Before Jeff joined Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP as Senior Counsel, Jeff served as Chief of the Legal Advisory Opinion section of the Visa Office in the Department of State. For over a decade, he led the team and provided legal guidance to consular officers worldwide on visa matters.

During his tenure in Washington, DC, Jeff was a trusted advisor to senior policymakers and worked closely with counterparts at the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Justice. He assisted the Department of Justice on civil and criminal visa matters and testified for the government as an expert witness on visas. He twice earned the State Department’s Superior Honor Award.

Jeff also served in various positions at US consulates around the world and, before joining the government, worked as a criminal defense lawyer.

As Senior Counsel with Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP Jeff works in the Washington, D.C. office.  The government relations group helps to shape immigration policy, regulations and legislation and offers strategic guidance on working with government agencies.  Jeff is instrumental in overseeing the firm’s compliance and government affairs practices.

Education

• Juris Doctorate, George Washington University
• Bachelor of Arts, English, George Washington University
• Admitted to: State Bar of District of Columbia

As Vice President and Senior Global Immigration Counsel, Jason Rogers leads the counsel team and provides high level consultation to corporations on employee immigration and mobility strategies, providing complex and innovative corporate immigration solutions to achieve business objectives. Jason has more than 15 years’ experience in corporate immigration. Prior to joining the company, Jason also held senior leadership and immigration counsel positions in other immigration firms, law firms, and a “big four” accounting firm. He received his Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law and a Bachelors in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Derek Quashie is a Partner in the Immigration Practice at PwC Law LLP working out of the Toronto office. Derek has over 10 years of experience practicing US immigration law in the capacity of outside counsel providing services to large multinational corporations as well as in-house counsel for a large global media conglomerate. His additional experience in law includes several years practicing employment litigation in New York City. He has also spent many years as a strategic corporate human resources partner for several large organizations in both Canada and the US. Derek received his Bachelor’s degree in Criminology from the University of Toronto and his Juris Doctorate degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in both New York and Ontario. Because of his extensive and diverse employment history, Derek is known by clients to provide well-rounded and practical legal and business advice that not only complies with the law but adapts to various business practices and cultures. 

Deirdre D. Nero, Esq. started her own Immigration & Nationality Law Practice, NERO Immigration Law, in February 2009 after having practiced in two large law firms for several years. With 16+ years of experience under her belt, Deirdre has helped hundreds of clients from all over the globe navigate the complicated world of Immigration Law. 

Originally from NJ, Deirdre has lived in Florida for 20+ years. Deirdre earned a Bachelor’s Degree Magna Cum Laude from FSU; and graduated with honors from the University of Miami School of Law. Deirdre has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2003.

Deirdre’s practice focuses on all types of business immigration including employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. She frequently works with companies to ensure they are compliant with Immigration laws relating to Form I-9, E-Verify, and Immigration Related Discrimination.

Deirdre works closely with companies to coordinate and execute all aspects their Immigration strategy and represent them before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of State. She represents clients in all 50 States and from countries across the globe. She holds an AV® Preeminent™ Rating since 2014, showing she is well-respected by her peers. She is honored to be named by Florida Trend Magazine as one of 2019’s Legal Elite

Alberto Ruisanchez is the Chief of the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.  IER enforces a law that prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of citizenship and national origin, educates the public about the law, and engages in policy work to advance the office’s mission.  For two years, he served as an Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General overseeing several of the Sections in the Civil Rights Division, including the Employment Litigation Section and the Disability Rights Section.  Prior to serving as IER’s Chief, Mr. Ruisanchez served as a Deputy Chief in the Disability Rights Section and a trial attorney in the Voting Section and Housing & Civil Enforcement Section.  Mr. Ruisanchez clerked for the Honorable Juan Torruella on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and he graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor on the Harvard Law Review. 

Bruce is a recognized leader in the risk management, travel, and intelligence industries. A WorldAware founder, Bruce has been the key contributor to the company’s strategic growth, securing its position as a leader in business resiliency with the development of the Worldcue® Global Control Center. Prior to joining WorldAware, Bruce was founder and CEO of CSSI, an Inc. 500 and four-time Washington Technology FAST 50 company that developed software for the intelligence community. He has also served as a lead architect on intelligence programs for the US government.

He is a trustee of Allegheny College, where he received a BS in Physics, and holds a MS in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University.

Kelly Greenwood is the Founder & CEO of Mind Share Partners, a leading workplace mental health nonprofit. Kelly is a Forbes contributor and the editor-at-large for the “Mental Health at Work” section on Thrive Global.

Previously, Kelly served as the Chief Growth & Strategy Officer of Techbridge Girls and was a Principal at the Skoll Foundation. Kelly worked as a management consultant at Accenture, A.T. Kearney, and the Bridgespan Group.

Kelly holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and graduated summa cum laude from Duke University with a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish.

Anne Comer is a Vice President with Senn Delaney, a Heidrick & Struggles company. She has helped clients ranging from small non-profits to Fortune 500 companies shape healthier, higher performing cultures in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia. With over 25 years of experience in human resources and corporate leadership, consulting and education, Anne now focuses on her passion for guiding leaders, organizations and teams to create a healthy environment in which all people can thrive and enjoy the satisfaction of achieving strong and sustainable results.

Judith has been at the forefront of the culture change movement in technology and entertainment – with a deep focus on analytics and strategies to identify and disrupt bias in social systems and corporate culture. She joined SAP in September 2018. 

Previously as Global Head of Diversity for Dropbox, Judith was responsible for all diversity and inclusion programs, as well as corporate social responsibility, and was the Diversity Programs Manager at Google where she directed the unconscious bias work stream, and built strategies for recruiting, retention, and advancement of the company’s technical employees.