Senior Counsel, Immigration

The Senior Counsel, Immigration role is responsible for providing U.S. immigration legal counseling and advice to AbbVie’s global pharmaceutical business.  This individual will manage outside counsel and provide guidance and advice to internal immigration stakeholders across all businesses.  Candidates must have extensive hands-on employment-based immigration experience, including all business non-immigrant (H, L, O, E, TN, etc.) and immigrant (PERM, OR, NIW, MnM, etc.) matters as an immigration counsel.   Qualified candidates should also have experience advising clients directly on a multitude of immigration matters and should be able to advise business leaders and Human Resources, and assist clients with the preparation of petitions and applications.   Candidates should also have experience developing and conducting immigration training.

This position supports the entirety of AbbVie’s U.S. immigration function and reports to the Division Counsel, Employment, Labor and Immigration. 

Responsibilities:  

• Work cross-functionally with various departments to meet business needs.
• Represent AbbVie and oversee all business non-immigrant (H, L, O, E, TN, etc.) and immigrant (PERM, OR, NIW, MnM, etc.) matters.
• Assist internal clients with the preparation of petitions and applications for submissions to USCIS. 
• Advise HR on all legal matters related to I-9s, I-9 audits, and E-Verify.
• Advise regarding global mobility and external mobility providers to help enable domestic and global relocations.
• Respond to claims and charges related to immigration employment practices. 
• Develop and manage relationships with AbbVie’s immigration outside counsel. 
• Assist in identifying trends and escalating programmatic or strategic needs to business and immigration leadership to enable customized immigration programs to meet business needs.
• Analyze and evaluate immigration situations and escalate concerns to leadership.
• Provide legal advice to internal clients and senior leaders regarding all aspects of business immigration laws.
• Stay abreast of changes in laws that affect client areas.
• Prioritize case work based on business needs while managing communication and correspondence with employees during the immigration process.
• Identify unmet needs and future legal issues and proactively propose strategies to optimize outcomes and results for the company. 

Requirements:

• Must possess a J.D. degree and appropriate licensure to practice law in Illinois. 
• Minimum of 7+ years of relevant experience with immigration matters.
• Prior pharma in-house experience (desirable, but not required).
• In-depth knowledge of the law as it pertains to immigration, citizenship and employment laws.
• Possess excellent communication, collaboration and research and writing skills.
• Extensive experience in the matters involving PERMs, NIW and OR based green cards.
• Ability to multi-task, prioritize and manage multiple projects effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Detail-oriented.
• Possess strong advocacy and legal analysis skills.