NLJ Recognizes Steven Schulman, Maka Hutson as ‘Immigration Trailblazers’
Akin is pleased to share that The National Law Journal, in its Trailblazers Immigration Law 2023 feature, named pro bono partner Steven Schulman and international trade counsel Maka Hutson among its Immigration Law Trailblazers, two of only six chosen in the Big Law category.
Steven’s profile noted that he is celebrating 25 years of immigration pro bono work. He states that, when he began in 1998, asylum was still “relatively novel” at big firms, and he saw an opportunity to involve his colleagues: “As Latham’s first Pro Bono Counsel, I developed the Child Refugee Project to help unaccompanied minors fleeing to the U.S.”
He says that he applied what he learned there to his role as Akin’s first pro bono partner, such as in 2014, when, after the administration decided to detain Central American women and children, a team led by him worked out of the firm’s San Antonio office and “[f]or several months, we provided the only pro bono services available, securing bond, then asylum, for many of these women.”
Regarding his future, Steven said, “I was in immigration court recently with an Afghan diplomat. When the judge granted asylum, I got choked up, just like I did in 1998. I can’t imagine a better use of a law license.”
In Maka’s profile, she notes that she developed an immigration practice at Akin that is integrated into the firm’s international trade practice. She says that, soon after starting, she “saw a gap in traditional business immigration counseling: our clients…needed not only immigration services but advice on how immigration regulations intersect with export control and sanctions laws. Some of them even faced government investigations that involved potential violations in multiple areas.”
She notes an uptick in government visa fraud and immigration fraud investigations, as well as of immigration-related hiring practices, and states, “My practice helps companies address the challenges of bringing talent to the U.S. while ensuring—or restoring—their compliance with immigration, export control and sanctions laws.”
To read the full profiles (upper left and lower right at the linked two-page spread), click here.
