Interview and Discussion with Canadian Immigration Lawyers Laurie Tannous (Laurie@laurieTannous.com)
Show Notes​
01:30 - Introduction and bio (started as customs and immigration officer and does various other work - Kitch Law Firm)
03:15 - About her work as a Customs and Immigration Officer on the Canadian Side (Ambassador Bridge) while studying for law school
03:50 - Issues she saw at the border (smuggling drugs and people) as well as dealing with individuals and gaining the ability to judge people and lying well
05:40 - What she did after graduating law school (Articling with law firms to work in different areas) and growth in referrals in immigration which caused her to work in this area
07:10 - Early start to family and practice with own firm, as well as using her firm in different settings (including cross-border transactions) and doing international trade law in the US, and a customs brokerage
08:30 CEO of institute of border logistics at windsor airport
10:10 - Letter of invitation needed sometimes for temporary work meetings in Canada
10:30 - Canada's immigration programs and the point system
11:55 - The point system and necessity for an Immigration Lawyer and needing to clean up work done by regular people or non-immigration lawyers
13:00 - Her focus is on a few areas of immigration (primarily corporate and family and does not include humanitarian)
13:48 - Focusing and specializing on certain areas of immigration law
14:10 - Canada's investment program - Shut down, but pilot program for a venture capitalist program exists (need net worth of $10M, and be investing $2M with post-secondary degree)
15:05 - Other temporary programs for investors and entrepreneurs are not available right now, but an overhaul is coming to include these programs
15:55 - Canada's equivalent of the TN NAFTA Visa and the Management Consultant sub-category - issues with people doing it themselves and making bad admissions and statements
18:23 - People with DUIs trying to enter Canada - temporary resident permits ("TRP")may be required, or if 10 years have passed (deemed rehabilitated). Can be done at border or Consulate
22:10 - Where is she headquartered? And where her offices are (Detroit and Windsor in Canada)
22:35 - Role of Canadian Provinces in their Immigration programs (Quebec and provincial nominee program)
24:00 - What does a typical week look like for Laurie? How does she set up her time?
25:15 - How she balances her work and her personal life/family. Importance of time management
26:15 - How she prevents work from coming home and carving out time
27:00 - Mistakes she made early on that she has learned from: advice for a new lawyer: learn on honing in on strengths (and avoid weaker areas) and knowing when to say "NO" to clients or cases and know how to manage your time
30:20 - Her proudest moment in her practice: Teaching and helping people through education, in particular a course where a student was able to achieve success on a paper related to human smuggling/trafficking
How to learn more about Laure Tannous: www.Kitch.com Laurie@laurieTannous.com
Interview and Discussion with OFAC Attorney Mehrnoush Yazdanyar. Website: www.YazdanyarLaw.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP_z...
Blog: http://www.yazdanyarlaw.com/blog/
00:00 - Episode Introduction
01:34 - Background of Mernhoush Yazdanyar
02:04 - Initial Legal work and subsequent start of practice (Iran OFAC sanctions works)
02:34 - What she studies in college
03:02 - Her initial real estate legal work and her thoughts about being a lawyer before graduating as opposed to after being an attorney and finding the type of work that she was meant to do
06:25 - Her passion for working/interacting with the client directly which is lacking some types of practices
07:40 - Her experience in Immigration Law, and small family-based immigration practice before starting OFAC work
09:08 - How she got into OFAC work (First OFAC case and saw the effect of sanctions on individuals for personal (non-commercial) transactions
11:30 - How Currency Exchange process works for Iran and how to do it to avoid issues
13:28 - Issues when Moneychangers do Cash Deposits into Client Accounts
15:35 - IRS Scam for those doing money transfers and effect of investigations into individuals involved in the process (Checking to make sure no one is on the designated OFAC list) and general issues with Iran transactions
18:45 - U.S. Bank rejecting the funds and dealing with Currency Exchangers in Iran, and the importance of good wiring instructions
22:41 Typical OFAC Questions: Is OFAC over or gone?
24:50 - General Licenses for OFAC (two biggest are receipt of family money non-commercial person remittance, gift or inheritance and sales of real property that had before becoming a US Person, or after becoming a US person through inheritance)
26:00 - Opening a bank account from an OFAC sanctioned country national, while in the U.S. on a tourist visa.
28:50 - General licenses and Specific licenses for business activities with Iran (e.g. agriculture, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, etc). Also sure to adhere to other export regulations from the U.S.
30:36 - Definition of general v. Specific Licenses from OFAC
31:50 - Errors Iranian make when doing OFAC on their own, and sanctions violations they are not aware of
33:15 - Time frame for getting a specific license
34:30 - About the type of practice she has (sole practitioner)
35:40 - She has Offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irvine and Sherman Oaks (and does a lot, especially with seminars and conferences)
36:38 - Her focus is on transactional side of OFAC (not litigation)
38:40 - How to deal with the businesses of having a legal practice and balancing work and personal life: Making sure to carve out personal time, working out
41:03 - Where she learned her craft and does continuing education
42:20 - How she did marketing and got clients when first started and how to deal with the volume of calls
46:00 - How to contact her: www.Yazdanyarlaw.com
Host John Khosravi, Esq. interviews Peyman Attari, Co-Founder, President & CEO of the EB-5 Investment Advisor Firm AISA Investment Advisors, LLC
To learn more about the Immigration Lawyers Podcast, please visit www.ImmigrationsLawyersPodcast.com
Show Notes:
02:00 - Origins: Oil Financial world
03:30 - Work in South Africa
06:00- Work in Emerging Markets
09:42 - Starting own firm and starting a family
11:21 - Learning about the EB-5 Program
12:10 - Decision to work with investors instead of the Regional Centers
14:00 - Registered investment advisor and its fiduciary duty/ Difference with broker dealer and standard of suitability
16:30 - Info about AISA Investment Advisers, LLC and its business model
22:00 - The pay fee structure for EB-5 Immigrant Investors
26:00 - How does the relationship with your firm and the immigration attorney work?
28:30 - What are the steps for the client to go through with you
33:00 - Responses to typical questions that come from the EB-5 investors:
a - Which Investment would you do? The are supposed to recommend.
b - Can you guarantee the investment? Explain why guarantees are not possible.
c - When do I get my money back? Describe "wind down" decisions.
36:50 - Effects of retrogression / Need for redeployment of funds
39:00 - Company holds escrow account and the affect on Source of Funds
45:00 - Preference as to EB-5 model
To learn more, visit: AISAEB5.com
Host John Khosravi's Interview and Discussion with Immigration Guru, Attorney, Professor, Author & Advocate Stephen Yale-Loehr (http://www.millermayer.com/)
To learn more about the Immigration Lawyers Podcast, please visit www.ImmigrationsLawyersPodcast.com
Show Notes:
00:00 Overview
01:00 Introduction
01:36 Personal Background & Professional Beginnings
03:30 What does it mean to be Of Counsel and his role in his firm
04:25 Asylum Processing Times (Newark Asylum Office) and Detention times
05:53 EB-5 (I-526) Processing Times and the EB-5 Program
07:05 Steve's EB-5 cases and trends (for example, third party loans). IIUSA (https://iiusa.org/)
09:06 Amount time for Family v. Business Practice for the firm and Steve. One-off complex cases, witness testimony, pro bono (asylum) Half of practice is EB-5 related now
10:00 How Steve does his book writing
10:50 Where Steve gets his information (AILA.org, Lexis, Dan Kowalski Daily online publications Bender's immigration bulletinhttp://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsro... / various listservs)
11:57 Practice management: in-house case management system Access database w/in house IT team
12:31 Kind of complex cases he is working on (J-Visa, Asylum, EB-5)
14:15 Issues with Immigration: multiplicity of agencies and opinons and inability to be proactive in anticipating constantly shifting workload
16:25 How immigration reform would happen / points system used by other countries
19:20 Career: things that shaped who he is / clients that affected him
22:00 Affect of stress of the cases: managing client expectations
23:30 Dealing with case issues (ombudsmen, email or congressional inquiry)
24:35 Parting words: helping new immigrations come, opportunity here for them and lawyers
Host John Khosravi's Interview and Discussion with Los Angeles Tech Entrepreneur and law firm management and marketing expert Michael Chasin, Founder Lexicata.com and LawKick.com.
