Criminal Defense Attorney Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Pennsylvania

Job Description

About the Role: A career as a Business Immigration Associate at Fragomen gives you the opportunity to work with a smart, motivated, and diverse peer group. Our exclusive focus on immigration means you will practice in an exciting, dynamic, and challenging environment with talented individuals who share your passion for immigration. Working in a collegial, team-oriented environment, Fragomen Associates learn from the industry's leading experts. Our unwavering dedication to excellence and industry best practices is bolstered by cutting-edge technological innovation, enhancing the experience for both our clients and our exceptional staff.

The Co-Located Immigration Attorney conducts an independent final legal review of designated employment-based immigration applications and petitions prepared through the Case Processing and Production Operations Center (CPPOC) and approved by the originating legal team. Once satisfied that a filing is accurate, complete, legally supportable and ready for submission, the attorney signs Form G-28 and other applicable attorney signature fields before the filing is mailed to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The operating model separates responsibilities:

• CPPOC prepares and assembles the filing;
• The originating legal team performs the underlying legal assessment, resolves substantive issues and provides recorded final approval;
• The Co-Located Immigration Attorney independently reviews the final package and decides whether to sign.

The originating legal team retains the client relationship, case strategy and post-filing case activity.

The successful candidate must exercise independent professional judgment. The attorney has authority to question, stop, return or decline to sign any filing that does not meet applicable legal, factual, ethical or quality standards.

Key responsibilities

1. Independent final legal review

• Conduct the level review required by Firm Professional Responsibility Counsel for every assigned filing.
• Review the originating legal team’s recorded approval, case owner, issue-focused handoff, material case history, filing deadline and designated legal contact.
• Confirm that the filing is sufficiently supported by the information and documentation provided and is appropriate for the attorney to sign.
• Identify material inconsistencies, omissions, unsupported representations, legal concerns or discrepancies between the approved version and assembled package.
• Obtain clarification, additional information or documentation when needed to understand the filing and make an independent signing decision.
• Decline to sign, stop or return a filing when concerns are unresolved, and escalate professional responsibility or ethical issues through approved channels.

2. Attorney review and wet-ink signature

• Confirm that Form G-28 accurately identifies the signing attorney and contains correct contact and bar admission information.
• Confirm the applicable attorney signature requirements for each form and sign Form G-28 and other required attorney fields in wet ink only after completing the required review.
• Follow the Firm-approved procedure for matters where attorney information must be provided before a client signs.
• Ensure any pre-entered attorney information is handled in accordance with guidance approved by Firm Professional Responsibility Counsel.
• Release the filing to CPPOC only after all attorney review and signature requirements are satisfied.

3. Collaboration and issue resolution

• Work directly with the responsible attorney or designated legal-team contact to resolve questions arising during final review.
• Return substantive changes to the originating legal team for renewed review and approval before signing.
• Maintain clear accountability boundaries among legal assessment, filing preparation, independent final review, signature and post-filing ownership.
• Provide constructive feedback on recurring handoff, documentation, quality or process issues that affect signing readiness.
• Build trusted working relationships while retaining independence over every decision to sign.

4. Filing integrity and operational controls

• Confirm that the printed and assembled package corresponds to the version approved by the originating legal team.
• Apply Firm-approved review checklists, controls and professional responsibility guidance.
• Return signed packages for reconciliation of the original signed pages against the approved version before mailing.
• Maintain an appropriate record of the review, questions raised, responses obtained, signing decision and any filing returned or declined.
• Participate in quality reviews, pilot assessments and control testing for the co-located attorney model.
• Identify process improvements that strengthen quality and timeliness without reducing the sufficiency or independence of attorney review.

5. Post-signature coordination

• Ensure the filing record identifies the originating legal-team case owner responsible for subsequent case activity.
• Remain reasonably available for questions concerning the attorney’s review or signature, while the originating legal team retains ongoing substantive case ownership.
• Follow approved procedures for planned absence, urgent USCIS contact, attorney coverage and any required change in representation.
• Respond to administrative inquiries regarding verifiable/objective information, and coordinate with designated legal team on complex or substantive queries.

Required qualifications

• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
• Active admission in any U.S. jurisdiction and eligibility to remain in good standing.
• 3-5+ years relevant business immigration experience as an attorney.
• Working knowledge of Form G-28, relevant USCIS forms, attorney signature requirements and the responsibilities associated with appearing before USCIS.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise independent legal judgment in a deadline-driven, production-oriented environment.
• Ability to identify material legal, factual, documentary and procedural issues in complex filing packages.
• Ability to work on-site at the CPPOC site as required for assembled-package review and wet-ink signature.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, sound escalation judgment, and high standards of confidentiality and professional ethics.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience reviewing US immigration filings, preferably employment-based petitions and applications submitted to USCIS.
• Experience with employment-based non-immigrant and immigrant visa matters.
• Experience in an immigration law firm, legal operations function, shared services environment or centralized case-preparation model.
• Experience reviewing work prepared by centralized production or case-processing teams.
• Familiarity with filing deadlines, premium processing, USCIS notices and post-filing workflows.
• Experience applying legal quality controls, risk-based review protocols and escalation procedures.

Benefits:

At Fragomen, we know that great people make a great organization. We value our people and offer employees a broad range of benefits which includes:

• 27 PTO days + Federal holidays
• Medical, Dental, and Vision plans + FSA & HSA Plans
• 401K plan, with company matching

All offers and/or employment contracts are contingent upon the successful completion of the Firm’s pre-employment screening process. This process may include verifying the candidate’s identity, confirming legal authorization to work in the offered position’s location, and conducting a comprehensive background check, where permitted by local regulations. We use limited AI-assisted tools for administrative screening purposes only - never for decision-making. All hiring decisions are made by people. Applicants may have rights to information and explanations regarding the use of such tools, or request human review, as required by applicable regional laws.