Immigration's New Solution

Some of the District's most prominent immigration attorneys—Elizabeth Espin Stern, Paul Virtue, and Grace Shie—have done some migrating of their own. Now at Mayer Brown, they have a new moniker for their practice: the Global People Solution.

Until this January, Liz, center, was the DC managing partner for Baker & McKenzie, where Paul and Grace were also lawyers. The global mobility and immigration team recently joined Mayer Brown, along with associate Timothy D'Arduini. Liz was looking to re-immerse herself into practicing full-time and says Mayer Brown shared her vision of "creating a global offering for clients in the people area." 

Liz is spearheading Mayer Brown's worksite management initiative—also known as the Global People Solution—a full set of tools including compliance and risk management to help multinationals manage their increasingly mobile workforce around the globe. The daughter of an Ecuadorian diplomat, she's been working on immigration issues since she launched her practice back in '88.

Paul's a former GC to the INS, where he headed a staff of more than 600 litigators. He's also a Chambers "Senior Statesman." Less well known is the story of the Olympic medal he helped win. Thanks to his help, ice dancer Tanith Belbin was able to get US citizenship and compete for America during the 2006 Olympics. She and her partner Ben Agosto snagged a silver medal. We snapped this photograph they sent over to say thank you.

Grace, fluent in Mandarin, spent the past five years in Hong Kong working on immigration issues in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the past year, she moved back, got engaged, bought a house, and moved firms. Another recent Mayer Brown employment & benefits lawyer coming to the States is Paul Justas Sarauskas, who joins the Chicago office after 10 years in Milan.