Courtland develops, implements and maintains internal and external tools to streamline the daily work of the immigration practice and help clients comply with the ever-changing US immigration policies, rules and regulations.

Courtland has over sixteen years of experience in immigration law, focusing on employment-based matters. She has worked with HuntonAK since 2004, and serves as a resource for other team members using her extensive immigration experience to analyze complex legal problems and identify solutions.

Relevant Experience

• Consults with attorneys on unusual cases to identify out-of-the-box solutions and develop customized immigration strategies.
• Conducts on-site immigration trainings for companies and their foreign-national employees.
• Monitors changes to immigration law, including new regulations, policies and BALCA/AAO decisions, to determine impact on practice and guidance provided to clients.
• Develops and maintains external guidance and training materials for both HR contacts and individual beneficiaries.
• Develops and maintains internal paralegal guides to streamline procedures for nonimmigrant and immigrant petitions and applications.
• Serves as immigration services manager for select clients—reviewing initiations, identifying immigration options and coordinating the work of paralegals.

• Prepares responses to difficult Requests for Evidence issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services for nonimmigrant and immigrant petitions.
• Assists clients with rehabilitation of previous denials of petitions and reinstatement of status, including limited situations involving ineffective assistance of prior counsel.
• Trains and mentors paralegals on procedures for preparing nonimmigrant and immigrant petitions.
• Previous immigration experience includes working in-house with a large consulting company and with a small boutique firm.
• Has assisted clients with petitions and visa applications to permit temporary employment of foreign nationals in every nonimmigrant category, including O-1 aliens of extraordinary ability, L-1 intracompany transferees, H-1B specialized workers, P-1 professional athletes, TN workers, E treaty traders/investors and J-1 and H-3 trainees.
• Has assisted clients with petitions for permanent resident status (green cards) in every employment-based category, including extraordinary ability, multinational managers/executives, outstanding researchers and all PERM-based petitions.

Education
MPIA, Economic and Social Development, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, 2003

BA, International Political Economy, Colorado College, 1999

• EB-1 Backlogs: The New Reality, Law360