What Our Clients Say

Partners
Ilana J. Drummond | Norman C. Plotkin

Senior Associates
Atessa Chehrazi | Daniel C. Horne | Grace Hoppin

Associates
Kirsten K. Anderson | James C. Crescitelli | Nadia G. Johnson

Jackson & Hertogs LLP ("J&H") is a law firm based in San Francisco, California, serving clients throughout the world. Established in 1950, we currently have eight attorneys and over 25 legal assistants and office management personnel to assist our clients with immigration matters. Our clients range from large multinational companies to recent start-up companies and individuals. J&H limits its practice to immigration and nationality law and specializes in corporate immigration issues.

Our service philosophy is simple. We partner with our clients to achieve the approval of applications and petitions from the USCIS and the Department of Labor as quickly and economically as possible. We utilize the latest office technology and employ a team of highly trained and experienced personnel. Our goal is to provide our clients with the shortest possible turnaround time-without compromising the quality of our work. We also utilize state-of-the-art technology in processing cases which provides updated case status information. Our corporate clients have the option of being "web-enabled" so that HR personnel and corporate employees can know the status of their cases at any time.

Immigration laws and procedures are constantly changing and it is vital to keep abreast of the most recent court decisions, proposed regulatory and policy changes and new laws and regulations as they are promulgated. To this end, we constantly update our web site and issue email bulletins to corporate clients. We maintain a complete immigration law library and our attorneys are active in the immigration bar and are frequent guest speakers in the area of immigration law and procedure.

Although our attorneys may emphasize one or more areas of immigration law, our clients are served by, and are clients of, the entire firm. This approach, coupled with our specialization, permits us to serve the large corporation as well as families and individuals.

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Ilana obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Psychology from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1983 and her J.D. degree from the University of California's Hastings College of the Law in 1990. While at Hastings , she served as the Executive Managing Editor of the Communication and Entertainment Law Journal. Ilana joined Jackson & Hertogs in 1989, became an associate in 1991 and a partner in 2002. She has been the firm’s managing partner since 2004. Having focused her practice exclusively on immigration matters for her entire career, Ilana has developed an expertise in helping large and small corporations address their immigration needs in unique and efficient ways. Ilana is a member of the State Bar of California, the Bar Association of San Francisco and AILA. Active in AILA, she is currently serving as the Chair of AILA’s Distance Learning Committee developing the organization’s Podcasts, Webcasts and Teleconference programs. Previously, she served as the Program Chair for AILA’s 2007 annual conference which attracts over 3000 attorneys from all over the world and in 2008, she was a member of the liaison committee with the USCIS California Service Center. Prior participation included serving two terms on AILA’s Board of Publications Committee, member of the Annual Conference planning committee for the 2006 convention, Editorial Advisory Board of AILA’s Immigration Law Today and as an editor of AILA's INS Directory and Resource Guide. In 2004, Ilana served as Program Chair for the 17th Annual AILA California Chapters Conference “Riding the Waves”. Ilana is an invited speaker at various venues including AILA conferences, Practicing Law Institute and HR conferences. She has received the Martindale-Hubbell® directory’s highest rating (“AV”) and is listed within its Bar Register of Pre-Eminent Lawyers, and has been listed in Northern California Super Lawyers since 2005. Ilana is also listed in Strathmore’s Who’s Who and in the International Bar Association’s Who’s Who Legal for Corporate Immigration and Who’s Who Legal: California 2007.   [ contact information ]

Ilana J. Drummond

Seriously Outstanding

only 5% selected each year

Norman C. Plotkin

Norman obtained his B.A. degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 and graduated from Tulane Law School in 1986. He joined Jackson & Hertogs in 1987 and became a partner in February 2002. Throughout his career, Norman has been active in AILA. Previously, he served as the editor of the Gold Book, a resource for practicing immigration law in California and as co-editor of the Western Region Directory for the Immigration Practitioner. He also was a liaison for the Northern California AILA Chapter to both the California Service Center and the U.S. Department of Labor. In addition, he was a member of the national AILA/California Service Center liaison committee and previously served on the national AILA/Department of Labor liaison committee. He has also lectured at seminars and conferences including three national AILA Conferences, the BIO International Convention, the BIO Human Resources Conference and the HR Star Conference. Norman was listed in the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers and was selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America. He is fluent in Spanish.   [ contact information ]


Senior Associates

Atessa Chehrazi

Atessa received her LLM (Masters in Law) in International & Comparative Law from Georgetown University Law Center, DC in 1996; her JD from the Washington College of Law at American University, DC in 1995; and her Bachelor of Science from University of California, Berkeley in 1991. Atessa specializes in H-1B and O-1 professional nonimmigrant employment-based visas, J-1 waivers, labor certification for professionals, and immigrant visa petitions not requiring labor certification. Prior to joining Jackson & Hertogs in July 2000, Atessa practiced immigration law for four years with Maggio & Kattar PC, an immigration firm in Washington DC. Atessa has held various volunteer positions for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She currently serves as Chapter Chair of the Northern California Chapter of AILA. Atessa has served on AILA’s Citizenship & Immigration Services (CIS) Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) liaison committee from 2005 to 2007, and served on AILA’s Citizenship & Immigration Services (CIS) national liaison committee from 2005 to 2006, and again from 2007 to 2008. She served as Liaison for AILA Northern California chapter to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from 2003 to 2005. In addition, Atessa has served on the AILA Business Immigration Advocacy, Issues, and Due Process & Civil Liberties Committees, and initiated AILA’s "Middle East Interest Group." She is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the National Lawyers Guild. She is co-author of “J-1 Waivers for Physicians--The Current State of the Art, Immigration and Nationality Law, Advanced Practice” (AILA 1999), “Myths and Realities of H-1Bs” (AILA 2004), “Choppy Waters: Non Labor-Certification Based Immigrant Visa Petitions” (AILA 2004), “Travel Issues for Students and Researchers” (AILA 2005), “Employment Based Petitions Exempt from Labor Certification” (AILA 2005), and “Superstars of the Temporary and Permanent Variety: Naunces in the O-1 and EB-1 Categories” (AILA 2007). Atessa has presented at national and regional AILA Conferences, as well as conferences of the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA). She has been selected for inclusion in the 2006 edition of the Best Lawyers in America. Atessa is conversant in Farsi.   [ contact information ]

