I do not take employment-based immigration cases. My website clearly indicates what areas of immigration law I practice. Despite the fact that my website makes no reference to employment-based immigration, I am regularly contacted by people looking for free consultations about employment-based immigration.

My website is very clear that my primary practice area is deportation defense. [I also do family-based adjustment of status and naturalization cases]. I offer free consultations because people who are facing deportation are usually looking to hire an immigration attorney. People who contact me about an adjustment of status or naturalization are usually looking to hire an immigration lawyer. Thus, I do not mind speaking to or meeting these people for free because they are contacting me for the purpose of hiring me.

By contrast, people who are getting green cards or visas through employment-based immigration are not usually looking to hire an immigration attorney. People with employment-based immigration issues usually fall into one of the following categories: (1) their employers are paying for their immigration papers and they want an independent opinion of the work that is being done; (2) they want to know what kind of job will entitle them to an employment visa and when they get that job, their employer will pay for their immigration papers; or (3) there is a problem with their job where they are getting their employment visa and they want advice about what happens if they lose their job. Basically, what it comes down to is that these individuals are looking for free legal advice. They are not actually looking for a “true” consultation because they have no interest in the lawyer’s services. Private practice attorneys offer free consultations to get clients.

Another reason that I offer free consultation is that potential clients who fall within my practice areas tend not to be well off financially.  By comparison, people who have employment-based immigration issues have good jobs that usually require that they have a minimum of a college education. If you have questions about a labor certification, H-1B, O visa, EB-2, EB-5, or L-1/2 visa, you should be making enough money to pay an immigration attorney a consultation fee. These people should be embarrassed to be trolling the internet for free consultations. Basically, people looking for labor certifications, H-1B, O visa, EB-2, EB-5, or L-1/2 visas are not the kind of people that an immigration lawyer would want to provide free help to – these are NOT people who are struggling financially because of their immigration status.

Ultimately, the reason the people with employment-based immigration issues should not be trolling the internet for free consultations is that employment-based immigration lawyers do not usually offer free consultations. All of the employment-based immigration attorneys that I know charge consultation fees. There are two reasons for this. First, many people who contact employment-based immigration lawyers are not looking to hire an attorney but are looking for free legal advice. Employment-based immigration lawyers are essentially corporate attorneys – they do not give out free legal advice. Second, if you really qualify for an employment-based immigration visa, you should be able to afford a consultation fee. If I did employment based immigration law, I would be charging consultation fees. However, I do not practice employment-based immigration.

When I am in immigration court and waiting for my case to be called, I often observe immigration attorneys that do not appear to know what they are doing. Whenever this happens, I wonder why it is that anyone would hire that immigration lawyer to represent them. However, based upon my own experiences with client intake, I know why this is.  It is because people looking to hire an immigration lawyer do not educate themselves before hiring an immigration attorney.

There used to be a clothing company called, Syms.  They used to advertise on television.  Their motto was “an educated consumer is our best customer.”  Basically, their point was that before you shop, you should educate yourself.

I am shocked by most of the calls and e-mails that I get at work.

I realize that most people who call me or e-mail me are doing so because I provide free consultations. I do not fault people for calling for a free consultation. However, someone should not call an immigration attorney just because they provide a free consultation. They should review the immigration attorney’s full website and educate themselves about the immigration lawyer before calling. Despite the fact that I have a very detailed website, most people do not educate themselves about me before calling.

Most people who call me will ask “to speak to one of the immigration lawyers.”

Believe it or not, the majority of people who call me do not know that they are calling Matthew Guadagno.  In fact, most people do not even realize that they are calling a solo practitioner. Most of my calls are from people that think that they are calling a law firm (i.e., with many attorneys). The majority of my phone calls are from people who want to speak to an immigration lawyer, but do not know the name of the person that they are calling. From talking to these people, I know that they do a Google search about free consultations and call the first website that they see without looking at it.

Immigration law is a very broad area of law. Not all immigration lawyers handle every aspect of immigration law. My website is very clear with regards to what areas of immigration law I practice. My website was set up so that every page has a blue-green column entitled, “What I can help you with” and lists the areas of immigration law that I practice. There is also a tab at the top of every page, “What I do” that contains the same information. However, the majority of the calls and e-mails that I receive are from people asking about services that I do not provide and are not listed on my website. Whenever I ask people why they are asking about services that are not listed on my website, they tell me that they did not think to read my website.

Finally, my website has an “About me” tab that contains a detailed biography about me that describes my experience as an immigration lawyer. The “About me” page of my website explains my extensive experience as an immigration attorney. However, I regularly speak and meet with people who do not know anything about my experience as an immigration lawyer. It really shocks me that people would call a lawyer without knowing about their background and experience. I have detailed information about my background for a reason – I want people who are looking for an immigration attorney to be impressed with my background and be confident that I have the experience to help them with their problem. If you hire a lawyer without looking into their background, then you run the risk of hiring someone who does not know what they are doing.

Some of my reasons for posting this blog were to vent over annoying callers. However, my main reason for this blog is that I can educate people looking to hire an immigration lawyer that they need to look at the immigration attorney’s full website and learn about the lawyer before calling or e-mailing.  The fact that an immigration attorney provides free consultations is nice.  However, the immigration lawyer’s experience and ability to assist you with your problems is more important.

To paraphrase the people from Syms, an educated consumer is my best client.