National law firm Husch Blackwell announced today it has brought on an 18-person immigration team led by partner Thomas Arkell and senior counsel Jim Arkell. The group, which comes from Dunn Law Firm in Illinois, joins the firm’s Healthcare, Life Sciences, and Education industry group and will be based in The Link, Husch Blackwell’s virtual office.
Tom Arkell represents some of the most prestigious universities in the United States, Fortune 500 companies, several storied major professional sports franchises, and professional athletes, including MVPs, Olympic Champions, World Champions, and Hall of Famers. He has represented thousands of accomplished researchers, professionals, and scientists in different stages of their careers, from F-1 students to tenured faculty members and founders of successful companies.
“Tom has developed an international reputation in higher education and the sports industry,” said partner Curt Chase, leader of Husch Blackwell’s Healthcare, Life Sciences, and Education industry group. “The addition of his team further expands our well-known national higher education practice and enhances and expands the firm’s immigration capabilities.”
The team has extensive experience with complex immigration matters, including employment-based permanent residence; EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, and EB-5 category petitions; nonimmigrant status/visas (i.e., E-3, H-1B, J-1 (including waiver of foreign residence requirement), K-1, L-1A, L-1B, O-1, P-1); F-1 status/visas; family-based applications; citizenship applications; consular processing; I-9 self-audits, among others.
In addition to Tom and Jim Arkell, the 18-person team includes eight paralegals and eight business professionals.
“Husch Blackwell has an impeccable national reputation in the higher education and healthcare industries, where we already perform a substantial amount of immigration work,” Tom Arkell said. “Joining Husch Blackwell will allow us to provide comprehensive and world-class service, support, and guidance to our clients and greater capabilities across multiple legal practice areas. We are extremely excited for our team to join Husch Blackwell and its incredibly talented professionals.”