Helping a Client by Invalidating a Regulation
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Michele Madera is co-chair of the firm’s Corporate Immigration Practice and is based in the Philadelphia office. She focuses her practice on providing strategic immigration guidance to a broad spectrum of corporate and institutional clients. She counsels them in attracting and retaining top international talent. She also advises individual clients facing complex immigration challenges.
Michele regularly guides corporate clients through the steps of hiring a foreign worker and obtaining work authorization in the U.S., as well as throughout the permanent residence process. She also strategizes with international entrepreneurs in obtaining the status necessary to give them flexibility in developing and expanding their business in the United States.
She analyzes filing and adjudication trends to better align her clients’ filing strategies for long-term success, as well as to forecast the growth and trends of their global workforce. This has helped companies experiencing an immigration boom to strategically manage their hiring practices, plan and forecast their departmental budgets, and determine how to operationally manage their changing workforce.
Michele’s clients know they can count on her critical thinking, ease with data, and deep understanding of the operational side of their business to develop immigration protocols to ensure streamlined and efficient immigration processes.
She has in-depth expertise in guiding clients through the labor certification process, including planning, performing the labor market test, and responding to audit requests by the Department of Labor. She also has managed internal and ICE I-9 audits, as well as worksite compliance efforts, including assisting employers in testing and troubleshooting I-9 and onboarding software.
Michele has represented clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. She has prepared pro bono cases, comprising U derivative visa applications and Special Immigrant Juvenile cases, including the Family Court petition for guardianship, I-360 petition, and adjustment of status application. Prior to joining the Firm, Michele practiced business immigration law in New York, where she represented large multinational corporations in the financial services industry, with a particular focus on Information Technology professionals.
Behind every career professional is a story that informs what they do and propels them forward in their work. For Michele, it is that she is the child of an immigrant, making her particularly sensitive to the person behind the immigration process. She considers the needs of each individual throughout her practice of law.
Michele is currently serving on the Executive Committee for the American Immigration Lawyers Association- Philadelphia Chapter. She previously has served on various AILA National committees including the USCIS Case Assistance Liaison Committee, the Business Section Steering Committee, among others.
Michele has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America© on the “Ones to Watch” list since 2021 and on Lexology’s Client Choice list in 2021. She was also listed as and “Women in Law- Ones to Watch” in Best Lawyer in America© in 2022 and selected by Who’s Who Legal in 2023.
Michele is a graduate of Colgate University (B.A., 2006) and New York Law School (J.D., 2011). During law school, Michele was a member of the Justice Action Center, and served as a legal intern for the Executive Office of Immigration Review, as well as at various non-profit agencies to assist with immigration matters. She is currently admitted to practice law in New York.
