AILA Elects New Officers; Leslie A. Holman to Serve as President of Association
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 19, 2014
| CONTACTS: | |
|---|---|
| George Tzamaras 202-507-7649 gtzamaras@aila.org |
Belle Woods 202-507-7675 bwoods@aila.org |
AILA ELECTS NEW OFFICERS
Leslie A. Holman to serve as president of association
BOSTON, MA - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) today elected new officers to its Executive Committee for the 2014-2015 term. The election results were announced at the official membership meeting during AILA's 58th Annual Conference being held in Boston, MA. Leslie A. Holman was installed as AILA's President and the following officers were elected today: Victor D. Nieblas Pradis as President-Elect, William A. Stock as First Vice President, Annaluisa Padilla as Second Vice President, Anastasia Tonello as Treasurer, and Marketa Lindt as Secretary.
Leslie A. Holman Installed as New President of AILA
AILA installed Leslie A. Holman, an immigration lawyer from Burlington, VT, as the association's President for the 2014-2015 term.
Ms. Holman has been practicing law for 28 years and focusing exclusively on immigration related issues since 1999. She is the founder of Holman Immigration Law, a law firm located in Burlington, VT, and limited to the practice of immigration and nationality matters. She represents both corporate and individual clients.
Ms. Holman has served as the Chair of AILA's Admissions and Border Enforcement Committee, the Vice Chair of AILA's National CBP Liaison Committee, a member of AILA's National Interagency Committee, and she is also the AILA New England Chapter liaison to regional ports of entry.
Ms. Holman is also a member the Vermont State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights and a board member of the Chittenden Valley Health Area Education Center. In 2008, she was awarded AILA's distinguished "Sam Williamson Mentor Award." She speaks frequently to a wide variety of audiences on all aspects of immigration.
Victor D. Nieblas Pradis Named President-Elect of AILA
AILA elected Victor D. Nieblas Pradis, an immigration attorney from City of Industry, CA, as the association's President-Elect for the 2014-2015 term.
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.
William A. Stock Named First Vice President of AILA
AILA elected William A. Stock, an immigration attorney from Philadelphia, PA, as the association's First Vice President for the 2014-2015 term.
Mr. Stock is a founding partner of Klasko, Rulon, Stock & Seltzer, LLP, in the firm's Philadelphia office. He handles all aspects of immigration law, including employment based immigration for all sizes of companies as well as individuals, complex family-based matters, citizenship and naturalization matters, defending removal proceedings and DOL enforcement proceedings, and litigating in the federal courts.
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.
Annaluisa Padilla Named Second Vice President of AILA
AILA elected Annaluisa Padilla, an immigration attorney from La Habra, CA, as the association's Second Vice President for the 2014-2015 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 also served as Trustee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) in 2006-2008 and 2010-2012, and Chair of their immigration section for the 2007-2008 term. 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). She is fluent in Spanish, conversational in German and Portuguese. She was recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Anastasia Tonello Named Treasurer of AILA
AILA elected Anastasia Tonello, an immigration attorney from New York, NY as the association's Treasurer for the 2014-2015 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 Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 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 consular issues having spoken at professional conferences and at the world's leading business schools in the US and abroad.
She received her B.A. from Indiana University and her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame.
Marketa Lindt Elected Secretary of AILA
AILA elected Marketa Lindt, an immigration attorney from Chicago, IL, as the association's Secretary for the 2014-2015 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 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, Marketa 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.
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.