The National Law Journal recently honored McGuireWoods partner Jacquelyn E. Stone as an Immigration Trailblazer, recognizing her groundbreaking career and the noteworthy immigration practice she built at the firm.
Stone, the first African-American woman to make partner at a major law firm in Virginia, created and chaired McGuireWoods’ Diversity & Inclusion Committee and served as firmwide hiring partner for more than 20 years. The NLJ wrote that her focus on diversity has informed her work on immigration and nationality matters for more than a quarter of a century.
Her practice focuses on obtaining employment-based visas for employees of multinational companies, engineers, physicians, lawyers, architects, teachers, professors and research scientists. She helps foreign companies and organizations establish U.S. operations and coordinate the transfer of key executives.
Stone started her career at McGuireWoods in 1985 after graduating from Harvard Law School. Immigration law captured her interest a few years after she joined the firm as an associate.
“Immigration laws affect companies of all sizes in today’s global economy,” Stone said. “McGuireWoods allowed me to develop a practice that addresses these issues in a comprehensive way.”
Today, lawyers are devoting more pro bono hours to helping people with immigration issues, Stone noted in the NLJ story.
“There are a lot more opportunities for those who have not gone through their careers as immigration lawyers to lend their expertise to help individuals who need this very important assistance,” she said.
This is the second time in the past year that American Lawyer Media publications have recognized Stone’s significant career. She received a prestigious National Women in Law Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018 from Corporate Counsel and InsideCounsel, leading ALM publications devoted to coverage of the in-house community.