Ernest D. Messerly, Attorney

Ernest D. Messerly was admitted to practice law in California in 1983. He currently is admitted to practice in all federal immigration courts, and before the Department of Homeland Security. He has represented scores of clients before Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Salt Lake City Immigration Court, and before the Department of Homeland Security in a variety of cases. His practice focuses on helping clients obtain Permanent Residency through family and business immigration and assisting businesses obtain foreign workers through temporary and permanent labor certification.

Mr. Messerly retired after a 33-year career with the Social Security Administration, and moved to Utah in 2005 in part to be near his single, adult children, five of whom were attending college and/or living in the Provo/Orem area. It was at this time that he also sought to use his legal training in pursuing a second career. He has found the practice of immigration law to be just what he had in mind- practicing the kind of law that makes a real and meaningful difference in the personal lives of individuals and their families. He finds his membership in the American Immigration Lawyers Association to be most helpful in this regard.

Mr. Messerly, though born in Provo, Utah grew up in a small town in southern Idaho. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brigham Young University in 1973. He developed Spanish bilingual skills while serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colombia and Venezuela. He later taught Spanish at the Missionary Training Center and one year at Durango High School in Colorado.

Mr. Messerly is married and is the father of 10 children ranging from ages 34 to 14. His outside interests include music and theatre. He sang for some 27 years with the Humboldt Light Opera Company. Currently he is greatly enjoying a return to the musical theatre stage in Utah County. He has always enjoyed sports and presently enjoys officiating high school basketball.