Mareza I. Estevez (“Rez”) serves as lead in-house immigration law counsel to Infosys Limited (NYSE: INFY). As legal director of a corporate multinational immigration department spanning the world, Ms. Estevez develops legal strategy, supports business strategy, and advises senior leadership and operational groups on immigration law matters globally. Ms. Estevez directs legal strategy for the in-house immigration operations and compliance groups in the preparation and filing of cases for permanent and temporary visa benefits in the U.S. and other countries for thousands of employees. Ms. Estevez advises and guides compliance operations relating to U.S. immigration, and significantly contributes to immigration compliance activities for other geographies. Ms. Estevez regularly counsels senior business leadership on legal and business considerations relating to immigration operations, strategic planning, potential acquisitions, corporate and crisis communications, investigatory and enforcement matters, and governmental relations. Before joining Infosys Limited, Ms. Estevez served as Senior Director – Legal for the global immigration function at Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSH). Before going in-house, Ms. Estevez practiced Immigration and Nationality Law at large national law firms in New York and Washington, D.C. She is an active member of ACC (American Corporate Counsel), has authored/ co-authored numerous articles in the field, and has served as an expert panelist and speaker at a wide array of legal fora. Ms. Estevez is admitted into the practice of law in the states of New Jersey and New York. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Rutgers University and a Juris Doctor degree from the Rutgers School of Law – Newark. 

Randolph Sawyer is the founder and CEO of Tunlaw Consulting, LLC.  As a consultant, he acts as an independent monitor on Compliance Agreements, implemented risk management programs, and builds organizational cultures of integrity and compliance. He has a proactive approach to identifying and preventing risk, a proven ability to build consensus, and a consistent history of modeling the highest levels of integrity and professionalism. He is considered an SME for federal suspension and debarment activity, corporate internal controls, compliance hotlines, process design, and best practices for ethics and compliance program management. He is fully cognizant of FAR and DFARS contracting procedures, and both pre-award and post-award Federal contracting issues.

Randy is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE); Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP); Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) Level III; FAC Contracting Officer Representative (FAC-COR) Level III; and, FAC in Program and Project Management (FAC-P/PM) Level I. He is an active member of the American Bar Association Suspension and Debarment Committee; Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics; and has conducted training for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).  Randy is a graduate of the University of Texas, at Austin, with both a MA in Economics with a focus on labor law and a BA in Economics, Cum Laude, with a focus on comparable economics systems. 

Randy worked most recently with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the DHS Suspending and Debarring Official (SDO).  He is an expert at the federal Suspension & Debarment process; both under the FAR and the NCR. During more than eight years with DHS, he gained extensive expertise as the SDO at DHS and previously as the SDO at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Prior to that, he managed complex federal contracts for ICE in the USA and Bechtel National in Jordan and the USA; performed as the Director of Contracting for PWC Logistics in Kuwait, and as a Staff Contracting Officer with Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) as an activated USAF Reservist serving in Iraq.  He was an Audit Manager and Staff Auditor with Air Force Audit Agency for six years.  His contracting experience includes contract administration, acquisition planning, and evaluating contractor performance.

Career highlights include building an S&D program for ICE that became a Center of Excellence for DHS and was identified by the GAO as one of the most successful programs in the federal government.

Publications include: “Suspension and Debarment as a Tool to Combat Human Trafficking,” Feb 1, 2015. The Procurement Lawyer, Volume 50, Number 2.

The New Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) and De Facto Debarments, Dec 1, 2012.  Contract Management/National Contract Management Association.

Dr. James Hammerschmidt is the Associate Vice Provost for the Office of Global Engagement and the Executive Director of the Office of International Services at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As Associate Vice Provost, Hammerschmidt provides oversight of immigration-related services to over 6,000 international students, scholars, physicians, and staff at the University of Illinois at Chicago and its Peoria and Rockford campuses.

Hammerschmidt is also an active member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, currently serving as Chair of NAFSA’s Healthcare IIG. Hammerschmidt has also served as past chair of the NAFSA International Education Leadership Knowledge Community. In addition, he also served as Chair of the NAFSA Regulatory Ombudspersons Subcommittee.

Justin D. Parsons is a Managing Attorney at Erickson Immigration Group’s office in Arlington, VA. Justin has been practicing immigration law for 15+ years – both in New York City and Washington, D.C. While well versed in non-immigrant visa processing, his current practice focuses on PERM, I-140s, I-485s, and I-9 worksite compliance issues.  He has been quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle and lectured on immigration law topics at George Washington University School of Law, George Mason School of Law, and the City University of New York.  Justin earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College and his Juris Doctor degree from Brooklyn Law School.

Veronica Raygoza brings over 23 years of Human Resources experience in fast-paced, innovative environments. She spent most of her career at Genentech, Roche Pharmaceuticals’ US headquarters, where she was instrumental in building their Global Mobility function.  She currently works at Square and has spent the past two years implementing governance and compliance around the function. Veronica brings with her a unique lens with her experience working with talent in pharma and fintech industries. She is a past Board member for BAMM and is currently serving as the Professional Development Chair for Square’s LatinX employee group.

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.

Susan is a Partner in the Walnut Creek office of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. She concentrates on business immigration matters including nonimmigrant visas, labor certification issues, immigrant visa petitions, and adjustment of status applications. Susan regularly advises clients on petitions for individuals of Extraordinary Ability, Outstanding Researchers and Multinational Managers as well as compliance issues, including I-9 compliance and Labor Condition Application compliance, the immigration implications of mergers and acquisitions, and immigration issues facing start-up companies.

Susan garnered extensive immigration law experience prior to joining BAL, both at a boutique immigration firm in Southern California as well as at a full service firm in San Francisco. Additionally, she has practiced labor and employment law, held an editorial position with The Labor Letters, Inc., and served as Adjunct Professor of Labor Relations at Woodbury University.

As a partner and manager of the Virginia office of Berry, Appleman and Leiden LLP, Liane strategically advises companies in all aspects of immigration practice and policy. Liane guides her clients in both nonimmigrant and immigrant business visa issues, with a primary focus on clients in the software and technology industries. With over twenty years’ experience, Liane is widely recognized for her strategy and consulting services required to create an exceptional immigration program.  She frequently speaks on employment-related immigration topics including: managing PERM recruitment programs, advising multinational corporations regarding reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions and layoffs, and immigration compliance issues.

Liane was a prior Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Vermont Service Center Liaison Committee. Prior to joining BAL, she worked in London, advising corporations and individuals on filing visa applications at U.S. Consulates throughout Europe.

Dan Berger is a partner at the immigration law firm of Curran, Berger & Kludt in Northampton, MA.

Dan developed his interest in immigration in college, where he studied immigration history and taught English to adult refugees. He is a founding member of the US Alliance of International Entrepreneurs, an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, on the Legal Advisory Board of the Presidents’ Alliance on Immigration & Higher Education, and a member of the USCIS Headquarters liaison committee for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

Dan has edited Immigration Options for Academics and Researchers and the Diplomatic Visa Guide. He wrote an Issue Brief for the American Council on Education (ACE) after the 2016 election, and was a co-author on a “Note” on immigration in 2017 for the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA).

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. 

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

Based in Boston, Michele is the North America Immigration Lead for Publicis Groupe, the world’s third largest communications group operating in over 100 countries with a mobile workforce of over 80,000 people.  She is responsible for developing and executing immigration compliance and case strategy for North America, overseeing the delivery of immigration case management services for the U.S. and Canada and for driving the immigration program expansion throughout Latin America.  Michele’s subject matter expertise is relied upon to evolve and scale the company’s immigration program to meet the challenges of a complex immigration environment.

In addition to Michele’s experience leading the North America Immigration Team, she was a U.S. immigration attorney whose wide-ranging experience includes working for international law firms, the Department of Justice and a nonprofit migration agency. 

Stephanie Lewin is an executive and corporate lawyer, specializing in immigration, employment, compliance and global mobility strategy and policy for large and mid-sized companies. Stephanie’s global work experience includes government, in-house counsel, law firm and corporate roles. She is an award-winning customer service advocate and contributor to Dot Complicated on Wharton Business Radio.

Stephanie currently serves Envoy Global’s Head of Global Immigration and brings more than 20 years’ immigration experience. Before joining Envoy, she served as Senior Counsel for Global Immigration at Berry Appleman & Leiden (BAL), and has also held management positions at Crown World Mobility and Emigra Worldwide in London.

Earlier in her career Stephanie worked at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and was an in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 company. 

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.