People at PLG
Our team of legal professionals includes Attorneys, Case Managers, Case Coordinators and Paralegals — all dedicated to every aspect of employment based immigration. Many of us have experience in other
areas of immigration, from family-based cases to global relocation, so we can more fully meet our clients' needs.
Supervising Attorneys
Julie PearlManaging AttorneyPearl Law Group Chair ImmigrationTracker Julie@immigrationlaw.com |
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Education
B.A., Stanford University
M.P.A., Harvard University
J.D., University of California, Hastings
Rankings
- #1 Woman-Owned Law Firm in San Francisco
(SF Business Times) - Chambers USA Guide 2006:
"America's Leading Business Lawyers" - Lawdragon 500:
One of five chosen business immigration lawyers in the U.S. - International Who’s Who of Business Immigration Lawyers
- SuperLawyers of the Bay Area
- Who's Who in American Law
- Who's Who of American Women
Experience
Former Deputy Attorney General in California, Julie founded her award-winning firm in 1995, along with Alan Nelson, who led the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service under Presidents Reagan and Bush Sr. Within three years, she developed ImmigrationTracker, the immigration management system now used by over 75% of top-ranked law firms and many Fortune 1000 companies, hospitals and universities. Pioneering new approaches in immigration service delivery to corporate clients, the firm has been listed by Inc. Magazine as being among the 250 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America (2003).
Julie won a Cisco Systems Growing with Technology Award (Customer Service Category) and was profiled in the book The Moral Advantage, Getting Ahead in Business by Doing the Right Thing (Stanford University Project on Good Works) for applying the "Golden Rule" to her clients' needs. She is also a co-author of Inside the Minds: Leading Executives on Creating a Leadership Plan, Evaluating Risks, and Managing Cyclical Growth.
She is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of California, all Federal courts and the United States Court of International Trade. A founding member of the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers and former Vice Chair of the American Bar Association's Immigration Subcommittee, Julie has spoken on immigration topics to dozens of human resources, legal, accounting, and other business and professional organizations. Julie ranked #2 in the American Bar Association's Client Counseling Competition (Combined Finals for Australia, Canada, U.K. and U.S.). She has lived in five countries and speaks three languages.
George HepnerSenior Supervising AttorneyA.S. in Aquaculture, Mansfield State University, Mansfield, Pennsylvania B.A. in French, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania J.D., Dickinson School of Law, Carlisle, Pennsylvania GHepner@immigrationlaw.com |
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George has been practicing law for over 20 years, working exclusively in immigration law since the early 1990s. He has extensive experience in virtually every type of immigration matter, from investor visas and all forms of business immigration to litigation, congressional liaison and consular representation.
Prior to his immigration days, George worked as an Assistant District Attorney and as a general practitioner, representing clients in areas ranging from real estate and corporate law to domestic relations and civil litigation. For even greater variety, before becoming a lawyer, George worked and studied in the fields of aquaculture and linguistics, following studies in France, Germany and the U.S.
A member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, he is admitted to practice in the United States Courts of Appeals for the 1st and 3rd Circuits, Maine and Pennsylvania. He has given presentations on the topic of immigration law to a number of human resource and international trade organizations in the U.S. and Canada, and he has published a number of articles on business immigration law. George regularly conducts business in French, German, Spanish and Italian. He also has a working knowledge of Russian. When not at the office, George likes to be moving fast and downhill, preferably on skis.
Sameer KhedekarSupervising AttorneyB.A., University of California – San Diego J.D., Santa Clara University School of Law, Santa Clara, California Sameer@immigrationlaw.com |
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Sameer has handled a wide variety of immigration matters for clients ranging from high-tech companies, startups, hospitals, universities, retail businesses, investors and individuals. He has gained extensive experience in all aspects of business immigration, including labor certifications and immigrant visa petitions; and nonimmigrant visas petitions for intra-company transferees, NAFTA professionals, treaty investors, specialty occupation professionals, religious workers and individuals of extraordinary ability. Sameer has also been a featured panelist on a nationally broadcast teleconference discussing the impact of common immigration issues facing large technology companies.
