hadron said:
First of all: Great site. Thanks for maintaining it and putting up with all the bitching from users if there are technical glitches ;-)) It has been an invaluable resource for many people.
Our pleasure. We enjoy maintaining and hosting it.
hadron said:
> There is nothing esoteric about scientists' immigration.
I was talking about things like 'extraordinary ability' petitions or 'outstanding researcher petitions', NYS-DOT type NIW cases, 'special handling labor certs' O1 visas and the like.
I think they are a subspecialty area and the typical 'batch IT related H1b' office would probably not the right place to go to.
+++++++++Agreed. But the point I was making is that there is nothing extraordinary about handling physicians and scientists cases if you do practice O/P/NIW/EB1 cases. That was my original point. There is no sub-specialization dealing with scientists and physicians. I have also done plenty of NIW's and EB1's for IT folks. The standards are the same (with one exception of NIW for physicians).
hadron said:
> For physicians, things can get tricky if one does not understand
> the issues related to J-1 waivers. A physician who is on H-1 with
> no prior J-1 has to go through EXACTLY the same steps for GC
> as the rest of the world.
Well, except that:
- he has the option of filing for a 'physician in underserved area NIW'.
+++++++Takes two extra documents. No big deal.
hadron said:
- he might have to deal with 'ability to pay' issues if the case is filed by a small office organized as a 'P.C.' (which typically doesn't report the 135k annual 'profit' required for a LC based I140....)
++++++++++++++No difference from general immigration issue of ability to pay.
hadron said:
- might have to deal with collections based income which might or might not be more than the arbitrary 'prevailing wage'.
++++++++++++Non-issue for NIW's (there is no prevailing wage) and cannot be dealt with for labor certifications (there are no exceptions for physicians).
hadron said:
- someone engaged in hardcore research might have some of the options mentioned above (circumventing 5 year labor certification times in some of the notorious states PERM nonwithstanding).
++++++++++++++++Part of the O/EB1 practice. Nothing special for physicians.
hadron said:
So, in the end I do believe it is a good idea to go to someone who handles physician cases on a regular basis.
++++++++++I have handled physicians cases numbering in thousands including PERM, RIR and EB1/NIW. I can tell you from experience, physicians' cases do not involve any voodoo. If the lawyers are competent in business and professional immigration, the criteria are the same.
hadron said:
> The standards for legal practice are exactly the same as
> medical malpractice. That is where you need to revise
> your opinion. Also, Bar complaints are investigated
> thoroughly (at least in our area)
Sorry to disagree with you there. In todays medicolegal environment, a bad outcome is defined as de-facto medical malpractice. Even if the physician can proove that he adhered to the standard of care, it means nothing to the 12 village idiots rounded up for the jury.
+++++++++++++++The two standards are the same. Just because a patient died, medical malpractice does not automatically ensue. See:
Legal Malpractice occurs when an attorney fails to perform according to the standards and codes of ethical and professional conduct that all attorneys must adhere to -- in dealing with the court, opposing counsel, his or her client, and third persons. An essential aspect of a legal malpractice case is that the attorney's failure to meet his or her professional obligations resulted in some form of harm, usually to his or her client's case.
http://public.findlaw.com/library/legal-malpractice.html
Medical malpractice occurs when a negligent act or omission by a doctor or other medical professional results in damage or harm to a patient.
http://injury.findlaw.com/medical-m...ice-law/medical-malpractice-law-overview.html
hadron said:
Bar complaints are investigated by other attorneys, not an entity independent from the profession. A bad outcome (negative CIS decision, lost trial) is not a reason to question the actions of the attorney. It takes egregious misconduct on the side of the attorney (and the ability to proove it on the side of the client) to prevail in an attorney malpractice situation.
Just as mere death of a patient is not a ground for medical practice, loss of a case by itself is never a cause for legal malpractice. In my younger days, I have handled both types of cases. The standards are basically the same.
Also Bar complaints are investigated by lawyers who are employees of the relevant investigative body. These guys are highly motivated to hang a lawyer if fault is found.
See this as an example of how many lawyers are disciplined:
http://www.vsb.org/disciplinary.html
Let me add here. The reason I am writing all this down is not to win any converts, but to present whatever info I have so our community is better educated. Like I said earlier, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but all facts must be considered to get to an informed opinion. What do you all think?
PS Bottomline: the size of a law firm is never indicative of the standard of its competence, client care or specialization.