Choosing an Immigration Lawyer: My Personal Recommendation
From Leela Yanamaddi, Co-Founder
Over the last 4+ years in the U.S., I've personally gone through multiple stages of the immigration journey:
My Immigration Journey
F-1 Student Visa
STEM OPT
H-1B through an employer
H-1B through my own company
EB-1A
EB-2 NIW
Led Balaji's O-1 Process
On the other side of the table, I also led my co-founder Balaji's O-1(Approved) process while he is still in India. Although I wasn't the beneficiary, I took ownership of the case as if I were the client myself working closely on strategy, evidence collection, positioning, and the overall petition process from start to finish.
Along the way, I've worked with 8 different immigration lawyers across multiple firms. At this point, I have a pretty good sense of what separates a good lawyer from a bad one and what makes a truly exceptional one. I found 
Jessica Lang to be that exceptional one.
For my EB-2 NIW petition, I worked with Jessica Lang and can genuinely say she made one of the most stressful parts of the immigration process feel manageable.
Across dozens of email exchanges, I would typically hear back from her within 12 - 24 hours. Whenever something was time-sensitive or complicated, Jessica was willing to jump on a Google Meet call with just a few hours' notice. That level of accessibility is rare and something I appreciated tremendously throughout the process. She checked all the boxes consistently for being a great lawyer
- Responsive within hours
- Ability to tell the client's story effectively
- Knowledgeable of immigration law, strategy, and process
Recently, Manifest Law asked if I would be open to sharing my experience. I told them that immigration experiences are highly personal, and I only feel comfortable recommending someone I have personally worked with and can confidently vouch for instead of endorsing the entire organization. After a couple of back and forths, I'm glad we were able to make that happen now.
As always, every case is different, and you should do your own diligence. But if you're asking who I would personally recommend based on my own experience, Jessica would be at the top of that list.
And as I prepare to build my EB-1A case again, I already know who I'll be working with.
Disclaimer/Note: Don't judge immigration lawyers solely based on whether a case gets approved or denied. Immigration outcomes are influenced by many factors, some of which are outside any attorney's control.
*Using these links will make sure that you get Jessica as your Attorney working on your case whenever you start the process with them.