Prior to joining Pearl Law Group, Sameer worked for full-service immigration law firms in San Francisco. In addition to practicing the full breadth of business immigration law, he successfully appeared on behalf of his clients before the USCIS in naturalization and adjustment of status proceedings, and before the Immigration Court in removal proceedings.
While in Law School, Sameer was a Technical Editor of the Santa Clara Law Review. He was also awarded a Roe Maier Scholarship, was a recipient of the Public Interest Fellowship and was named an Outstanding Oral Advocate in his Moot Court Competition. Sameer is currently admitted to practice in the state of California, and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the South Asian Bar Association.
Christy NguyenSupervising AttorneyB.A., University of California – Berkeley J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco CNguyen@immigrationlaw.com |
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Christy has been passionate about immigration all her life, and has dedicated all of her professional and volunteer efforts to this field. She's been helping foreign nationals since 1997, practicing business immigration law since 2001 with prominent law firms.
She has extensive experience partnering with corporate clients, from startup companies to Fortune 500 companies, and with non-profit research and educational institutions. Her client base has also included multinational professional consulting firms, multimedia and software companies, bio-medical companies, artists/entertainers, outstanding researchers/professors, and other talented individuals.
Christy was recently selected for inclusion in The International Who's Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers 2008. She is also certified by the Employee Relocation Council (ERC) as a Global Mobility Specialist (GMS). Her training enables her to better understand and identify solutions for the range of global mobility issues facing our clients, from relocation resources to cross-cultural considerations.
Her volunteer and internship activities have included participating in the Immigration Law Clinic at U.C. Hastings College of the Law, teaching a naturalization class with Asian Law Alliance, volunteering with the Immigration Clinic at Asian Law Caucus, researching and authoring immigration manuals for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and clerking with a renowned law firm that litigated many challenging immigrant cases.
Christy is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area. She is fluent in Vietnamese.
Kate KunzmanSupervising AttorneyB.A., University of Washington – Seattle J.D., Golden Gate University, San Francisco Kate@immigrationlaw.com |
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Kate handles the range of immigrant and nonimmigrant business immigration matters, including employment visas for professionals, intracompany transferees, investors, and trainees. She has experience advising clients on business visitors, H-1B, TN, L-1, E, O-1, and H-3 petitions, labor certification and PERM applications, multinational manager immigrant petitions, outstanding researchers & extraordinary ability petitions, and adjustment of status and consular processing immigrant visa applications.
She garnered her experience initially at the world's largest immigration law firms, including six years as an Immigration Paralegal and Law Clerk while attending law school. In addition, she acquired experience developing and implementing practical business immigration solutions for individual professionals and corporations alike.
Kate was an Editor of the Golden Gate Law Review. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Having lived in France, Germany and Norway, Kate relishes international travel. She is also an avid runner.
Ann CunAttorneyB.A., University of California – Los Angeles J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco ACun@immigrationlaw.com |
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Ann partners with some of the leading technology and media companies in the Bay Area on various business immigration matters. Her prior experience includes working as an immigration paralegal at a distinguished immigration law firm in Los Angeles on employment-based immigration matters for professors and scientists, surgeons and doctors, Hollywood celebrities, models, musicians and professional designers. She has also helped J-1 visa holders obtain waivers of their two-year foreign residency requirement.
During law school, Ann was an Editor for the Hastings Law Journal and conducted research for the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies. She has worked on pro bono cases and volunteered at the Immigration Clinics sponsored by the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco.
Ann is licensed to practice law in the State of California. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area. Ann is fluent in Cantonese and Hakka, conversational in Mandarin, and continually works to improve her Spanish.
Member of the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL), offering consistently high quality services in 50+ countries.
