Legal Eagle The

Founder and president of the Murthy Law Firm, one of the foremost immigration law firms, Sheela Murthy dedicates her life to helping people through the immigration process, which can range from challenging to downright harrowing.

• Abhijit Masih •

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Sheela Murthy had plenty of sleepless nights. As she tried to navigate the immigration process, she found little help from the attorney who was handling her case. Instead, she discovered a direction for her ambition and an impetus to establish and run one of the world’s leading law firms specializing in immigration law. Growing up in India, Murthy never imagined she could ever get admission to Harvard University or come to America. Her father, who was the son of a school teacher, served in the Indian military, which meant her family was constantly on the move. While her parents instilled in her the importance of working hard, she credits her then boyfriend and now husband, Vasant, for helping her find the confidence she needed to apply to Harvard. “He actually inspired and made me feel like there was a shot at getting admitted. So I did it with a focused mind. Like they say, ‘what your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.’ I started to believe that that was a reality,”Murthy says.

Settling In America

Since her childhood, Murthy had a strong instinct for social justice—she found that she could be a voice for people who couldn’t speak for themselves. “Somebody has to stand up and fight for others. I was always a person who questioned things and wasn’t happy with the status quo. I was probably a total misfit in India,” she admits. The culture of questioning, analyzing and challenging appealed to her when she moved to the United States to study at Harvard. “In India and many parts of the world, particularly in Asia, you’re supposed to give respect and deference to your teachers and not ask too many questions because that might look like we’re challenging them or disagreeing with them or questioning their knowledge,” she says. “Here, in the United States, people appreciate you asking questions or giving people a hard time. It was a wonderful, new, and different experience, but I had to get comfortable with it.”

From Manhattan To Maryland

New York City was the easy choice to commence her career as many International law firms were based in the city and were willing to give employment to people from other countries since they had offices around the world. “I joined a law firm there as I thought that was a great place to get practice, learn the law and enjoy Manhattan and its eclectic international atmosphere.” However, having lived all her life in military cantonment areas in small cities in India, Murthy detested the overcrowding of the city and living in an apartment. “I just found it very impersonal, not warm or caring. When I would visit my sister and brother in law in Ellicott City, MD, I really liked the warmth and the friendliness there, even in a grocery store. People say Hi, how are you, chat with each other. I’m a very extroverted personality. I get energy from people,” she explained her move from the hustle of the big city to the languid pace of Maryland.

Centering On Immigration Law

“I was doing corporate law initially and then real estate law for the larger law firms. While it was interesting, I did not feel an emotional connection on a deep mental, emotional or spiritual level. I was not making a real difference in somebody’s life,” Murthy talked about her leaning towards immigration law. While doing a couple of cases in a Maryland law firm, she was able to get a few of them green cards because of her work. The realization that she was instrumental in providing joy to them by fulfilling their American dream was something that helped her decide to focus completely on immigration law. “It felt like I completely changed their lives for the better, that I truly was making a difference in their lives,” she said. It has been almost 35 years and Murthy and her law firm has helped thousands of such people in their quest for a better future for themselves and their children.

Turning Challenges Into Assets

Almost four decades ago she was fighting the trinity test - being a woman, being a person of color and being an immigrant. It must have been frightening . Undaunted, Murthy established a company that now has offices not just in Maryland but in Florida and all the metro cities of India employing hundreds of lawyers. “It’s the biggest feather in my cap. It’s the best thing possible, because now we can explain to individuals and families that I truly feel your pain. I understand what you’ve gone through, because I went through the same thing. I understand if you haven’t slept for many months because you’re stressing about not getting your H1B or not getting your green card approval in time for your family,” Murthy explains how she turned her experience into assets that makes her law firm the go to choice for a majority of South Asian immigrants.

The Secret For Success

The longevity and the success of Murthy Law Firm rest on the foundation of empathy for others. Murthy ensures that her vision of changing people’s life is not watered down due to a mechanized assembly line treatment of cases, regardless of the volume. “I tell my lawyers all the time, ‘I do not care how much you know, unless I know how much you care.” The other two pillars of foundation for Murthy and her success have been hard work and not seeing the glass half empty. “I’m going to choose to invest my energy always looking at the glass of life as half full,” the eternal optimist asserts.

The Latest Immigration Issues

Beyond the logjam many immigrants encounter, there are also challenges related to individuals who have filed H1B cap registration cases. “A lot of employers are being investigated, and the prior approvals are being removed or revoked because of multiple filings by the employer in the cap. They’re calling it fraud and issuing notice of intentions to revoke and deny,” she explains.

As a result of significant wait times, Murthy advises filing the applications as quickly as possible. “If you don’t do it on time, you’re definitely going to suffer. Be proactive. Make sure you protect yourself and your family by filing your green card and starting ideally by the start of the fourth year at the latest, ideally first year. Because the earlier you filed the earlier, you get a priority date, which for people born in India, that’s a very big deal,” she says.

However, Murthy is relatively satisfied with the progress that has been made in normalizing the U.S. consular processing times, which had been drastically impacted due to the pandemic. “There have been backlogs, but things have been vastly improved. They’ve hired a lot more consular officers. They realize the demand is very, very heavy. It’s one of the busiest consular posts in the world,” she says.

In India, her company, MurthyIndia.com, helps clients with consular cases pertaining to the various visa categories. “The team in India, unlike in the U.S., helps people to get the visa appointments, book it for them, mentor them, tell

“Somebody has to stand up and fight for others. I was always a person who questioned things and wasn’t happy with the status quo. I was probably a total misfit in India.”