Joe Hernandez, a reporter with WHYY, the NPR station in Philadelphia interviewed Shereen Chen about the Trump executive order that would reexamine U.S worker visa programs.

“Whenever there’s a [proposed] law change, there’s a flux,” said Shereen Chen, a South Jersey-based immigration attorney, whose clients have been calling her with worried questions since the executive order leaked. Chen said there’s an uneasy feeling in the air, which she explained with a Star Wars analogy. “It’s almost like there’s a flux in the Force.”

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MARLTON, NJ – Shereen C. Chen was selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers© 2014. The attorneys are chosen in a vote by peers who practice in the same areas of law. Ms. Chen was chosen for Immigration Law and has been included each year since 2009.

MARLTON, NJ – Shereen C. Chen was named one of New Jersey’s top 100 attorneys in the newly released listing from New Jersey Super Lawyers.

Ms. Chen, who lives in Mount Laurel, was named for her work as an immigration attorney. Ms. Chen’s clients include professional athletes, opera stars, religious leaders, high net worth investors, health care employees, corporations, golf courses and resorts along with nonprofit organizations, including temples and shrines across the United States.

Tim Ronaldson

Attorney Shereen C. Chen spoke about the joys and the honor of being a U.S. citizen last week during the Citizen Naturalization Ceremony at Burlington County Superior Court in Mount Holly.

Chen became an American citizen at the age of 16. Her family came here from Taiwan when Shereen was only two years old. In her law practice Chen assists sports stars, business people, medical personnel, religious leaders and those from a variety of walks of life with citizenship and immigration. She has been an immigration attorney for the past 15 years and has received numerous awards and honors for her work including this year being named an Outstanding Woman of the Year in Burlington County.

Twenty-five new citizens received certificates and were welcomed last week during the ceremonies.

“It’s always an honor to participate in these ceremonies,” Chen said. “I love to see the happiness on the faces of the new citizens. It reminds me how fortunate we are to live in this country and how we should never take it for granted.”

By: Roberta Matuson

The 2011 forecast for summer hiring is a bit hazy as experts try to predict which way the winds will turn. Some believe demand for seasonal jobs will be up this year, while others say it will remain the same. However, all agree now is the time to take action if your recruiting strategy includes seasonal hiring of summer hires and interns.

“We think summer hiring will increase compared to last summer,” states Rob Wilson, president of Westmont, Illinois Employco USA, Inc., a firm in the human resource outsourcing industry. “In some industries more than others, some companies are starting to hire. We are receiving more requests for internships and entry-level positions, including summer hires, from clients in the restaurant and hospitality industry, tradeshows, landscaping and retail.” Wilson goes on to say that employers are cautious, yet they are still moving forward.

A prime example of this is Las Vegas, Nevada-based Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park. CEO Jeff Platt says that hiring is up across the country. Platt normally sees a spike in hiring during the summer due to the increase in business at their facilities. Throw in the fact that the company is in growth mode and recruiting candidates is job-one these days.

Platt approaches hiring the way professional coaches put together winning sports teams. He cultivates college recruiting relationships with local universities, who in turn help refer top players to his organization. It hasn’t taken long for word to get out that this is the team to join. “Specifically in Las Vegas our applicant flow has increased because we have built a great relationship with the local university. As people start to see that we have opportunities for people who start in entry-level positions, then our applicant flow will continue to rise.”

Platt fills his summer hiring needs by hiring hourly workers and interns. “We have some employees who have gone off to college and return in the summer to work as interns. Usually it’s someone who has been with us for a while. We have some employees who worked for us part-time and are now returning home from college for the summer. When we re-hire them, we are able to give them more responsibility because they understand our product,” states Platt.

Hiring Foreign Workers
It may sound like a great idea to staff your entry-level seasonal positions with foreign workers, but it’s not as easy as you think. Shereen C. Chen, an attorney and partner with the law firm of Hyland Levin, based in Marlton, New Jersey, points out there are only 66,000 H2b visas given out each fiscal year.

You may have a better chance of winning the lottery than securing a visa for your workers as the fiscal year is broken down into two parts, with 33,000 visas available for each season (October 1-March 30 and April 1-to September 30.) “The H2b visa is for unskilled labor,” notes Chen. To receive these visas, employers must prove they are unable to find a US worker who can fill these jobs. Your efforts (and money) would likely be better spent building relationships inside the US to avoid getting stuck in this maze.

Nine women will be honored at this year’s Outstanding Women Awards banquet to be held Thursday, March 31 at Merion Caterers in Cinnaminson. The honorees cover a range of categories, and include a social studies teacher and mentor who “makes history come alive,” a breast cancer survivor who counsels other cancer victims, and a doctor who helps women without insurance receive necessary healthcare. Add to that Victoria Lee, a Moorestown High School senior, who will also receive a $500 scholarship for her efforts to publicize poverty and abuse of women in places around the world. The awards program is sponsored and run by the county’s Advisory Council on Women.

“There is no getting around it, this is an outstanding lineup of high achievers,” said Freeholder Mary Ann O’Brien. “As always, the advisory council has brought before us an impressive group of individuals with outstanding records of community involvement and leadership.”

Shereen C. Chen Gray, Esq. of Mount Laurel

Through her work for the firm in Marlton in which she practices in Immigration and Nationality law, she has aided women in terrifying situations, like the Chinese girl who needed to get away from her abusive family, and orphaned refugees from the Sudan. She continues to help women through her work for Jewish Family and Children’s Service. Her pro bono work, helping battered women and children gain residency, earned her the New Jersey Bar Association’s Award in 2006.

by Kathryn Finegan Clark

Shereen Chen is there for those trying to find their way to America.

For many New Jersey immigrants — like the Chinese girl who escaped an abusive family, the orphaned refugees from Sudan or the Colombian couple forced to flee violent guerrillas — the enduring female symbol of freedom in America isn’t the Statue of Liberty. It’s Shereen Chen.

“The realization on someone’s face that they have received permanent residency in the United States, forever, is an amazing thing to witness,” she says. “I love what I do.”

As of counsel at Ballard Spahr in Voorhees, Chen, 34, is primarily responsible for the immigration cases handled by the firm’s offices across the eastern United States. She has celebrated several happy outcomes since joining the firm in April 2003.

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The biographies that follow are of 40 young New Jersey lawyers we think are worth watching, not only for what they have achieved so far in their careers but more so for the potential they show to be among the leaders of the New Jersey bar in the not-so-distant future.

We selected the lawyers based upon information provided by their firms or gleaned from other sources. In choosing them, we looked at such indicators as achievement in practice areas; record of publication, lecturing and presenting to professional forums; recognition by peers and professional organizations; leadership positions at the firms; leadership in bar groups; merit-based membership in professional groups; pro bono and civic activity; and special challenges overcome in attaining career success.

We favored lawyers who have taken charge of practice groups or committees in their own firms at a young age. The field was not limited to partners (though many are) nor was it restricted to large firms. Sometimes, the best indicator was the founding and/or growing of a small firm or a practice area within a firm.

The attorneys chosen represent a broad spectrum of the bar, covering an array of practices. Some are litigators and some are devoted to transactional and compliance-oriented areas. What all have in common is that they have distinguished themselves early in their professional lives and promise more of the same.

Any qualitative list is necessarily subjective, and there are doubtless numerous young attorneys who have yet to gain public attention. As we repeat this selection in future years, they may be chosen. But for now, the 40 lawyers listed are well qualified to carry the distinction.

– Ronald J. Fleury
Editor-in-Chief

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