EB5 Investors Magazine "Top 25 issue" Volume 9 Issue 1 | Page 63

TOP LITIGATION ATTORNEYS
MEGAN GUZMAN
DAVID HIRSON & PARTNERS

Megan Guzman is of counsel at David Hirson & Partners , LLP for litigation matters . Her passion is finding solutions to cases with complex problems – whether that be through I-290B Appeals or Motions , waivers , or federal litigation – for EB-5 and non-EB-5 cases . Guzman has significant federal litigation experience filing mandamus actions for declaratory relief , and challenging wrongful denials under the Administrative Procedure Act ( APA ). Her successes include securing temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions . Prior to joining DHP , Guzman represented individuals in immigration court , including appellate representation before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Ninth Circuit .

WHAT NEW TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING WHEN IT COMES TO EB-5 LITIGATION ?
Right now , we are seeing more and more investors wanting to file writ of mandamus cases for pending I-829 petitions . It is inexcusable that USCIS did not use the lapse in the regional center program to make significant progress on the backlog of these petitions , and they should be held accountable for this inaction . The I-829 is one of the few immigration case types that has a statutory deadline for adjudication ( 90 days ), yet we see estimated processing times of 57 months . The chasm between these two timelines is unacceptable .
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST IMPACTFUL EB-5 LITIGATION CASE , AND WHY ?
Last year I filed a writ of mandamus for an I-829 petition that had been pending since August 1999 as a result of USCIS ’ s failure to promulgate regulations related to Public Law 107-273 . In 2007 , two of the family members filed for naturalization since they had been conditional permanent residents for over five years . USCIS held the applications in abeyance since the I-829 hadn ’ t been approved at that time . Not only were we able to get the I-829 petition approved , but also those 15-year-old N-400s . The two sisters became citizens last month !
IRA KURZBAN
KURZBAN KURZBAN TETZELI & PRATT

Ira Kurzban is a founder of the law firm of Kurzban , Kurzban , Tetzeli & Pratt , P . A ., of Miami , Florida . He is a past-national president and former General Counsel of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and is a Fellow of the American Bar Association . He has litigated over 50 federal cases concerning the rights of aliens , including Jean v . Nelson , Commissioner v . Jean , and McNary v . Haitian Refugee Center , Inc ., which he argued before the United States Supreme Court . For over 30 years , he has also litigated the most prominent EB-5 cases in the field of immigration law . Kurzban is an adjunct faculty member in immigration and nationality law at the University of Miami School of Law . He is the author of Kurzban ’ s Immigration Law Sourcebook . He has lectured and otherwise published extensively in the field of immigration law , including articles in the Harvard Law Review and Columbia University Press .

WHAT NEW TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING WHEN IT COMES TO EB-5 LITIGATION ?
There is little doubt that litigation in EB-5 and elsewhere under the INA has skyrocketed over the past year . There is more litigation over immigration issues and particularly business issues than I have seen in the past four decades . In the EB-5 area there have been scores of mandamus cases filed and substantive and procedural challenges to EB-5 policies and interpretations . The most prominent cases have been challenges first to EB-5 regulations prior to the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act and later , post-Reform and Integrity provision challenges .
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST IMPACTFUL EB-5 LITIGATION CASE , AND WHY ?
Many years ago , my firm was perhaps the first immigration law firm in the United States to apply the Administrative Procedure Act and particularly the notice and comment requirements of the APA to agency action under the INA . It is gratifying to see that after all these years APA and notice and comment challenges are common in litigation against USCIS . Most recently , our case this term in the U . S . Supreme Court in Patel v . Garland will likely impact EB-5 clients , particularly those investors placed in removal proceedings .
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