KURZBAN KURZBAN TETZELI & PRATT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chapter President, 2010 to 2011
Edward Ramos is a graduate of Yale Law School and a partner with KKTP. Edward's practice focuses on litigating immigration-related cases in the federal courts. He has helped clients overcome denials in a broad range of practice areas, including employment-based visa petitions (such as H-1B, and I-140 petitions), family-based visa petitions, terminations of regional centers in the EB-5 Program, and EB-5 visa petitions (I-526 and I-829). Several of Edward's cases have been national class actions. He has represented the American Immigration Lawyers Association and immigrants' rights organizations in several friend-of-the-court briefs in the Supreme Court of the United States.
Edward also assists clients with complex matters before administrative immigration agencies, including United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the immigration courts, and the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Edward is passionate about immigration law, and he enjoys the challenge of litigating novel and complex issues to help his clients obtain their immigration goals.
Elizabeth Montano has been an associate with KKTP since September 2019. She practices in all areas of immigration law, but focuses primarily on federal immigration litigation, investor-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visa applications, and other complex cases in front of the Immigration Court and before USCIS or the Department of State. Elizabeth is passionate about immigration law and goes the extra mile to help her clients achieve their goals.
Elizabeth graduated summa cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in May 2019. While in law school, Elizabeth served as the Editor-in-Chief of the University of Miami Law Review, for which she received the Daniel B. Gaubatz Memorial Award for her dedication and contribution to the Law Review. Elizabeth was a student intern and fellow in the Immigration Clinic from 2017 to 2019, for which she won the 2018 CLEA Outstanding Clinical Student Award. She also served as a Dean's Fellow for Professor Irwin Stotzky and a Research Assistant for Professor Shara Pelz. During her final semester in law school, Elizabeth was awarded the Society of Bar & Gavel's Roger Sorino Award, which is given to a graduating law student at Miami Law who best exemplifies leadership, dedication to the school, and service to the community.
Elizabeth is an avid writer and has published numerous academic articles about timely and important topics. In 2019, Elizabeth won the Law360 Distinguish Legal Writing Award for her article, The Bring Your Own Tampon Policy: Why Menstrual Hygiene Products Should Be Provided for Free in Restrooms, which was published in 2018. She also won the Yale Law Journal's 2019 Student Writing Competition for her Essay, The Rise and Fall of Administrative Closure in Immigration Courts, which was published in 2020. This article has been cited by several federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Elizabeth has also co-authored an article with Professor Rebecca Sharpless, entitled Divisibility Redux: "Alternatively Phrased Statutes" and State Law in the Post-Mathis Categorical Approach, which was published in 2019, and an article with KKTP Partner Edward F. Ramos, entitled Does It Really Matter?: Making the Case for a Materiality Requirement in False Claims to U.S. Citizenship Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which was published in 2021.
Job Titles:
- Associate Attorney With Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli
Heather Roberts is an associate attorney with Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli & Pratt. She was born in Australia and lived there for ten years before moving to the United States. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2007. A fluent speaker of Spanish and long-time volunteer interpreter at a free medical clinic, she sought out an area of law where she could utilize her language skills and meet the legal needs of the immigrant community she had come know. She began her career working for Catholic Charities in Oklahoma City, where she was exposed to a variety of cases and immigrants from all walks of life. Since then she has practiced exclusively in the area of immigration law, focusing on family-based immigration, naturalization, consular processing, inadmissibility waivers, Special Immigrant Juvenile status, and humanitarian options for victims of crime and abuse. As the mother of a young daughter, her greatest professional satisfaction comes from reuniting families and watching her clients flourish with the newfound stability and security that comes from having legal status in the United States.
Heather believes there are a lot of misconceptions about the realities and complexity of the U.S. immigration system, and is passionate about educating on the subject. She has presented on immigration law at the high school, college, and professional levels.
Job Titles:
- Associate Attorney at Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli
Jessie Marie Schreier is an associate attorney at Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli & Pratt, P.A. Her practice focuses on a variety of immigration areas including family-based immigration, removal and deportation defense, consular processing, U.S. citizenship issues, federal court litigation, investor visas, intracompany transferees, and humanitarian relief. She represents multinational organizations, startups, small businesses, international students, and individuals. Prior to joining the firm, Jessie was the Senior attorney in the Dallas office of Roy Petty & Associates, where she managed the removal defense department and oversaw the cases arising out of the firm's offices in Colombia. Jessie was previously an associate attorney at Hochstatter, McCarthy, Rivas and Runde, S.C. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she focused on family-based immigration and a clerk for Catholic Charities Legal Services of Wisconsin where she was involved with U-Visas, VAWA relief, and asylum cases.
