Top U.S. Immigration Attorney M. Keil Hackley

Top U.S. immigration attorney M. Keil Hackley is the Senior Partner at the South Florida top immigration law firm of Hackley & Robertson, P.A., with over 25 years of experience practicing immigration law, and handling complex immigration and naturalization matters.

Keil Hackley has served as the Miami Deputy Chief Counsel for the Immigration & Naturalization Service (now Department of Homeland Security) where she directed the in-house immigration law firm of sixty-five immigration trial lawyers and served as legal advisor to the District Director and his executive staff. Previously, Keil Hackley was a named partner of one of the largest immigration law firms in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, where she focused on commercial immigration law.

As a top immigration attorney, Keil Hackley represents a diverse range of industries including health care, hospitality, equine, education, construction, and entertainment. Her practice niche is employment-based visa petitions and self-petitions for individuals of extraordinary ability, including athletes, actors, musicians, and entertainers of extraordinary talent. Keil’s practice areas also include the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, where she represents developers seeking alternatives to traditional bank financing.

Keil’s distinguished background as a US immigration attorney in immigration law is widely recognized by her peers. She lectures nationwide, is often quoted in the media on immigration and naturalizing issues and she has been called upon to testify as an expert witness in a variety of civil immigration litigation matters.

Keil Hackley is a Founding Board Member of the Weston Business Chamber of Commerce, a Founding Board Member of the Broward Professional Alliance, a Broward County Think Tank, a member of the British American Chamber of Commerce, the Tower Forum, and the Brazilian Business Group. Her service to the community through the Rotary Club of Weston includes creating the Helping Children Heal Project, the Filipino outreach program, and chairing the Horse Heroes Project, the award-winning children’s literacy program. More recently, Keil was invited to participate in the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement’s South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force.

Keil has been a member of the Maryland Bar since 1987 and the District of Colombia Bar since 1988.

Summer L. Robertson is the Managing Partner for the Law Offices of Hackley & Robertson. Her experience as an immigration lawyer with the firm handling nonimmigrant and immigrant visa processing has allowed her to successfully participate in the resolution of some of the firm’s more sophisticated and complex immigration legal matters.

Summer graduated from Nova Southeastern University in 1997 (B.S., Dean’s List) and Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center in 2000 (JD, Cum Laude). While in law school, she was a member of the Moot Court Society and Team Leader of the ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law. She wrote an article on sea interdictions that was published in the ILSA’s Journal. Summer frequently lectures on immigration topics at various universities in South Florida. Her background as Executive Board Member and Founding Member of Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority and Member of Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity, and Historian Chair of the Legal Studies Foreign Exchange Program to London, England compliments her academic achievements. Summer is a member of the Florida Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, and the Federal Bar for the Southern Districts of Florida.

Committed to giving back to the community, Summer sits on the Board of Directors of the Davie Units Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward County. She is a member of the Royal Dames of Cancer Research, the Circle of Wise Women for Junior Achievement of South Florida and on the President’s Advisory Committee (PAC) for Nova Southeastern University. She was also nominated as one of Broward County’s 100 Outstanding Women in 2009 and 2010. She has served as the South Florida Chapter Liaison for the AILA’s Young Lawyer Division, AILA’s Committee against the Unlawful Practice of Law, and the Broward County Guardian Ad Litem program. In addition, Summer has authored articles for AILA’s exclusive publication entitled The Voice as well as co-authored articles presented at AILA national conferences.

Mr. Vara frequently serves as co-counsel to Hackley & Robertson, P.A. He has been nationally recognized as one of the lead immigration authorities in the United States, and was previously the District/Chief Legal Counsel for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), United States Department of Justice, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Miami Division, from 1990-2003.

As the primary government immigration attorney in the State of Florida, Mr. Vara managed and oversaw the litigation and legal advice efforts and activities of a staff of approximately 74 federal immigration attorneys. His responsibilities included both the prosecution and defense of immigration matters throughout the State of Florida. As the lead immigration attorney for the United States in Florida, Mr. Vara provided litigation support and assistance to the various offices of the United States Attorneys in the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida.

