Brian Lerner | Los Angeles Immigration Lawyer

• American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
• Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section, –
  2009 / present
• Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association, –
  1996 / present
• Officer, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Immigration Law Section, –
  1995 / present

• I am a Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law as certified by the Legal Board of Specialization, State of California.
• Why does the State Bar Certify Legal Specialists?
• to help the public identify attorneys who have demonstrated proficiency in specialized fields of law
• to encourage the maintenance and improving of attorney competence in specialized fields of law
• to have immigration services done by a professional who knows all the laws of immigration and nationality law
• Preparation of immigration petitions and applications is far more than just filling out forms.
• What Does it Mean When an Attorney is a “Certified Specialist”?
• taken and passed a written examination in Immigration and Nationality Law
• demonstrated a high level of experience in Immigration and Nationality Law
• fulfilled ongoing education requirements
• been favorably evaluated by other attorneys and judges familiar with his or her work
• A certified specialist knows the overall picture and can discuss different strategies to help you choose the best one for your needs.
• What Can a Certified Immigration & Nationality Law Specialist Do for You?
• advise you, your family or your business so that you do not loose out to faulty immigration document preparation or failure to properly analyze your case
• identify problems and proactively avoid unnecessary expense, delays and rejection by the INS
• keep you current with changes in the law which affect legal rights or status and help with past mistakes
• protect your legal rights if contacted by the INS
• if apprehended by the BCIS , you need qualified reation in bond and deportation hearings to assure due process and appeal rights
  present
• As an employer, reation at BCIS audits and investigations assures compliance with verification and hiring requirements and avoids fines or penalties
  present
• protect your lawful residence status
• help you obtain U.S. citizenship
• There are numerous immigration laws that could result in the denial of this visa if not properly prepared. If the petition is put together correctly and professionally by a qualified immigration law firm, the chances of approval is greatly increased.
• 20 Year Licensed and Practicing Attorney, Martindale-Hubbell
  2012
• Who's Who in Executives and Professionals, National Register of Who's Who for Executives and Professionals
  2004
• Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law, California State Bar, Board of Legal Specialization
  2000

1. Permission to Reenter granted after only 3 months after deportation order issued. Now, client is not barred for another 9 years and 6 months from coming back to the U.S.
2. VAWA approved for Client who was in an abusive relationship but only lived with her husband for a short period and did not have police or hospital reports.
3. AOS approved, no major issues but there were some issues with Client's true and correct name and her manner of entry. She was waived through and this would be known as a Quilantan approval.
4. Naturalization granted after application had been pending for well over a year for Client who had repeated false claims to U.S. citizenship, including voting in federal and state elections. Client did not fall under the USC false claim exceptions but his application was granted on discretionary grounds.
5. Adjustment of Status based on Marriage was approved for client who entered legally but has several juvenile crimes. No Waivers or Court needed.

I have concentrated only on Immigration and Nationality Law. I do not do it part-time and I do not do it along with other areas of law. It is 100% immigration. I have used technology to help with processing of cases. I can take any client from anywhere in the U.S. or the world. Once my firm is retained, the client gets access to a web portal 24/7 and it has questionnaires and documents needed and a communications portal for all communications with my law office.
I have become a certified specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law of which there are only around 200 in the State of California alone where there are over 200,000 licensed attorneys. I do a 'coffee talk' immigration video series on Youtube - of which there are over 570 videos with over 1,600,000 views. I have a business Facebook page with over 107,000 likes. My immigration blog goes all over the world. Most of all, I change lives when I win the immigration case.

The client should see if the attorney offers free consultations. We do not know what the problem is until there is a consultation. See if the consultation is offered on different mediums. I offer consultations via telephone, Skype, Facebook and of course in person. See if the attorney has experience doing what you actually need done.
Make sure the attorney does not guarantee or promise results as that would indicate either the attorney is lying or is inexperienced. Make sure the attorney sees the entire picture and asks sufficient questions to determine the real problem and how it can be best addressed.

Knowledge of Immigration and Nationality Law is the success of a case.

Assess the situation, determine what must be done and give an estimate of procedure, costs and time.

I have an intake sheet that actually takes care of this. However, generally, I need to know immigration status of those involved, a description of the immigration situation, whether they had been petitioned before, whether there is criminal history, deportation orders, fraud, and what hardship exists.

I somewhat answered this above by being a certified specialist in immigration and nationality law.

Keeping a family together by winning an immigration case and changing the directions of their lives for the better.

Snowboarding, reading, spending time with my family, traveling.

Giving various pro bono information on immigration law.