Welcome to the Garfinkel Immigration staff spotlight series, where we will conduct a bimonthly Q&A with one of the Firm’s team members. In this edition, we spoke with Senior Paralegal/Team Lead Jami Kennedy.
What drew you to the immigration law field?
I’ve always had an interest in geography and learning about other countries. In college, that interest led me to a research internship working on an immigration study, which ultimately led me to the field of immigration law. I’ve now been working in the field for more than 17 years and really enjoy the impact that our work has on our clients’ lives.
What have you found most rewarding about working in immigration law?
I enjoy being a small part of the positive impacts of immigration — assisting clients with their goals of living or working in the U.S., assisting corporations with meeting their hiring needs, and all the benefits that diversity and growth bring to our communities and businesses.
What do you consider your most significant professional accomplishment?
It’s very hard to pick the most significant one, but definitely any time we secure an approval for a difficult case or a particularly critical situation, I feel beyond excited for our client, and I never forget those wins.
What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?
I love spending time with my family. I also love going to concerts or following sports. I’ve traveled to many cities and countries to see some of my favorite bands or teams play.
What is your favorite movie or TV show? Why?
It’s so hard to pick when there is so much good stuff to choose from these days but some of my favorites are The Beach, Slumdog Millionaire, White Lotus — pretty much anything that gives the feeling of traveling or experiencing new cultures or places. I also loved Parks and Recreation.
These days I watch a lot of movies with my kids, so I also love Book of Life and Encanto, if I’m being honest.
What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
I am a huge fan of lots of sports, but my favorites are soccer and tennis. Following sports was something my whole family did together growing up.
I started following tennis with my grandmother when I was around 6 or 7 years old and have pretty much followed every grand slam since. My 87-year-old grandmother called me recently while I was on a meeting to update me on a rain delay at Wimbledon. I even talked our kids into naming our family dog Serena Williams.
I also started playing soccer when I was 7 years old and played through college and have followed international soccer for as long as I can remember (my favorite team is Liverpool).