IMMIGRATION GUIDE (9)
1. Thou must select a lawyer you can trust, one who has an excellent reputation, and preferably one who has been recommended by friends or relatives. 2. Thou must select a lawyer who is caring and sympathetic to your immigration problems, one with whom you feel comfortable, one who can bolster your confidence, and one who is easily accessible in person. 3. Thou must select a lawyer who is thoroughly familiar with your immigration problem and who has a 100% success record in that type of problem. 4. Thou must select a lawyer who speaks the same native language as you do and who can translate for you during an interview. 5. Thou must select a lawyer who is admitted to practice law in the United States and was educated in the best law schools in the Philippines, such as U.P., and in the United States, such as Yale, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UCLA, or Golden Gate University in San Francisco, or other universities with good immigration law professors. 6. Thou must select a lawyer who has the best training and who keeps abreast with immigration law by attending seminars, reading current immigration books and journals, and looking at immigration websites. 7. Thou must select a lawyer who has the most experience in immigration issues, particularly the issue you are concerned with. 8. Thou must select a lawyer who knows the ins and outs of the immigration office, such as one who has served as an immigration officer. 9. Thou must select a lawyer who has written law books and articles on immigration law, one who has published an immigration newspaper, one who conducts seminars on immigration issues, and one who has taught law. 10. Thou must avoid selecting a lawyer who is confrontational, one who makes false claims that he has connections with immigration officers, one who makes deceitful guarantees of success in difficult and uncertain cases, one who has been subjected to disciplinary action by the bar, or one who has been sued criminally or civilly for misconduct in connection with his law practice and has been convicted or held liable. (Atty. Tipon is from Laoag City. He holds a Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School and a Bachelor of Laws degree from U.P. He practices law and writes law books. Office: 905 Umi St., Suite 201, Honolulu, HI 96819. Tel. (808) 847-1601. E-mail: filamlaw@yahoo.com. Website: www.ImmigrationServicesUSA.com. This article is for general information only and is not intended as legal advice.) |