Janice A Flynn

Flynn Hodkinson

London www.flynnhodkinson.com

janice@flynnhodkinson.com Tel: +44 20 8057 8020

Biography

Janice has been working in the field of US visa and nationality law for more than 20 years. In 2012, she founded her own US visa and nationality practice. Janice regularly advises multinational companies on their overall US immigration strategy encompassing a wide range of US visa and nationality matters, corporate immigration, familybased visas and US nationality issues including the acquisition and loss of US citizenship as well as admissibility issues.

What qualities make for an effective immigration lawyer in today’s climate?

An effective immigration lawyer must have an incredible amount of resilience as US visa and nationality law is constantly subject to the whims of politics. After four years of the Trump administration all US immigration lawyers should be proud to have survived! Patience and compassion are vital when working with clients whose whole life depends on the approval of a visa application.

What are the unique challenges of working in such an international area of law?

There is a unique challenge of working with clients of different backgrounds, which can make it tricky to advise clients. There are operational challenges because we are a US firm based in the UK and so we have to figure out how to run our practice as if we are in the US while making sure we are maintaining our US-state bar professional standards.

On what matters have clients most frequently asked you for advice over the past year? What would you say is driving this?

In the past year, more companies are getting back in the swing of things, setting up new offices in the US and sending employees to the US so we are being asked a lot about employment-based immigration issues. We have also had to provide a lot of advice for Lawful Permanent Residents (or green card holders) who are having issues with re-entering the US after being long absent during the covid-19 pandemic.

You are currently an ambassador for icap (Immigrant Counselling & Psychotherapy). What are the organisation’s goals and how has the experience enhanced your practice?

Icap’s main goal is to provide culturally sensitive counselling and psychotherapy to those who were born in Ireland or are of Irish descent who have suffered institutional trauma in Ireland or a family member suffered institutional trauma. Being involved with icap has helped me to better understand the trauma and stress involved with moving from your home country.

How do you establish a detailed understanding of a client’s business to advise them effectively?

Before meeting with a client, I try to find out as much as I can about what they do and how long they have been in business. When meeting with the client, I want to find out about what their plans are to expand into the US and what their goals are to determine who they may need to send to the US. I also want to understand the client’s internal culture and how they work so we can serve them more effectively.

Why did you decide to set up your own firm?

I initially started my own firm because there weren’t a lot of options for growth in the firm I was working for. The firm I left when I started my firm is the firm I have merged with so it seems it has all gone full circle.

How would you like to develop your practice in the next five years?

I would want to continue to develop a strong team of lawyers and client support assistants. Without a team to support our clients, we can’t expand. I also want to continue to develop a base of corporate clients in specific sectors like new energy, as many new jobs will need to be filled in the US to meet this demand.

Looking back over your career, what has been your proudest achievement?

Each client has their own story, so I am always happy when we have helped someone who thought they didn’t have any options. I am also very proud of the team I have developed and want that to continue because happy team members will mean that our clients will be well cared for. When I first started my business, I had no idea of how it will go and I’m proud to have a big team working for me.

Peers and clients say: “Janice is incredibly thorough and diligent” “She possesses a huge breadth of knowledge regarding immigration matters” “She is an excellent lawyer”