AILA Elects New Officers; Victor D. Nieblas Pradis to Serve as President of Association

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 18, 2015

CONTACTS:
George Tzamaras 202-507-7649 gtzamaras@aila.org	Belle Woods 202-507-7675 bwoods@aila.org

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) today elected new officers to its Executive Committee for the 2015-2016 term. The election results were announced at the official membership meeting during AILA's Annual Conference in National Harbor, MD. Victor D. Nieblas Pradis was installed as AILA's President and the following officers were elected today: William A. Stock as President-Elect, Annaluisa Padilla as First Vice President, Anastasia Tonello as Second Vice President, Marketa Lindt as Treasurer, and Jennifer Minear as Secretary.

Victor D. Nieblas Pradis Installed as New President of AILA

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) installed Victor D. Nieblas Pradis, an immigration lawyer in the Los Angeles, CA area, as the association's President for the 2015-2016 term.

Born in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico and raised in Calexico, California along the US/Mexico border, Mr. Nieblas is the first Mexican-American AILA President in its history.

Mr. Nieblas practices immigration law in Southern California where he focuses on deportation defense, federal court litigation, consular abroad processing, immigrant and non-immigrant visas, waivers and appellate work. He graduated from Loyola Law School in 1995 and serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

An AILA member since 1997, he has served the Association as a Director on the Board of Governors and as Chair of the Southern California Chapter. He is a past Chairperson for the Immigration Law Section for the Hispanic National Bar Association, a past Trustee for the Mexican American Bar Association (MABA), and past chairperson of the MABA Immigration Subcommittee.

Mr. Nieblas is the guest legal commentator for several local news broadcasts, including "MundoFox Noticias 22" News in Los Angeles, Univisión's Primera Edición, and MundoFox National News. Mr. Nieblas has also hosted a cable television show named "Inmigración 411" where he provides answers to viewer questions and is recognized as an immigration expert. He is also regularly quoted in major national print media and often appears on national news broadcasts discussing immigration law. Mr. Nieblas is engaged on Twitter with the handle @VictorNieblas.

William A. Stock Named President-Elect of AILA

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) elected William A. Stock, an immigration lawyer from Philadelphia, PA, as the association's President-Elect for the 2015-2016 term.

Mr. Stock is a founding partner of Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP, in the firm's Philadelphia office. He handles all aspects of immigration law, emphasizing employment based immigration for companies, health care systems and universities as well as individual investors, researchers and physicians. He also handles, complex family-based, citizenship and naturalization matters, and defends clients in removal proceedings and DOL enforcement proceedings. When necessary, he litigates against the government in the federal courts to obtain immigration benefits unlawfully withheld by the agencies.

He previously served as an elected Director for the AILA Board of Governors, as well as the Business Committee Chair, and the Distance Learning Committee Chair. He has spoken at numerous immigration conferences and written extensively, including being a Senior Editor of AILA's annual Immigration & Nationality Law Handbook.

A summa cum laude graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, Mr. Stock received his law degree from the University of Minnesota. In 2000, he received AILA's Joseph Minsky Award for outstanding accomplishments in immigration law. In addition to his practice, he has also been an Adjunct Professor at Villanova University School of Law. Mr. Stock is on Twitter: @wstock215.

Annaluisa Padilla Named First Vice President of AILA

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) elected Annaluisa Padilla, an immigration attorney from La Habra, CA, as the association's First Vice President for the 2015-2016 term.

Ms. Padilla was born in Guatemala and immigrated to the United States in 1983. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and her law degree from Whittier Law School.

Ms. Padilla, a solo practitioner, served as Trustee of the Mexican American Bar Association (MABA) for six years and as Treasurer in 2010 and 2011. She served as Chair of the immigration section of Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) and as Trustee to the LACBA Board in 2006-2008 and 2010-2012. She is currently serving a third two-year term for 2014-2016. She has volunteered with the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), the Domestic Violence Project, the HIV & AIDS Legal Services Alliance; she currently serves as pro bono attorney for ProBar and KIND (Kids In Need of Defense) and sits on their Family Law Expert Panel for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status relief.

