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.

Scott J. FitzGerald is the Managing Partner of the Boston, Massachusetts office of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP, and a Managing Director of Fragomen Immigration Services India Pvt., Ltd. Mr. FitzGerald has previously served as the Managing Partner of the firm's Washington D.C. and Vienna, Virginia offices, as well as an Associate in the firm's New York office. He is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and Washington D.C., and is a member of the Labor Relations Committee of the United States Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S. India Business Council. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Mr. FitzGerald also serves on the Board of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs (CENSA). Mr. FitzGerald lectures and writes frequently on business immigration issues, and is an Adjunct Professor of Immigration Law at Boston College Law School. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University (B.A., International Studies) and Fordham University School of Law (J.D.).

Ryan is the US Immigration Operations and Strategy Manager for IBM Corporation, operating within the HR Global Mobility Organization. Ryan leads a global team responsible for the delivery of  H-1B, L-1, TN, E-3, O-1, J-1, and Permanent Residency programs for all IBM US inbound immigration. Ryan is responsible for partnering with HR Talent Acquisition, Legal, Government Affairs, and Global Mobility.

Ryan joined IBM in 2013 working in US Immigration Operations. Ryan focuses on technology, data, and monitoring trends to navigate a dynamic United States immigration environment. Ryan is also dedicated to the personal aspect of supporting employees' personal lives and concerns through delivering quality immigration support. Recently, Ryan has held numerous speaking engagements within IBM in the United States to guide and inform senior leadership on recent changes and how the US Immigration Operation within IBM is adjusting to ensure continued success.

Christopher Wild is the US Immigration Team Leader at Bloomberg LP. He is a graduate of Cornell Law School, where he was the convocation speaker. He previously worked for Hughes Hubbard and Reed focused on tax law, and Satterlee Stephens focused on immigration law. He has presented on global mobility topics at NYU’s Stern School of Business and Yale’s Graduate School of Management.