Mr. Vara, in his role with INS / ICE and working extensively with such agencies as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, was lead legal counsel and litigator on some of the highest profile immigration law cases in the United States. These cases have included human rights violations, organized crime, international narcotics trafficking, counterintelligence efforts, and counterterrorism matters. He was lead counsel or had an integral role in such cases as the prosecution of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, the Mazen Al Najjar classified evidence litigation, and the Imran Mandhai and Adham Hassoun counterterrorism cases. He also identified, developed, and litigated the novel legal theory which resulted in the 1999 precedent decision, In re: Jorge Luis Rodriguez, on the use of Foreign Agent Registration Act statutes to arrest and remove foreign espionage agents from the United States; a theory that has been used as the basis for many of the successful foreign agent criminal prosecution actions since then.

After being the head attorney for INS / ICE for 13 years in Miami, Mr. Vara was appointed as Chief Counsel for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in Orlando, Florida, and remained in that position for 3 years. In that role, he continued to provide oversight, management, and supervision to a staff of federal immigration attorneys, and continued developing significant litigation skills as lead counsel on a variety of federal law enforcement matters which included immigration, fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, violent crimes, and counterterrorism.

Mr. Vara has been legal advisor to high-level INS, ICE, and Chief Border Patrol Agent officials on immigration, asset forfeiture, personnel, and criminal matters. He is an experienced speaker, lecturer, and instructor, having lectured at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) conferences, and National Attorney Training Conferences. As a recognized and skilled litigator, he has been the primary instructor for National Level Courtroom Litigation Skills Training within INS and ICE, and has conducted national, regional, and local training, for federal, state and local law enforcement personnel on counterintelligence, counterterrorism, case investigation, and prosecution matters. In particular, and based on his close work with and success on behalf of the FBI, Mr. Vara was invited to be a recurring speaker at FBI counterintelligence agent training conferences on the use of the Immigration and Nationality Act in combating foreign espionage activities in the United States. In addition, Mr. Vara has been at the forefront of the national initiative to train and certify law enforcement officers and provide them with immigration enforcement authority.

Mr. Vara has traveled extensively throughout the United States, both lecturing and litigating on behalf of the federal government, and currently handles immigration cases throughout not only Florida, but the entire United States.

Andrew Kingston, a partner in Kingston Law Partners, is a critical member of the Hackley & Robertson EB-5 Team handling all matters relating to the Securities Act. Andrew Kingston is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School with 20 years’ experience providing legal services in connection with domestic and international commercial transactions. Mr. Kingston is an accomplished commercial lawyer, assisting entrepreneurs and businesses with acquisition, financing and commercial transactions throughout the world. Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers has described Andrew as a prominent and experienced practitioner in the field of international banking and finance and a leading corporate/M&A lawyer. Andrew is a member of local bars in U.S. and European jurisdictions.

Douglas R. Maymon serves as Hackley & Robertson’s Communication and Marketing Director. Douglas brings to the table his extensive experience in the corporate world. Most recently, Doug served as the Executive Director/Managing Partner of Continental Business Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm which assists small to midsize and start-up companies with brand development, product enhancement, business planning, plus sales force and personnel training. CBS further assisted with brochure design, corporate PowerPoint presentations, along with sales strategies and marketing tactics. The company also worked with nonprofit organizations on a pro bono basis.

Before CBS, he was with DSI, a division of American Media, for 29 years. During that time Doug functioned in a number of senior managerial positions, last serving as the company’s Director of Marketing Services, where he created the business plans and sales and marketing materials for new product launches. In addition, he developed and implemented sales and marketing strategies for existing publications and related product extensions; plus generated sales modeling and financial analyses for potential and current clients. Prior to DSI, he was a marketing executive for a food broker and orange juice manufacturing concern.

Doug attended Nova University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and attended the Graduate School of Business Administration at Florida International University. He served in the Civil Air Patrol (United States Air Force Auxiliary) for nine years where he held several senior command and staff positions as well as receiving numerous awards and citations. Doug works with the Weston, Florida Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), where he is the Team’s Training Director. In conjunction with the CERT program, Doug has received thirty-five Certificates of Achievement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Emergency Management Institute.

Doug is active in the community as well, having served as the Governor of Rotary International District 6990 (Southeast Florida, Florida Keys, and Grand Bahama Island). Doug is the immediate past chair of the Rotary Leadership Institute-Sunshine Division (Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean,). For many years Doug has been involved with The Robbins Fund, a Florida 501C3 corporation which deals with international disaster relief. He was a founding board member and key creative component of the Weston Area International Business Alliance, an international trade group for business development.

After thirteen years as the firm’s Director of Visa Operations, Grace has moved into the position of International Consultant. In that capacity Hackley & Robertson will continue to enjoy Grace’s seasoned experience in consular affairs. Prior to joining Hackley & Robertson, Grace served as Vice Consul of the Dominican Republic for a fifteen year period. As Vice Consul Grace acquired a unique understanding of international relations and foreign government protocol. Now, residing in Italy, Grace is better positioned to liaison with the firm’s European clients and poised to enhance the firm’s ability to engage in consular processing. Grace was born in Venezuela and educated in Italy and is fluent in Spanish, Italian and English.

Clients and guests of top immigration attorneys Hackley & Robertson are greeted by Sharon Pareja, who makes it her business to make our office feel more like home. After having lived in Guayaquil, Ecuador for over twenty years, Sharon is fluent in Spanish, an attribute appreciated by those who prefer Spanish over English. Sharon’s administrative background, spanning over ten years, is an invaluable asset to the team.

Marge Lessard is the primary EB-5 and business plan writing consultant of Hackley & Robertson, PA. As Managing Member of Write Source, LLC, a research and writing firm, Marge assists immigration attorneys and their clients looking for comprehensive business plan writing services.

Prior to founding Write Source, Marge worked in the banking industry in South Florida for over 30 years. She is knowledgeable and proficient in analyzing and underwriting a multitude of industries such as commercial and residential real estate, wholesale, retail, hospitality, entertainment, restaurant, and international trade as the result of her 25 yrs+ of commercial banking experience as a Commercial Loan Officer and Senior Underwriter.

Patricia C. Cardoso is the firm’s Brazilian Legal Consultant. She was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and graduated from the UniverCidade Law School also in Rio de Janeiro. Prior to immigrating to the United States Patricia was an attorney with the Law Offices of Beatriz Abraao de Oliveria in Brazil where she practiced a variety of civil and family law matters. She brings unique knowledge to the firm and provides a diverse perspective to international issues especially with clients involved in Brazil-related transactions. Patricia is fluent in Portuguese and English.

Carlos Fernando Londono, is Hackley & Robertson’s international liaison assisting the firm with outreach efforts to build relationships with corporations, community’s, and individuals outside of the U.S. in need of legal counsel relating to immigration and foreign investment. Born in Medellin, Colombia and raised and educated abroad as well as in the United States, he brings a rare mix of public relations skills and knowledge to the firm and is completely fluent in both Spanish and English.

Mr. Londono studied International Economics, Social Psychology, and Communications at Florida Atlantic University and has worked for companies with operations all over the U.S., the Caribean, South America, and Europe. He has had valuable experience in mediation, negotiation, and corporate communication in various industries including film and media.

Mr. Londono, teaches Tai Chi and meditation, writes poetry, screenplays, and produces independant films in his spare time.

Stephanie Hamels, having joined Hackley Robertson, P.A. in 2003, holds the position of Technical Writer where she works directly with the three Partners in conducting legal research, writing immigration petitions, and editing technical articles for publication. Born in Lyon, France and raised and educated in Heidelberg, Germany, Stephanie brings with her a unique level of diversity and experience. Stephanie offers fluency in the French, German, and English languages enhancing the firm’s objective to make each client feel comfortable and at home while their case is pending.

A 2009 graduate of Florida International University, North Campus, Stephanie was awarded her degree in Mass Communications and Journalism further adding to her proficiency in writing petitions for the O-1, extraordinary ability visa and H-1B, specialty worker visa. Stephanie’s background also includes acceptance and participation in the Industrial Psychology Master’s Program at FIU, where she began her master’s studies in January of 2003 until joining Hackley & Robertson.

Stephanie gives back to the community by donating her time to worthwhile projects sponsored by the Rotary Club of Weston, such as the Elder Program and the Hurricane Wilma Disaster Relief Project, as well as projects sponsored by the Broward Professional Alliance, including the Thanksgiving Day Outreach Program for the Homeless. She is an avid runner and enjoys Yoga.