I graduated from law school at a time when the U.S. economy was still in a recession. It was difficult for graduates to obtain employment. Most law firm openings required that the candidate have at least two years of work experience. Left with the options of either leaving a career in law or opening up my own firm, I chose the latter. I didn’t know anyone who needed legal representation for a divorce, criminal matter, business merger, health care, or personal injury. But I had many international friends who needed assistance navigating the U.S. immigration system. Being an immigrant myself, it felt like the right arena for me. My family left Iran when I was two years old during the 1980s when Iran was at war with Iraq and simultaneously fighting a revolutionary war. We lived in Germany until our U.S. green cards were ready. I was ten years old when I took the Oath of Allegiance and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. 

In June 2014, I registered a business and hung out my shingle. Business was slow. Very slow. Learning the dizzyingly complex immigration system felt terrifying. One mistake could mean deportation, permanently altering the lives of others for the worse. The weight of that responsibility was too heavy and it propelled me to double check and triple check my work. The fear of losing has always made me work harder. I find that the harder I work, the luckier I get. 

In 2017, the president banned Iranians from coming to the United States. I felt the need to immediately organize and help the community during a crisis situation. I created a group on Facebook called Immigrants United so that people could connect with each other and share their experiences. 

In 2018, soon after the U.S. Supreme Court permitted that travel ban to go into effect, I started seeing visa denials issued one after another. Our firm filed a class action lawsuit, Emami v. Nielsen, to call out the “sham” waiver process that the president had relied on to supposedly implement the ban legally. Other law firms and organizations who were interested in the same cause joined us, and together we were able to prevail against the president and the bureaucracy. 

Being a part of the Emami class action lawsuit has been an incredible experience for me. When people come forward and defend their rights, it can make a difference. 

Our firm has always put clients first. We are humans before we are lawyers. We treat each client like they are our own family. The joy of my career is fighting for people and connecting them from where they are to where they want to be.

  • American Immigration Lawyers Association
  • State Bar of Wisconsin

  • Super Lawyers, Rising Star 2022

  • Wisconsin Lawyer Magazine
  • The Gargoyle Magazine

  • Emami v. Nielsen – Class action challenging the waiver process of the 2017 travel ban against people from several majority-Muslim countries. In 2022, we won on summary judgment, securing relief for 25,000 visa applicants worldwide who had been unfairly denied waivers and visas under the travel ban.

  • Trustee for the Village of Shorewood Hills

  • The Hill, Immigrant groups sue Trump administration over travel ban, 07/30/18,  https://thehill.com/regulation/399528-immigrant-groups-sue-trump-administration-over-travel-ban
  • The Intercept, Donald Trump’s Travel Ban Faces a New Day in Court, 12/12/18, https://theintercept.com/2018/12/12/travel-ban-waiver-lawsuit/