Lauren DeBellis Aviv

Managing Partner

Lauren focuses on obtaining visas for individuals of extraordinary ability for entertainment/music companies, the commercial/film/TV industry, theatres, dance companies, advertising/digital agencies, and start-ups. Lauren is passionate about untangling complex legal situations for top executives and creatives, developing strategies that effectively address personal and business needs. Lauren also focuses on private wealth cases, often working with tax and other counsel to address a client’s full range of needs. Before practicing immigration law, Lauren was a public defender at The Legal Aid Society in Manhattan, which she credits for her fearless approach to casework. Lauren is rated a Super Lawyer in the New York Metro Area and is a featured Global Elite Thought Leader and Partner in the Who’s Who Legal: Corporate Immigration guide. Lauren frequently lectures on immigration law issues before American Immigration Lawyers Association's ("AILA") and other prestigious organizations and universities, including New York University, Yale University, Brooklyn Law School, and the International Center for Photography, among others. Lauren is committed to pro bono work and has served as the Co-Chair of the AILA NY Chapter's Pro Bono Committee and as a liaison on AILA's National Pro Bono Committee. She previously headed the NYC Immigration Action Group, which was part of the Action Group Network founded by Beau Willimon (Creator of “House of Cards”) in response to the 2016 US Presidential Election.

t - 212.605.0415e - lauren@dapllp.com

Aja Pardini

Partner

Aja specializes in acquiring temporary and permanent visa status in the United States for individuals of international recognition including visual artists, musicians/entertainers and musical groups, composers, actors/directors/producers in film/television and theatre, animators, designers, and more. She also has extensive experience in family and other employment-based immigration cases, having focused exclusively on immigration law since 2008. Recognized by Super Lawyers as a top-rated immigration attorney since 2014 and recognized as a Future Leader by Who’s Who Legal: Corporate Immigration guide since 2019, Aja frequently lectures on immigration issues before AILA and other prestigious organizations and universities including New York University, Yale University, the International Center of Photography, and the Atlantic Acting School, among others. Aja regularly represents clients on a pro bono basis through the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) and previously served as Co-Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association's ("AILA") NY Chapter's Local Government Committee and as Co-Chair of the NYC Immigration Action Group. She is fluent in Spanish.

t - 212.605.0378e - aja@dapllp.com

Jorge Gomez

Senior Associate

Jorge represents foreign nationals seeking employment- and family-based visas, as well as startup and Fortune 500 companies on immigration matters and compliance procedures. Jorge has experience counseling clients on family-based petitions, including adjustments of status and naturalization; the panoply of employment-based visas (H, L, TN, E, O); and self-petitions for individuals with extraordinary ability and achievement.

Jorge came to the Firm with 10 years of experience working at global and boutique immigration firms. He received his J.D. from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. While at CUNY, Jorge served as a Fellow for both the Center on Latinx Rights and Equality (CLORE) and the Sorensen Center for Peace and Justice. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University. Jorge volunteers his time providing assistance at CUNY Citizenship Now! workshops and on other pro-bono matters, including parole applications. He is fluent in Spanish and is admitted to practice in New York.

t - 212.605.0372e - jorge@dapllp.com

Sarah Roth

Managing Paralegal

Sarah has worked in immigration law since 2018, specializing in nonimmigrant and immigrant visas for professionals in the film, television, visual arts, music, design and creative technology industries. She holds a B.A. in History and a M.A. in European History, Politics and Society, both from Columbia University.  She is the author of several scholarly articles on the relationship between culture and federal policy in the United States in the 20th century. 

e - sarah@dapllp.com

Wilhelmina Gerken

Senior Paralegal

Mina has experience specializing in nonimmigrant visas for creative professionals in the advertising, filmmaking, theater, and music industries, as well as the fine arts. She attended Columbia University and Paris's Sorbonne University, graduating with a B.A. in Film and Media Studies and English Literature. She has additionally been the recipient of several literary prizes.

e - mina@dapllp.com

Kate Maro

Paralegal

Prior to joining DeBellis Aviv Pardini, Kate worked on nonimmigrant visas for refugees and in the field of government consulting. She is skilled in Spanish and Arabic. Kate is a graduate of Colgate University with a B.A. with Honors in International Relations and Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies.

e - kate@dapllp.com

Shannon Such

Of Counsel

Shannon has represented U.S. and international companies and foreign individuals regarding their immigration law issues for over twenty years. Before being acquired by DeBellis Aviv Pardini, she managed her own thriving immigration law firm in New York City, where she handled the full range of business and family-based visas and green cards, ultimately focusing on a clientele consisting predominantly of individual artists as well as film, theatre, dance, and commercial production companies, art galleries and related venues that were hiring foreign artists of “extraordinary ability,” mounting full-scale productions, or establishing business ventures in the United States, many of which are internationally renowned leaders in their respective fields.

Following graduation from Columbia University with magna cum laude honors, Shannon began her career, first as a corporate paralegal at Columbia Pictures and then as a marketing manager at ABC Television, before receiving her JD at Fordham Law School, where she was a member of Fordham’s Law Review and served on its Editorial Board. Shannon initially pursued a corporate law practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, where she acquired knowledge of the workings of business entities, and then returned to the field of entertainment and art law, which provided the background in the art sector. Shannon is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.