Sarah Leon, Attorney at Law

I Zoom a lot and this is very true!

It's National Take Your Dog to Work Day! Since I work mostly from home, this sweet girl is often near me.

This fabulous piece of handmade art hangs on my office wall, specially crafted for me by my husband. I love that it's funny and it's folksy but it's also got some truth in it...don't give up your legal rights!

It's still LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, so here's a fun activity to do in honor of Pride! ;) P.S. my law firm is 100% supportive of our queer clients, community, family, and friends. We do not discriminate and are honored to serve the queer community and its still-underserved needs in family law and immigration.

So the ACLU just won this very significant free-speech case in front of the US Supreme Court, and they have printed a t-shirt with the exact words that the student was punished for. They are a non-profit organization, so the money they make from the sale of the t-shirt will go to support their civil rights litigation. But wow people in this thread are BIG MAD about the ACLU daring to print the student's words. SO MAD! Like, amusing levels of being mad about a student's free speech.

Instead of self-doubt, instead of not asking for what you want, instead of not going for it, do this.

It's National Take Your Cat to Work Day! Since I work from home most of the time, this guy is one of my constant work companions. Fortunately, he doesn't constantly hum, arrange meetings that could have been emails, or microwave his fish lunches.

Sometimes clients say such complimentary things during our meetings together :) Thank you, Ana, you are very lovable yourself!

Yep, it's true! As my certificate states, I was admitted as an attorney in California in 2018. Instead of going to law school, I completed an "apprenticeship" through the California Law Office Study Program, then took the bar exam and passed it (on my first attempt). Only 3 to 5 people in California become lawyers this way each year, out of our many thousands of attorneys. Why am I telling you this? Well, I'm very proud of this accomplishment, because in some ways it's much harder than going to law school, because there is no set path, there are no other students to work with, there's no professor to ask for help, and there's no one who cares if you succeed or fail. It's part of what makes me different from other lawyers, and it's the road less taken.

Great review from Cathie... "It was very nice to see Sarah Leon and Edwin and the expertise and professionalism from Sarah made me feel at ease and she was very kind. Thank you."

I guess everyone is doing these cartoon things? Here's my professional headshot, cartoon-ified!

Be willing to change your mind when life makes it clear! ;)

Friends, you may be hearing about immigration reforms being proposed by Joe Biden. These proposals are very exciting but they are NOT REAL YET. There's no "Biden amnesty" yet. Please do not give any money to anyone for help with this; even if they claim to be an attorney. (If an "attorney" is claiming they can do this for you now, they are scamming you, or they're not a real attorney.)

DACA is back for undocumented immigrants! If you were under age 31 on June 15, 2012, AND you arrived in the United States by June 15, 2007, you may be eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Great news for undocumented young people! A federal judge has ordered that the Trump administration must resume the full DACA program beginning December 7, 2020.... What the DACA program can do for you: * Protection from deportation * Employment authorization (work permit) * Protection from accruing "unlawful presence," which may help with future immigration possibilities * Having DACA also makes it easier for young adults to attend college, get financial aid for college, and build their credit history. You may be eligible for DACA if: * You were born on or after June 16, 1981 * AND you came to the United States before your 16th birthday * AND you have continuously resided in the United States from June 15, 2007 to the present * AND you were physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012 and are currently in the United States * AND you are currently in school, or you are a high school graduate, or you have a general education development (GED) certificate, or you are a United States veteran * AND you have no significant criminal history To apply for DACA, the United States government requires that you submit an application and pay filing fees which total $495. We've helped many people get and maintain their DACA status. If you're interested in having us help you with your initial DACA application, we offer a free consultation with an attorney, and an easy no-interest payment plan. The attorney's fee for this service is $750, not including the filing fee, and you can get started with an initial payment of just $250.

USCIS has announced that seeking testing or treatment for COVID-19 (coronavirus) will NOT be counted against any immigrants later under the Public Charge rule. ...For our clients, their families, and the community: If you get sick, please get tested and treated, without worrying whether it will hurt you in the immigration process later. "Alert: USCIS encourages all those, including aliens, with symptoms that resemble Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (fever, cough, shortness of breath) to seek necessary medical treatment or preventive services. Such treatment or preventive services will not negatively affect any alien as part of a future Public Charge analysis." https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/public-charge

To our clients and community about CORONAVIRUS. We are extremely concerned about this developing international pandemic and how it is affecting Sonoma County an...d the Bay Area. We believe it is going to get much worse before it gets better. And, we know that we must do our part to not make the virus' impact on the community worse. HOW WE WILL WORK WITH YOU DURING THIS CRISIS - When we see you in person, we will not greet you with a handshake. Handshakes and other physical contact are one way that this virus spreads. - Telephone appointments are available for all meetings. For a consultation about our services, or for a meeting with your attorney or a legal assistant, you may request a telephone meeting. We will also begin to offer telephone appointments for all meetings, and at some point may offer only telephone appointments if necessary. - If you need to come to our office, we request that you NOT bring extra family members or friends with you. - If you must appear in immigration or criminal court, we request that you NOT take extra family members or friends with you. Take only the people who are required to appear at court. - If you need to submit documents to us, or to sign forms, but you cannot visit us or do not want to, we can work with you through the internet or regular mail. - All Peckham & Daughter employees have the ability to work from home, because we use cloud software and telephones. If the pandemic becomes very bad locally, or if ordered by the government, we will conduct all of our work from home. Your client data and files will remain secure. HOW WE ARE KEEPING OUR STAFF SAFE - Peckham & Daughter offers all employees paid time off when they are sick. - We give our employees guidance on when an illness means they should not physically come to work. (For example, a fever, sneezing, coughing.) And we expect them to respect that guidance in order to keep their coworkers and our clients safe. - As mentioned above, all employees have the ability to work from home, and if necessary we will use this strategy to keep our staff safe while continuing our work for clients. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about how we are preparing for the effects of this pandemic. The safety of our clients and staff is, as always, our top priority. #coronavirus #COVID19

The Trump administration's public charge rules for those applying for Legal Permanent Residence (green card AKA mica) will be going into effect, after the Supre...me Court's ruling this morning. It will be much easier for immigrants to be denied now, because the applicant must prove that they are financially stable. Some possible problem areas are lack of job skills or work history, lack of education, poor English, bad credit or no credit in the US, and history of using public benefits. This does NOT AFFECT the following groups of people: - Those applying for naturalization (citizenship) - Those who have already applied for Legal Permanent Residence - Those applying for a green card based on status such as U visa, T visa, VAWA, SIJS - Those who must travel outside of the United States to a consulate in their home country in order to get residency (because they have a separate set of public charge rules that apply) This DOES AFFECT the following groups of people: - Those applying in through the 1-Step or I-485 application who entered the US through a visa or parole (e.g. military PIP) - Those applying through the 1-Step or I-485 application and using a prior 245(i) petition - Those with DACA status if they are applying through the 1-Step or I-485 We don't always recommend that people hire an attorney for every immigration process, however, the risk of a denial will be much higher now. So we do recommend that you carefully consider your potential problem areas and seek legal help if you are concerned. https://www.politico.com//supreme-court-enforce-trump-immi