To learn more about the Immigration Lawyers Podcast, please visit www.ImmigrationsLawyersPodcast.com
Show Notes:
00.00 Overview of the Podcast
01.03 Introduction
01:20 Background of Michael Chasin
02:33 Decision not to practice law and switch to business
03:30 "Not having a boss"
03:50 Starting legal marketing site "Law Kick"
06:32 Online marketing techniques for lawyers
07:20 Content strategies
08:25 Social Media
09:00 Sites you can sign up for for more online presence
09:35 Creating online presence by starting webs around the internet (Google Crawling)
11:55 Getting Reviews
12:20 Yelp
15:45 Modern Customer Service expectations from Law Firms
18:58 What should be in your profile? Photos, educational background, reviews and find things to relate with the client
22:00 Office management / info and client management
22:50 Background on Lexicata
22:22 Benefits of Intake forms
28:50 Final words of advice
31:20 Ways to contact Michael
Host John Khosravi's Interview and Discussion with Los Angeles Immigration Lawyer Tahmina Watson (http://www.immigrationlawyersinseattl...) Founder of Watson Immigration Law and Author of: "The Startup Visa: Key to Job Growth and Economic Prosperity in America".
To learn more about the Immigration Lawyers Podcast, please visit www.ImmigrationsLawyersPodcast.com
Show Notes:
00:00 Overview of the Podcast
01:55 Background (Education and Family) of Tahmina Watson
04:00 About Barristers v. Solicitors in the British Legal System
04:45 Pupillage (Apprenticeship) Position and Practicing Law in Great Britain
11:12 Why she came to the U.S.
12:15 Being able to practice in U.S. States
15:22 Personal Immigration experience
17:50 Getting started in Immigration Law
19:43 Her Blog (marketing/book)
20:20 Newspaper articles
20:43 Memberships in groups and Bar Associations
21:45 Social Media presence/Blog
24:00 Areas of Immigration Law she practices
25:00 Advocacy for "Start Up Visas"
26:20 Types of Visa categories she enjoys
27:05 Example of problem she has faced (example of USCIS OPT/H-1B Cap error that she fixed)
32:44 How she started her book
38:25 Publishing
44:05 Upcoming U.S. elections & future Immigration Policy
51:00 Practice Management
53:45 Office Quality Control (software: INS Zoom and calendars such as outlook and wall calendars)
55:32 Books recommended (Nutshell on Immigration & Kurzban)
57:45 AILA Membership (using mentors)
1:00:40 How her week looks like / Balancing Personal & Business Life
1:06:43 Asylum Timelines
1:07:10 Discussion on the future of EB-5 Immigrant Investor program
Host John Khosravi's Interview and Discussion with Los Angeles Immigration Lawyer Heather Poole (http://www.humanrightsattorney.com/), a Managing Partner of the Law Firm Stone, Grzegorek & Gonzalez LLC, well known Immigration/Human Rights Attorney, former Southern California AILA Chair and Member of the National Board of Governors.
To learn more about the Immigration Lawyers Podcast, please visit www.ImmigrationsLawyersPodcast.com
Show Notes:
0:45 Introduction to Heather Poole
2:00 Personal Background, Education and choosing immigration law (Lennie Benson: http://www.nyls.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/faculty_profiles/lenni_b_benson/)
4:14 Her first legal job
6:20 Starting her solo law practice
8:45 Problems with answering your own phone, using answering/reception services (CallRuby.com)
11:55 What is going on with her now? The transition of merging law firms
14:20 History of firm (Professional Law Corporation) and Marketing (online), using marketing courses & focusing on a niche practice ares
18:20 failures and successes: example of needing to know Family Law as well. See her article at:
http://www.slideshare.net/humanrtsatty/the-international-affair-la-lawyer-magazine-feature-article-immigration-attorney-heather-poole
24:20 Managing an office team - Using software, Microsoft Office 365, backing up data on a physical server, Abacus Law, AILA Link, Law Logix,
28:28 Being an attorney in other jurisdictions
30:56 What are the Characteristics of a Good and Bad Immigration Lawyer?
32:27 What keeps you up at night regarding cases?
34:30 Balancing Personal Life & Business Life
38:34 Future goals in the next 10 years
Discussion about the Draft of EB-5 Renewal Regulation
Immigration Attorneys John Khosravi and Belma Demirovic Chinchoy discuss the recent US Senate Bill proposed to renew the EB-5 Immigration Investor Program, in particular in regards to Regional Centers and their affect on foreign Aliens looking to gain a US Green Card (Lawful Permanent Resident Status) by making an investment in the US.
www.ImmigrationLawyersPodcast.com
www.JQKLaw.com
www.eb5plusimmigrationlaw.com