Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Impact on Your Bottom Line

Randel K. Johnson joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on December 1, 1997. As senior vice president, he is primarily responsible for labor, immigration, and employee benefits issues pending before Congress and the federal agencies. 

Consulting with the Chamber's member policy committees and his staff of 11, Johnson determines the Chamber's position and sets strategy on a wide variety of issues that fall within the jurisdiction of his division. These include union-driven initiatives such as card check legislation, ergonomics, and blacklisting regulations; pension funding reform and health care; civil rights and wage and hour; and comprehensive immigration reform, including visa and border policy. Johnson regularly testifies before Congress and is widely quoted in the media on employment and immigration issues as a recognized expert in these fields.

Charlene joined KPMG in April 2011 and practices exclusively in the field of corporate immigration and nationality law.

As an Associate at KPMG, Charlene provides a broad range of legal immigration advice and counsel to a variety of industries including, financial services, information technology, management consulting, healthcare and transportation. Specifically, Charlene assists clients in the preparation and submission of applications for nonimmigrant U.S. work visas as well as applications made pursuant to the North American Free Trade Agreement. In addition to her experience as an Immigration Attorney, Charlene is skilled in mediating disputes and holds a Certificate in Mediation form The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

Elizabeth Espin Stern is Managing Partner of the Washington, DC Office, co-head of Baker & McKenzie's Global Immigration & Mobility practice, and a known leader in US and global business migration. With over 25 years of experience, she manages the US and global migration programs for major multinational companies across industry sectors, including financial services, IT and telecommunications, defense, manufacturing, multimedia and environmental. Liz is consistently ranked as a leading immigration lawyer by legal directories, including Chambers, Legal 500, Best Lawyers, Legal Times, Who's Who in Corporate Immigration, and local publications in Washington, DC, where she has been recognized among the top 30 lawyers in DC. Client sources to Legal 500 say, "[Liz] 'is not only a great technical lawyer, but a great business person.'"

Valentine A. Brown is a partner in the Philadelphia office of Duane Morris LLP. She serves as global immigration law counsel to a diverse group of multi-national and domestic corporations and their employees, providing advice, compliance audits and representation to help navigate the intricacies of US and foreign immigration laws. Ms. Brown also represents individuals in all types of immigration proceedings, including persons of extraordinary ability; spouses, fiancées and children of US citizens; naturalization and political asylum applicants; as well as respondents in deportation and immigration appellate proceedings. Ms. Brown is an instructor for the Duane Morris Institute, which provides training in all areas of employment law for human resource professionals, in house counsel, benefits administrators and managers through classes in Philadelphia, client-site trainings and webinars. She is a 1995 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law, and lives in Cinnaminson, New Jersey.

Michael F. Turansick is a Partner at Fragomen, Del Rey Bernsen & Loewy LLP and manages the Firm’s Chicago office. Mr. Turansick has over 25 years of experience in corporate immigration law and manages a diverse practice that is comprised of individual, start-up, mid-size, and large multinational companies encompassing a broad range of industry sectors, including automotive, manufacturing, finance, pharmaceutical, technology solutions, telecommunications, professional services and consumer products.  His work on behalf of clients includes advising on immigration options for companies seeking to open new U.S. offices, the immigration consequences of mergers and acquisitions or other corporate restructurings, employment verification compliance, EB-5 immigrant investor options and strategic immigration program management. Mr. Turansick has served on the Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Council and is a member of the Employee Relocation Council, the American Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).   A frequent author and speaker on immigration topics, Mr. Turansick is listed in the current editions of Best Lawyers and The International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers.