05/07/2013
From June 26, 2013 to June 29, 2013, ParaLex had the distinct pleasure of attending the 2013 Annual Convention of the American Immigration Lawyers Association that was held in beautiful San Francisco, California. Thousands of lawyers from all over the United States and beyond flocked to the City by the Bay in order to attend various seminars and round table discussions to hone their legal skills and keep abreast of the new developments in Immigration Law. The timing of this year’s convention could not have been better in light of the twin decisions handed down on June 26th by the United States Supreme Court in Hollingsworth v. Perry and United States v. Windsor. The United States Supreme Court declined jurisdiction to review the lower court decision repudiating California’s Proposition 8 in Hollingsworth and struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) in Windsor. These landmark decisions paved the way for equal judicial and government treatment of gay and le***an couples and charged up the atmosphere in the convention. These decisions that have been hailed as twin victories in the human rights context, have also had a huge impact on the application of the immigration laws of the United States and various roundtable discussions and seminars were hastily amended to add discussions about the large repercussions these rulings had brought to the practice of Immigration Law. The rulings were perfectly timed, too, for the Pride celebrations that weekend in San Francisco. The rulings galvanized the community of San Francisco as an estimated 1.5 million people, including many of the convention attendees, flocked to the city on June 30 to have fun and raucously celebrate the latest Civil Rights pronouncement handed down by the Supreme Court. This year’s convention was educational, historic, and fun! ParaLex maintains a presence in these conventions to learn what its clients learn and to keep abreast of all the new issues affecting its clients. These all serve to guarantee that the ParaLex mantra of Support Services Simplified is also bolstered by complete familiarity and exposure to the latest trends in the practice areas of its clients. This is an ongoing commitment by ParaLex to its clients. See you all again next year in Boston! Hooray Equality!