Jackie has decades of experience advising clients on government relations, regulatory and immigration matters. She first worked at McGuireWoods as a summer associate in 1984 and joined the firm as an associate in 1985 after graduating from Harvard Law School. Jackie is former chair of the firm's Diversity and Inclusion Committee and is a former member of the firm’s Board of Partners. She also served as the firmwide hiring partner for over 20 years. Her areas of expertise include legislative issues before the Virginia General Assembly, regulatory matters before the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and business immigration and worksite enforcement as a member of the firm’s corporate securities department.
She has represented clients on legislative and regulatory issues relating to insurance, retirement, telecommunications, education, economic development, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and more. She has more than 34 years of experience in all aspects of immigration and nationality matters. She concentrates on employment-based visas for employees of multinational companies, engineers, physicians, lawyers, architects, teachers, professors and research scientists. She works closely with the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Department of Labor, and officials of U.S. Embassies and Consulates. She assists foreign companies and organizations with establishing U.S. operations and coordinating the transfer of key executives. She assists in formulating strategies for short-term and long-term employment of foreign nationals, export control analysis, and provides guidance concerning I-9 programs (including audits) and the complex laws and regulations relating to employer sanctions.
Jackie worked as a legislative assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives after obtaining her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. Jackie has been recognized as a Virginia "Super Lawyer" and as one of Virginia's "Legal Elite" in government relations and immigration law by Virginia Business magazine. In 2018, Jackie was honored with the prestigious National Women in Law Award for Lifetime Achievement by Corporate Counsel and InsideCounsel, leading ALM publications. She is one of only six women to receive this award from ALM, which also publishes The American Lawyer and The National Law Journal. She was selected as one of Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s Influential Women of Law in 2020. Jackie is the recipient of the McGuireWoods Diversity and Inclusion Award and the Virginia FREE inaugural Advocacy Award Best Advocate Award, both of which have been named in her honor.
McGuireWoods Consulting LLC ("MWC") is a wholly owned subsidiary of the McGuireWoods LLP law firm. From time to time, various McGuireWoods lawyers provide non-legal services to MWC clients, but MWC cannot provide legal services or advice. Therefore, any work MWC performs for a client does not give rise to an attorney-client relationship or privilege. Should you require legal services from McGuireWoods, as well as consulting services from MWC, you must engage the law firm separately.
Board Member, Just the Beginning – A Pipeline Organization
Board Member, Venture Richmond
Chair, Advisory Board, Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership
Member, Advisory Council, Virginia Poverty Law Center
Member, Advisory Board, Wason Center for Public Policy
Founding Member, Partnership for the Future
Member, American Revolution 250 Commission
Member, One Virginia 2021 Citizens Constitutional Amendment Drafting Committee
Member, Steering Committee, 2019 Commemoration, American Evolution
Member, National Bar Leadership Conference Team, 1991-1992; Chairman, Richmond AOP Host Committee, 1991, American Bar Association
Member; Millennium Diversity Initiative, 2001; Faculty, Mandatory Course on Professionalism, 1995-1998; Member, Committee on Professionalism, 1989-1990; Chairman, Community Law Week Committee, 1987-1989, Virginia State Bar
Member; Executive Committee, Young Lawyers Section, 1988-1990; Chairman, Membership Committee, 1988-1990, Virginia Bar Association
Member; Executive Committee, 1990-1992, Old Dominion Bar Association
Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association, 1989-present
Former Board Member and Past President, Arts Council of Richmond
Former Executive Committee Member and Secretary, CenterStage Foundation
Former Chair, Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce Foundation
Former Board Member, Junior Achievement of Central Richmond
Former Board Member, Leadership Metro Richmond
Former Board Member, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
Former Member, Local Advisory Committee, Local Initiatives Support Campaign
Former Board Member, Richmond Eye and Ear Hospital
Former Board Member, Richmond Retirement System
Former Trustee, Science Museum of Virginia
Former Council Member, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
Former Member, State Commission on Population Growth and Development
Former Council Member, State Council on Local Debt
Former Executive Committee Member, The Richmond Forum
Former Member, Virginia Commission on Competitive & Equitable Tax Policy
Former Board Member, United Way of Central Virginia
Former Vice-Rector, Board of Visitors, Virginia Commonwealth University
Former Board Member, VCU Health System
Former Director, Virginia Commission for the Arts
Named to "500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers,” Lawdragon, 2021, 2022
Named to "Pro Bono Service Honor Roll," Virginia Access to Justice Commission, 2022
Recipient, "Advocacy Award," Virginia Foundation for Research and Economic Education (FREE), 2021
Recipient, Phoebe P. Hall Mentorship Award, Metro Richmond Women’s Bar Association (MRWBA), 2021
Recipient, Best Mentor: Law Firm Category, The American Lawyer Industry Awards, 2021
Named to "Virginia Legal Elite," Immigration Law, Virginia Business Magazine, 2010, 2019-2021
Recipient, Richmond Humanitarian Award, Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, 2020
Named to "Influential Women of Law", Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 2020
Recipient, McGuireWoods Diversity and Inclusion Award, 2019
Recipient, Urban Financial Services Coalition Live2Lead Leadership Award, 2019
Honoree, "Person of the Year," Richmond Times-Dispatch, 2019
Named an "Immigration Trailblazer," National Law Journal, 2019
Recipient, National Women in Law Award for Lifetime Achievement, Corporate Counsel and InsideCounsel, 2018
Recipient, DuPont J. Michael Brown Award, 2013
Recipient, Walter Ridley Trailblazer Award, 2012
Fellow, Virginia Law Foundation, 2010
Named to "Virginia Super Lawyers," Immigration, Government Relations, Business/Corporate, Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2006-2009
Recipient, Women of Achievement Award, Metropolitan Richmond Women's Bar Association, 2005
Recipient, Themis Award, DuPont Women's Lawyer Network, 2005
Recipient, Outstanding Women Awards, YWCA, 2000
Selected for inclusion in "The Region's 100 Power Players," Richmond Magazine, 2006