Dear Readers:
Somehow immigration has managed to slip from being the big issue discussed in the presidential debate as other controversies have taken center-stage. The one story in the last few weeks that is immigration related that is getting buzz is, of course, the Republican candidate’s attack on his former Miss Universe winner/employee and Mrs. Clinton’s pointing out that she’s just naturalized and is definitely going to vote. It reminded me of another issue that, sadly, has just come to light. The New York Times reported last week that USCIS may not get through naturalizing as many as 500,000 people in time for them to be able to vote next month. That could potentially affect the outcome in tight battleground states. Hopefully, the spotlight now being shined on this dereliction of duties will cause the agency to put the manpower in to getting these cases adjudicated in the timeframe that they have assured the public they would maintain.
Immigration didn’t otherwise make it in to the last debate. But there are three more to come – one this coming Tuesday between the vice-presidential candidates. The candidates have sharply contrasting views on this issue and the public will benefit to see the subject debated.
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I’ve been on the road for the past few weeks speaking at and attending various conferences. I’m a Fellow in the College of Law Practice Management which recently held its annual Futures conference in Kansas City. Some of the brightest minds in the field presented and I picked up a lot of interesting ideas. We recently hired Josh Waddell as our firm’s first innovation manager and he’s helping our firm move in the direction of many of the ideas discussed in Kansas City – building systems to ensure quality, using artificial intelligence tools to improve our processes, focusing on using checklists and process flows to insure uniformity and efficiency, etc. This might not sound that interesting to most, but there’s going to be a revolution in the way law is practiced and firms that don’t change will start to die off. We’re hoping to not only survive, but lead.
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We welcome to new employees at Siskind Susser since our last issue. Lily Axelrod was a former paralegal who left us a few years ago to attend Harvard Law School. She’s now rejoining us as an attorney and focusing her practice on immigration litigation, asylum, waivers and other complex matters. We also are joined by Amira Al-Dasouqi as a paralegal who is working on employment-based immigration cases. Good luck to both of you!
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As always, we invite you to contact us if our firm can be of assistance. Please visit our web page at www.visalaw.com for information on reaching the firm or scheduling a consultation.
Regards,
Greg Siskind
Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.