Leonard J. D’Arrigo (“L. J.”) is Partner and Leader of the Immigration Practice at Harris Beach Murtha, where he specializes in corporate and professional immigration involving the full suite of employment-based immigrant (NIW, Outstanding Researcher, Extraordinary Ability, Multi-National Manager, PERM) and non-immigrant petitions (H-1B, H-2, O-1, L-1, E, TN, J-1), as well as all family-based immigration processes.
L.J. is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association where he serves on the national Department of Labor Liaison Committee and is a frequent speaker at the local and national levels on business immigration matters. The AILA DOL Liaison Committee is a highly select group of AILA member attorneys across the country that has a seat at the table with the Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification, DOL Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA), and other stakeholder groups to discuss policy issues and trends related to temporary (H-2A, H-2B) and permanent labor certification (H-1B) applications, labor condition applications (LCAs), prevailing wage, and other issues. The committee prepares practice pointers, tracks trends based on AILA member experiences, provides comments to proposed regulations, and tracks issues in the PERM and FLAG systems, and the DOL Help Desk.
L.J. assists a diverse group of U.S. and foreign employers, such as multi-national corporations, healthcare organizations and large hospital systems, religious institutions, and universities to obtain temporary and permanent visas for skilled or professional foreign national employees, including international executives and managers, engineers, researchers, skilled craft workers, physicians and medical personnel, scientists and university professors, understanding the impact of immigration issues on corporate operations. Specifically, he has developed an expertise in assisting hospitals, technology companies, artificial intelligence companies and research institutions in importing highly-skilled labor to fuel growth in the healthcare, education, technology and semiconductor industries. He assists clients comply with the employment verification and record-keeping requirements of the Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1986.
L.J. performs I-9 and other audits of required employment records, advises on document retention and correction requirements, and offers training on completion and maintenance of I-9 records. He also assists clients with immigration law compliance issues that arise following corporate mergers and acquisitions.
L.J. is also a recognized national leader in the processing of H-2B and H-2A visas for agricultural and seasonal employers, including farms, landscape companies, hospitality, construction and the thoroughbred racing industries. He maintains the largest attorney-managed H-2A and H-2B practice in the country based on DOL statistics. He provides guidance to these employers on DOL and USCIS compliance issues, and counsels other attorneys, congressional leaders, and organizations on H-2 legislation and compliance issues throughout the country.
He is a frequent speaker at Immigration/Employment related conferences and seminars including, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Farm Bureau, Human Resource Associations, and Continuing Legal Education programs throughout the country. He is also widely cited and quoted in the media on immigration issues affecting employers across the country.
L.J. was appointed by the Justices of the Appellate Division of the Third Judicial Department of the New York State Supreme Court in 2023 as a member of their Attorney Grievance Committee, which hears complaints of professional misconduct made against attorneys licensed in New York, including those practicing in other states. The committee consists of 21 members, including 18 attorneys, all of whom are appointed by Third Department justices. The Third Judicial Department has jurisdiction over 66,000 attorneys working across 28 counties that make up the Third Judicial Department. The Committee has authority to dismiss complaints, issue a confidential letter of advisement or admonition or move the case to a formal disciplinary proceeding before the Third Judicial Department’s justices.