Law offices don’t need to be like Starbucks

Everyone is familiar with Starbucks coffee houses, which are located on virtually every street in every city. In some cases, there may be four Starbucks coffee shops on each of the four corners of an intersection. In other words, Starbucks has locations everywhere.

Some people have the impression that attorneys must be like Starbucks stores, in that the attorney’s office must be located near them for the attorney to be able to represent them or handle their case. Many people come up to me wondering if I can open a branch office near them, in order that my office could handle their case. (In one situation, while I had a branch office in San Francisco, the person lived in Daly City, which was only minutes away, yet they wanted me to open a branch office in Daly City).

But an attorney is not like a Starbucks coffeehouse. We do not need to be in the same city as you, for us to handle your case. In fact, immigration attorneys can handle immigration cases anywhere throughout the US. This is because immigration law is federal law, as opposed to state law. Therefore, even if an attorney’s office is in California, and the client is in Florida, the attorney can still represent that person.

During a recent taping of Citizen Pinoy in Minnesota, one of the attendees came up and introduced herself as a former client from years ago. (I had helped her bring her child in from the Philippines although the child’s birth record was registered showing him as the biological son of his Lola.) The Citizen Pinoy taping was the first time I ever met that client in person. Yet it did not affect or hinder my office’s ability to handle her case, even though she was in Minnesota, her child was in the Philippines, and my office was in California. Everything was handled by phone, mail, fax, and e-mail. There was no need for me to have opened a branch office in Minneapolis in order for my office to handle her case.

My point is that if you want to hire a particular attorney for your immigration matter, but that attorney does not have a branch office next door to you, the attorney can still handle the case and represent you. Attorneys need not be like Starbucks, with offices everywhere.

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