Daniel C. Horne

Daniel obtained his BA degree from UCLA in 1991, and his JD degree from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1994, where he served as Production Editor of the University of Colorado Law Review. Daniel is a member of the State Bar of Colorado. Formerly a partner with the San Francisco immigration firm of Berry, Appleman & Leiden LLP — All rights reserved, and later with the firm Kuver Horne LLP — All rights reserved, Daniel now holds over a decade of experience assisting corporations and individuals with immigration and nationality matters. He has received the Martindale-Hubbell® directory’s highest rating (“AV”), and is listed within its Bar Register of Pre-Eminent Lawyers. Daniel is a monthly columnist for Bender’s Immigration Bulletin, a LexisNexis® periodical providing news and analysis to immigration lawyers nationwide. His law review article proposing changes to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program appeared in the Stanford Law and Policy Review’s Spring 2005 issue. A long-standing and active member of AILA, Daniel is regularly invited to speak at both national and state AILA conferences, and he is currently an active member of AILA’s USCIS California Service Center Liaison Committee. Daniel also volunteers his time to mentor AILA immigration attorneys on business immigration issues, and to attorneys providing pro bono assistance to asylum seekers through the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights. [ contact information ]

Grace Hoppin

Grace joined Jackson & Hertogs in January 2004. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1990. After working at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for more than three years, Grace attended the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law, receiving her JD cum laude in 1998. While at Hastings, she served as the Senior Executive Editor of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review.  From 1998 until 2002, Grace worked at the law firms of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy and Munro, Nelson & Pearl (now Pearl Law Group) as an associate, specializing in business immigration. In 2002, Grace returned to the U.S. Department of Labor as a labor certification specialist. While there, Grace was selected to serve on a national DOL team that drafted new permanent labor certification regulations. She also represented the DOL as an invited speaker at the Practising Law Institute.  Grace has been active in the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), both on a local and national level.  She served as DOL liaison for the Northern California Chapter of AILA in 2000 and 2001.  Grace also was a panelist on PERM labor certification at the 2005 AILA California Chapters Conference and at the 2007 AILA Annual Conference.  Grace will be serving on AILA’s National Regulations Task Force in 2008-2009. [ contact information ]

Associates

Kirsten K. Anderson

Kirsten obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Women’s Studies from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in 1985. Kirsten received her J.D. degree from University of California Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law and was admitted to the California Bar in 1990. While at Boalt Hall, Kirsten worked as an Articles Editor for the Berkeley Women’s Law Journal. Kirsten worked as a Legal Research Attorney for the Superior Court of the City and County of San Francisco and as a Staff Attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Kirsten worked in the Amsterdam office of Holland Van Gijzen from 2000 to 2005, a Netherlands law firm, as a senior associate managing legal implementation of multi-country corporate and organizational restructuring projects for U.S. and European multinational companies as well as advising clients on general aspects of U.S. corporate and business law. Now located in Vancouver, B.C., Kirsten coordinates Jackson & Hertogs’ global immigration matters as well as working on U.S. immigrant and non-immigrant visa petitions. Kirsten is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the International Bar Association. A native English speaker, Kirsten also speaks Dutch.  [ contact information ] 

James C. Crescitelli

Prior to joining Jackson & Hertogs, James obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from the University of Toledo in 1988 and his JD degree from Howard University School of Law in 1999. While at Howard, James gained substantial immigration law experience through internships at the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the INS General Counsel’s Office. He also worked as a student attorney at the George Washington University Law School’s Immigration Clinic during his third year at Howard. Since graduating from law school, James worked for the legacy INS in New York City as an Assistant District Counsel, as an Associate at the law firm of Porter Matthews in Canada and, most recently, as a Protection Officer for UNHCR in Tanzania, Kenya, and Djibouti. James is a member of the New York State Bar and AILA, and is fluent in French.   [ contact information ]

Nadia G. Johnson

Nadia earned her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in English and Classical Studies from Boston University in 1999. She received her JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 2004. Nadia was admitted to the California State Bar in December 2004 and is a member of The Bar Association of San Francisco and AILA. Nadia has actively volunteered her time on cases under the Violence Against Women Act and through the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. Prior to joining Jackson & Hertogs, Nadia interned for Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s office in Boston, Massachusetts where she worked on constituent issues related to the Social Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. Department of Education. Nadia was also a mediation intern for the Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Public Protection Bureau, Consumer Complaints and Information Section. Since joining Jackson & Hertogs in November 2000, Nadia has worked as a Legal Assistant and as a Paralegal. She is a co-author of “Travel Issues for Students and Researchers” (AILA 2004) and “AC21 Extensions for Substitution Labor Certification Beneficiaries” (AILA 2004).    [ contact information ]