Gay St. Columbus OH (general) (fax) Mark J. Hedien Clark & Hedien, Attorneys at Law Bethel Road Columbus, OH (fax) Matthew W. Hoyt Baker & Hostetler LLP 65 E. State St. Suite 2100 Columbus, OH (fax) Christopher Kempf Bloomfield & Kempf 199 South Fifth St., Suite 302 Columbus, Ohio (fax) Kyle A. Knapp Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP 41 S. High St. Columbus, OH (fax) Roxi A. Liming 1989 W. Fifth Ave. Columbus OH (fax) Patricia LeVeque Niehoff 330 S. High St. Columbus, OH Mark M. Nesbit Nesbit Law Firm 308 Marshall Passage Columbus, OH, (fax) Kenneth Robinson Donald C. Slowik Slowik & Robinson, LLC 250 E. Broad St., Suite 250 Columbus, Ohio (fax) Constance L. Sharma Sharma Law Offices, LLC 853 Pipestone Dr. Columbus, OH (fax) 3

4 Sam Shihab Gus Shihab Shihab & Associates CO, LPA 65 E. State Street, Suite 1550 Columbus, Ohio Georges S. Zeidan Zeidan & Associates 1170 Old Henderson Road suite 112 Columbus Ohio (614) (614) Fax CINCINNATI AREA Gregory P. Adams Douglas Halbert Frost, Brown, Todd, LLC 2200 PNC Center 201 East Fifth St Linda Ash Dinsmore & Shohl 1900 Chemed Center 255 East Fifth St (fax) William T. Bartlett Douglas S. Weigle Bartlett & Weigle 432 Walnut St. Suite (fax) Neil I. Fleischer Richard I. Fleischer 917 Main St (fax) Firooz T. Namei McKinney & Namei Co LPA 15 E. Eighth St (fax) 4 Sherry L. Neal (sln@hammondlawfirm.com) Hammond Law Group, LLC 3311 Carew Tower 441 Vine Street Cincinnati, Ohio (513) (513) (fax) Steven Rothstein (smr@kgnlaw.com) Katz, Greenberger & Norton 105 East Fourth St. Suite (fax) Brenda V. Thompson (bthompson@graydon.com) Graydon Head & Ritchey, LLP 511 Walnut St Fifth Third Center (general) Deborah Youtsey (deborah.youtsey@thompsonhine.com) Thompson, Hine, LLP 312 Walnut St. Suite (fax) Michael J. Zavatsky (zavatsky@taftlaw.com) Taft, Stettinius & Hollister 425 Walnut St (fax) CLEVELAND AREA Kim K. Alabasi (kalabasi@yormicklaw.com) Cathy Prusinski Yormick & Associates Co., L.P.A. Key Tower - 52nd Floor Barbara A. Firstenberg (immlawbaf@aol.com) Ohio Savings Bldg Farnsleigh Road Shaker Heights OH (fax)

5 Mark Floyd Thompson, Hine, LLP 3900 Key Center Cleveland OH (general #) Gary Johnson 2500 Terminal Tower, 50 Public Square (fax) C. Lyonel Jones Legal Aid Society of Cleveland 1223 West Sixth St (ext Ken Kabb PO Box Cleveland Height OH (fax) Abraham Kay 55 Public Square Suite (Fax) Karen K. Meade 1370 West Sixth St. Suite (fax) Cathy Prusinski Yormick & Associates Co., L.P.A. Key Tower - 52nd Floor (fax) Susan L. Riddle (sriddle@yormicklaw.com) Yormick & Associates Co., L.P.A. Key Tower - 52nd Floor (fax) William R. Rosner (immigration@rosnerlaw.com) Rosner & Associates 812 Huron Rd. 5 Caxton Bldg, Suite 601 Cleveland OH (fax) Svetlana Schreiber (svetlana@immigrationgreencards.com) Svetlana Schreiber & Associates 1228 Standard Bldg 1370 Ontario St (fax) Margaret Wong (wong@imwong.com) Margaret W. Wong & Associates MWW Center, 3150 Chester Ave (fax) Wojnar Associates (ndwojnar@aol.com) 1370 Ontario St. Suite (fax) OTHER OHIO Roderieck Jaballas (RodJaballas@aol.com) 450 Grant St. Suite 104 Akron OH Linda Mansour-Ismail (lindamansour@aol.com) 2909 West Central Ave. Suite 200 Toledo OH (fax) William G. Meyer (wgmeyer@att.net) 608 Madison Ave. Suite 1400 Toledo OH (fax) Mary Ellen Pisanelli (mpisanelli@slk-law.com) Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP 1000 Jackson St. Toledo OH (fax) H. Alan Rothenbuecher 395 Merriman Road Akron, Ohio (330) Fax: (216) arothenbuecher@szd.com

6 Hilary B. Wilson Baldwin-Wallace College 275 Eastland Rd. Berea OH For U.S. immigration attorneys outside Ohio: AILA Immigration Lawyer Referral Service Useful Immigration Websites: DISCLAIMER: OIE does not endorse or recommend immigration attorneys. 6