BAL Opens Los Angeles Office, Headquartering Sports & Entertainment Immigration Practice

DALLAS, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning immigration firm BAL has opened a Los Angeles office focused on sports and entertainment immigration. Building upon its representation of major league sports teams, international athletic organizations and leading entertainment studios, BAL now provides a dedicated boutique for these efforts in the LA office, supported by the firm's nationwide legal teams.

"Launching this practice is an exciting step," said Attorney J. Gabriel Castro, BAL Sports and Entertainment Practice Lead. "I've been an LA sports fan all my life and love the energy of working in the Entertainment Capital of the World. Now to be in a position to help teams and studios here secure the top talent from all over the world — that's pretty special."

A longtime LA resident, Gabriel knew the office needed to be within proximity to the city's biggest venues to enable the firm's legendary client service. Located blocks from entertainment complex LA Live, the office is also close to the Crypto.com Arena, Dodger Stadium and the LA Coliseum.

The increasingly globalized worlds of the sports and entertainment industries require frequent travel and location changes, and companies rely on skilled immigration counsel more than ever, especially with added challenges presented by COVID. Gabriel and his team have worked to proactively counsel clients on the effects of processing delays, lockouts, vaccination requirements and other current immigration challenges that can disrupt athletic teams and entertainment projects.

"BAL is all about making a positive difference in people's lives, and we've done that for over 40 years across virtually every industry," said Managing Partner Jeremy Fudge. "Adding the Sports and Entertainment Practice at this moment — when the world feels heavy for many people — is significant. We're helping some of the best sports and entertainment stars provide an outlet of enjoyment for audiences across the world."

The expansion is BAL's sixth new office in the past five years, growing our presence in major U.S. economic centers, including the recently opened Denver office and the addition of a team in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The firm's oneBAL approach incentivizes sharing workloads firmwide, while regional offices provide the personal interaction and on-the-ground support BAL clients have come to expect from the service-oriented firm.

BAL, the world's leading corporate immigration law firm, is singularly focused on meeting the immigration challenges of corporate clients around the world in ways that make immigration more strategic and enable businesses to be more successful. Established in 1980, BAL has consistently provided immigration expertise, people-centered client services and leading technology innovation. In 2018, BAL entered into a first-of-its-kind strategic alliance with Deloitte U.K. to create the world's first global immigration service delivery model.

BAL's proprietary Cobalt® digital immigration services platform won the 2020 CODiE Award for Best Legal Tech Product, the prestigious CIO100 award for Innovative Use of Intelligent Automation in Immigration Services and Legalweek's Most Innovative Law Firm Operations Team of 2021. BAL and its leaders are highly ranked in every major legal publication, including Best Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500 and Who's Who Legal. BAL has ranked #1 on multiple industry rankings for diversity, equity and inclusion, including the #1 Law Firm for Women by the National Law Journal four years in a row (2019-2022), #1 on the Diversity Scorecard by The American Lawyer (2020 and 2021), and #1 on Law360's Diversity Snapshot for three years running (2020-2022). BAL won The Best Company for Career Growth and the Best Company for Perks & Benefits by Comparably, based solely on employee ratings. The Dallas Business Journal named BAL one of only a handful of the 2022 Best Places to Work based exclusively on employee feedback. US News & World Report-Best Lawyers named BAL the 2023 Immigration Law Firm of the Year.

See website for details: https://www.bal.com

SOURCE Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP

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