Stuart Matthews is a Senior Associate Attorney with The Bernard Firm. Stuart graduated law school from the University of Maryland School of Law, and has a Master of Arts in International Affairs from American University, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Belmont University. Stuart brings to The Bernard Firm extensive experience with business and corporate immigration matters. He has extensive experience and knowledge in many subfields of immigration law and has worked with a variety of organizations and individuals to help them navigate the complex and ever-changing immigration landscape to achieve their lawful objectives in the United States. Stuart enjoys spending time with his family and traveling internationally.

Stephen received his Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he served as Co-President of the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Law Students Association. Stephen also graduated from Queen’s University in Canada with a Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law. While in Wisconsin, Stephen gained clinical experience supporting the Wisconsin Innocence Project as a law student and as a legal extern at the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, and continues to be active in the Asian American community and volunteers with Taiwan Innocence Project, offering his expertise to help communicate advanced legal concepts to people in the local community. Stephen is dedicated to serving clients with the highest level of professionalism and care. He comes from a background in providing full-service employment-based immigration solutions in the U.S., as well as Canadian immigration services and global visa processing. With knowledge across three practice areas (U.S., Canadian, and Global), Stephen is uniquely positioned to provide strategic, well-rounded immigration support to corporate clients with both U.S. and international operations. He offers a unique perspective, drawing on his lived experience as an immigrant from Taiwan, and leverages both his knowledge and personal understanding to guide clients through the complex immigration landscape. Outside of work, Stephen enjoys cinema, traveling around the world, wine tasting, cooking, and exploring food pairing combinations. Stephen is also passionate about tailoring and vintage clothing. He is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Taiwanese, and thinks he is a better karaoke singer than he actually is.

After graduating from Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Afhan started his own practice in Houston, Texas. For over nine years, his practice focused on a wide range of immigration matters. In 2021, Afhan accepted a great opportunity to join The Bernard Firm PLC, and he moved to Ames, Iowa. Afhan’s practice is focused primarily on H-2B visas, I-9 audits, Department of Labor appeals, wage and hour audits and compliance, consular processing, and family-based immigration. Afhan’s family immigrated to the US when he was fifteen years old, and he is particularly interested in tackling the daily conflicts that perpetuate and sustain the field of Immigration Law. Afhan experienced how the immigration process can change lives for the better, and it has always been important to him to practice in a field of law that allows him to help others achieve the American dream – the same way his family did. For him, there is no other field of law that is as gratifying or fulfilling. Afhan is happily married, and he and his wife enjoy traveling and going on long drives.

As a litigator, John Q. Stoltze is proud to represent John Q. Public in any way he can, through trial and appeal. He passionately pursues his clients’ interests and tells it to them straight. Working with his dedicated team, he aims to get the best result possible for his clients and guides them through the hurdles and processes their legal claims will put in front of them. John likes to focus his expertise in personal injury, car accidents, and workers’ compensation, but often finds himself jumping into civil rights law and contract and insurance law, with the occasional class action on the side. Like the law, ever changing, John focuses on the problems his clients have at the time and will endeavor to aid them. Through years of practice, John has helped obtain favorable outcomes for numerous clients. John came from a family of lawyers, with his father and two of his brothers practicing before he, as the youngest, was finally able to get himself to law school at Des Moines’ local Drake University Law School. Now, he and his brother Bruce Jr. practice in their own firm as partners with their team of legal professionals. Working with his family has led him to benefit from the decades of experience of those that came before him. When outside of practice, he gets involved with the Iowa Association for Justice and interacts with the many attorneys that field the organization, spends time donating to the occasional charity for organizations like the Blank Children’s Hospital and the iCare Eat-a-thon, and works with his friends on a budding media business, BS Legal By Design. When he comes home, he cuddles up with his lovely partner and their adorable yellow lab, Logan.

Jeff Carter is a practicing lawyer in the state of Iowa handling personal injury matters.

Steven Lawyer is a practicing lawyer in the state of Iowa.