John Patrick Pratt received his Bachelors of Arts from Florida State University with honors in 1994. He graduated from Tulane University School of Law, receiving his juris doctor degree in 1997. Mr. Pratt also studied abroad at the University of Paris, and is fluent in Spanish. Mr. Pratt is admitted to the bar of the State of Florida, District of Columbia, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the American Bar Association.
Mr. Pratt has appeared numerous times on local, national, and international television as a commentator analyzing immigration and nationality law matters. He is a frequent speaker in immigration matters in national and local conferences. In addition, Mr. Pratt's biography has been selected for inclusion in Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, and the South Florida Legal Guide selected him as an Up-and-Coming Attorney. Furthermore, has been selected as one of the top attorneys in Immigration and Nationality law by the publication Best Lawyers in America and is AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell that indicates the highest level of legal ability & ethics.
Mr. Pratt concentrates in all areas of immigration and nationality law, including employment based immigrant and nonimmigrant petitions, deportation or removal, and federal court litigation.
Kevin A. Gregg is a partner with KKTP, practicing in all areas of immigration law, including removal defense, appellate advocacy, federal court litigation, and USCIS representation. Kevin loves immigration law, and advises each client like he would his own family. He believes strongly that with the proper focus and creative legal argument, even the trickiest immigration problems can be solved. Kevin is admitted to the State Bars of California and Florida, and the host of the weekly immigration case law podcast: Immigration Review, available on the KKTP website and all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Kevin has practiced in the realm of immigration law and litigation for nearly a decade and, due to his years working "behind the bench" for judges, he is uniquely qualified to represent clients in court. Prior to joining KKTP, he served a one-year Judicial Clerkship with the Honorable Beth F. Bloom in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Before that, he served for two years as a Judicial Law Clerk and Attorney Advisor in the San Diego Immigration Court, Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), through the Attorney General's Honors Program. Kevin now applies the skills he developed working for judges to represent clients at all stages of immigration proceedings.
Kevin is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and the University of Florida.
Lauren Gallagher is an Associate with KKTP, practicing in all areas of medical malpractice, wrongful death, and personal injury. Lauren joined KKTP in the spring of 2016 as a law clerk and continued with the Firm upon obtaining her Florida law license.
Admitted to practice in the State of Florida, she has successfully litigated cases throughout Florida and the United States. Her nationwide practice emphasizes cases involving the misdiagnosis of kidney disease. Lauren prides herself in representing her clients with the expertise and dedication that each case deserves.
Lauren is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law and the University of Tampa.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Associate Attorney at KKTP
Taylor Hill is an Associate Attorney at KKTP, focusing on medical malpractice, wrongful death, and personal injury litigation. She has been with the firm since May of 2021, first working as a law clerk before joining as an Associate Attorney upon being admitted to the Florida Bar.
Taylor graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in May 2022. As a second-year law student, she competed in the 2020 John T. Gaubatz Moot Court Competition, ultimately winning the competition, receiving the Humberto J. Pena Best Advocate Award, and continuing on to serve as President of UM Law's Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board. While on the Moot Court Board, Taylor competed in the American Bar Association's National Appellate Advocacy Competition, where she received the best brief award. Taylor was also active in UM Law's Litigation Skills program, receiving honors in both the Pretrial and Trial skills courses. She received the Litigation Skills program's Richard L. Lapidus Fellowship, awarded to one student who demonstrates academic excellence, commitment to litigation as a career, excellent written and oral advocacy skills, and ethics and professionalism in the legal field. Taylor worked as a student intern with the Environmental Justice Clinic, representing clients in civil litigation and policy matters relating to energy, pollution, and constructive eviction. She also served as a Dean's Fellow for Essentials of Law School Achievment, a course dedicated to assisting first-year law students improve their legal reading and writing skills. Upon graduation, Taylor was nominated and inducted into the Order of the Barristers, an national honor society for graduating law students and practicing attorneys who demonstrate exceptional skill in trial advocacy, oral advocacy, and brief writing.
Taylor attend the University of Georgia, where she graduated cum laude with degrees in both Ecology and International Affairs. As an undergraduate, Taylor was a Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) Honors Scholar and published research on the impacts of climate change on water scarcity in developing nations.