She is fluent in Spanish, conversational in German and Portuguese. Ms. Padilla is active on social media; her Twitter handle is @apesq. She has been recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer 2011-2015.

Anastasia Tonello Named Second Vice President of AILA

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) elected Anastasia Tonello, an immigration lawyer from New York, NY, as the association's Second Vice President for the 2015-2016 term.

Ms. Tonello is Managing Partner of Laura Devine Attorneys in New York and is also a Partner of Laura Devine Solicitors in London. She was a charter member and officer of AILA's Rome District Chapter and served as the Chair of AILA's Department of State Committee. She has been recognized in Who's Who Legal, Legal 500 UK Edition, Chambers (UK, Global and USA), and SuperLawyers.

Having spent the majority of her career practicing US law as an immigrant in London, Ms. Tonello has experienced many of the issues and obstacles immigrants in this country encounter-both personally and professionally.

Ms. Tonello joined AILA as a member in 1998. She is a frequent speaker on immigration issues having spoken at professional conferences, the world's leading business schools in the US and abroad and in the media. Ms. Tonello is active on social media; her Twitter handle is @anastasianylon

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She received her B.A. from Indiana University and her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

Marketa Lindt Named Treasurer of AILA

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) elected Marketa Lindt, an immigration attorney from Chicago, IL, as the association's Treasurer for the 2015-2016 term.

Ms. Lindt is a partner at the Chicago office of Sidley Austin LLP, where she works with U.S. and multinational corporations to manage their business immigration visa programs to best attract and retain foreign national talent. She also leads her firm's I-9 compliance practice, where she assists employers with implementing best practices for worker verification, advises companies on immigration-related issues in mergers and acquisitions, and defends companies in administrative and criminal immigration-related proceedings.

In addition to her work in representing U.S. companies, Ms. Lindt is actively engaged in AILA and other networks, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to advocate for change in our immigration laws to better serve U.S. employers and immigrant communities. Ms. Lindt has also worked for a number of years in AILA's government liaison efforts to advocate for reasonable interpretations of the immigration laws. Most recently, she served as chair of AILA's liaison committee on worksite enforcement, where she met with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the E-Verify unit and the Office of Special Counsel regarding worksite enforcement issues.

Ms. Lindt is a primary author of the immigration law and practice treatise Business Immigration Law (for both the Strategies for Employing Foreign Nationals and Forms and Filings volumes) and has also authored numerous articles for leading immigration texts, including AILA's Guide to Worksite Enforcement and Compliance, the Guide to PERM Labor Certification, and numerous annual editions of the Immigration & Nationality Law Handbook. She has appeared a number of times on television, radio and print regarding developments in immigration law. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the Loyola University School of Law where she teaches a course on immigration worksite enforcement.

Beyond her service to her clients and the immigration bar, Ms. Lindt is committed to pro bono work and providing access to counsel for underserved immigrants. For a number of years, she has served as a member of the Leadership Board of the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago and provides pro bono representation to refugees, asylees and immigrant survivors of domestic violence. She also serves in an advisory capacity to several Chicago-area cultural institutions and to organizations that provide assistance to underserved immigrant communities. Ms. Lindt is engaged on social media; her Twitter handle is @marketalindt.

Jennifer Minear Elected Secretary of AILA

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) elected Jennifer Minear, an immigration attorney from Richmond, VA, as the association's new Secretary for the 2015-2016 term.

Ms. Minear is a director in the Immigration Practice Group at McCandlish Holton in Richmond, VA, where her practice focuses on employment-based immigration with a particular emphasis on the healthcare sector, including J-1 waiver and green card processing for foreign medical graduates.

She is the 2014 recipient of the Susan D. Quarles AILA Service Excellence Award, a recognition of her outstanding service, over a period of years, in advancing the mission, development, and value of AILA for its members and the public it serves. Ms. Minear has served AILA as a volunteer in nearly all possible capacities. She has been a member of, or chaired, liaison committees and conference program committees, spoken at numerous AILA conferences, and written for AILA publications; in 2012, she was elected to the AILA Board of Governors.

Ms. Minear received her B.A. from the University of Maryland and graduated cum laude from Cornell Law School. She is active on Twitter; follow her at @jenniferminear.

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.