Assistants

1  Daniel J. McNeil, Esq.

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  • Associate Director, Legal Department at the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
  • Chapter Editor, “The Representation Hearing,” How to Take a Case Before the NLRB
  • B.A., Michigan State University

Daniel J. McNeil is Associate Director of the Legal Depart­ment at the American Federa­tion of Teachers, AFL-CIO, which he joined in 2003.  McNeil provides advice and training to AFT officers and staff, state affiliates and local unions on all aspects of labor law, including union governance, officer elections and organizing campaigns.  McNeil also rep­resents AFT in matters before the federal courts and vari­ous state and governmental agencies.  McNeil has worked for a Washington, DC law firm representing labor unions in the construction trades and Taft-Hartley employee benefit funds.  In May 2010, McNeil won a $1.8 million judgment for 360 Filipino teachers against a labor recruiter who was operating in violation of Louisiana law.  That decision was affirmed on December 30, 2010.  McNeil received a B.A. in International Relations from Michigan State University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.


LEGAL BRIEF:
A PROPOSAL FOR THE FEDERAL REGULATION OF FOREIGN LABOR RECRUITERS

“Due to a shortage of teachers in the United States who teach math, science, and special education,
school districts frequently look over seas to meet their need for educators.”
Daniel J. McNeil, Esq.

2  Cyrus D. Mehta, Esq.

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  • Recipient, AILA President’s Commendation for Leadership of AILA’s Pro Bono Efforts
  • Appointed Special Counsel on Immigration Matters to the Departmental Disciplinary Committee, Appellate Division, First Department, New York
  • Chair, AILA’s National Pro Bono Committee

Cyrus D. Mehta is Managing Member of Cyrus D. Mehta & Associates, PLLC in New York City.  He is also Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, and serves on the Board of Directors of Volunteers of Legal Services, Inc.  Mehta is the chair of AILA’s National Pro Bono Committee, past co-chair of the AILA-NY Chapter Pro Bono Committee, and a former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Law Foundation. He was also former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Council, and past co-chair and secretary of the Committee on Immigration and Nationality Law of the New York City Bar Association.  Mehta is a frequent speaker on immigration matters and has authored articles that have appeared in professional publications such as Bender’s Immigration Bulletin, Interpreter Releases, Immigration Briefings, and AILA’s Immigration and Nationality Handbook.  He received a B.A. from St. Xavier’s College Bombay University, an M.A. in law from Cambridge University, England and an LL.M from Columbia Law School, New York.


LEGAL BRIEF:
THE TYRANNY OF PRIORITY DATES

“Congress will be more than content to allow the President to take the lead
and solve what it has manifestly been powerless to solve.”
Cyrus D. Mehta, Esq.

3  Victoria F. Neilson, Esq.

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  • Co-Author, American Immigration Lawyers Association’s only LGBT-Themed Publication
  • Recipient, LGBT Law Association of Greater New York (Le-Gal) Community Vision Award
  • Former Chair, New York City Bar Association’s Committee on AIDS

Victoria F. Neilson is the Legal Director of Immigration Equality, a national organization that works to end discrimination in U.S. immigration law, to reduce the negative impact of that law on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive people, and to help obtain asylum for those persecuted in their home country based on their sexual orientation, transgender identity or HIV-status.  Neilson runs Immigration Equality’s pro bono asylum project and provides technical assistance and mentoring on LGBT and HIV immigration issues to attorneys around the country.  She is a co-author of the only LGBT-themed publication by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Immigration Law and the Transgender Client.  Neilson is an active AILA member and a former chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on AIDS.  Neilson is the former Litigation Director at the HIV Law Project in New York and a former tenant organizer.  She received a B.A. from Harvard University and a  J.D. from City University School of Law.


LEGAL BRIEF:
COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM MUST INCLUDE LGBT FAMILIES TO BE TRULY COMPREHENSIVE

“Although current law does not allow a lesbian or gay foreign national to obtain any immigration benefits based on
his or her relationship with an American, the existence of the relationship can be used against him or her.”
Victoria F. Neilson, Esq.

4  Nancy A. Noonan, Esq.

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  • Author, Survey of International Law in the Second Circuit
  • Member, Rules Advisory Committee to the U.S. Court of International Trade
  • Member, Arent Fox Pro Bono Committee

Nancy A. Noonan is Partner at Arent Fox LLP and heads the firm’s immigration practice.  She routinely advises domestic and foreign companies regarding the optimal strategies for the transfer of foreign nationals.  She also counsels U.S. and foreign companies in matters relating to the employer’s legal obligations under immigration law.  She is experienced in employment and family-based immigration, nonimmigrant visas, and citizenship issues, as well as representing individuals of extraordinary ability.  Noonan has issued a number of Legal Alerts on immigration-related topics, and has been published in an edition of Aspatore’s Inside the Minds series, contributing a chapter to Immigration Law Client Strategies.  Noonan served as a law clerk to the Hon.  Evan J. Wallach of the U.S. Court of International Trade.  She received a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law, a B.A. from the University of Richmond and an  M.A. from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.


LEGAL BRIEF:
REFORMING THE LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENCY PROCESS (A.K.A. Green Card PROCESS)
TO BENEFIT U.S. EMPLOYERS

“Three simple solutions would dramatically improve
the green card process for employers and would benefit the U.S. economy.”
Nancy A. Noonan, Esq.
A special thank you to those assisting the authors.

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