David W. Leopold

David has extensive experience in all areas of immigration, visa, citizenship, consular practice, and deportation defense including:

• Employment-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visas for highly skilled foreign professionals, including corporate managers and executives, engineers, computer professionals, artists and entertainers, physicians, scientists, and other professionals.
• Alien employment certification (PERM)  for companies seeking to permanently retain foreign professionals and skilled workers.
• Waivers of the J-1 two-year foreign residence requirement for foreign medical graduates including Conrad 30 and interested federal government agency waivers.
• Consular representation at U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide, including applications for immigrant and nonimmigrant visa waivers.
• Complex naturalization matters, including initial N-400 applications, N-336 appeals, and federal court litigation.
• Advising companies on employment verification compliance in anticipation of mergers and acquisitions.
• Counseling and representing companies regarding compliance with employment authorization verification requirements, including internal Form I-9 audits and employer sanctions defense.
• Complex deportation matters, including administrative trials and appeals, and federal immigration litigation.
• Representation of clients charged with immigration-related crimes, including visa fraud, illegal procurement of citizenship, and illegal reentry.

Driven by shifting political forces, the framework of policies and regulations that make up U.S. immigration law is in constant flux. Businesses of all sizes, and the millions of talented professionals who make up today’s modern workforce, face numerous challenges when attempting to navigate these complex laws. Our immigration lawyers are dedicated to helping clients confront and overcome those challenges. Relying on expertise that stems from decades of in-depth immigration experience, Ulmer’s Immigration Law Group delivers comprehensive services and focused solutions for multinational corporations, health care institutions, small and mid-sized businesses, families, and individuals.

Corporate Immigration Services

Companies must recruit, hire, and retain top talent to compete. Representing companies of all sizes based in the U.S. and abroad, Ulmer’s immigration attorneys take a business-oriented approach to helping clients secure the talent that drives their businesses. Our attorneys take the time to understand client goals, and design practical, cost-effective strategies for managing global workforces that align with those goals.

We counsel clients on obtaining temporary employment visas, lawful permanent residence, and U.S. citizenship. We also provide employers with immigration advice related to mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, international tax, I-9 compliance and other labor issues affecting the employment of foreign nationals. Our immigration attorneys routinely represent clients before the Department of Homeland Security’s key immigration bureaus – USCIS, ICE, CBP, the U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. Consulates worldwide.

Physician and Health Care Industry Services

International medical graduates and foreign-born physicians make up a substantial component of the U.S. physician workforce. Essential to the health and vibrancy of our country, these physicians and the health care institutions they work with are faced with an overwhelming burden in the form of complex U.S. immigration laws and regulations. Due in part to Ulmer’s deep experience representing health care institutions, our attorneys have particular expertise in representing physicians and international medical graduates in a variety of matters, including waivers of the J-1 two-year home residency requirement, EB-1 “extraordinary ability” petitions, and EB-2 national interest waivers for physicians in medically underserved areas.

Individual Immigration Services

Many highly qualified, individual professionals seek to pursue their goals and expand their professional horizons by working in the U.S. Passing through the maze of constantly shifting U.S. immigration laws and regulations can be a daunting task. Our attorneys routinely represent individuals in a wide variety of immigration, visa, and citizenship matters. We routinely represent individuals and their families in applications for U.S. citizenship, naturalization, marriage and fiancée petitions, and more.

Ulmer & Berne, established in 1908, focuses on exceeding client expectations and delivering superior, customized legal solutions for an exceptional value. From offices in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Boca Raton, Ulmer’s attorneys are handling cutting-edge, complex matters on a national basis across all practice areas, but retain the work ethic, rates, and user friendly attitudes reflective of the firm’s Midwest origins. Ulmer emphasizes world-class service and sophisticated industry expertise with flexible billing arrangements.

Every day, our focus is on our clients. We represent companies of all sizes across a wide spectrum of industries. What drives us is building relationships with the people who make up our clients’ businesses, one success story at a time.

We offer the competence, resources, and service of the largest firms infused with the user-friendly approach and sensible rates of smaller firms. While geography does not define who we are, our Midwestern roots inform some of our best qualities. We pride ourselves on speaking directly and making every client feel like they’re our only client. As a result, we are able to give clients the best of both worlds – the resources to successfully confront highly complex challenges throughout the country and highly personal service at extremely competitive rates.

At Ulmer, our practice groups are led by veteran attorneys and staffed with lawyers who have deep industry experience. That translates to an innate understanding of the challenges our clients face. We have significant capabilities in litigation and dispute resolution, as well as business law and transactional matters. The structure of our practice groups reflects the needs of the sophisticated businesses we represent.