BARST MUKAMAL & KLEINER - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• District Director Committee, Secretary, 2006 to 2007
• Executive Committee, Treasurer, 2007 to Present

Recipient of the AILA President's Commendation Award for Outstanding Service on the USCIS Liaison Committee, Inter-agency Committee & Customs & Border Protection (CBP), June 2008, June 2009, June 2010, June 2014, June 2019

Job Titles:

• PARTNER
• Member of the New York State

Born in Valhalla, New York, Alexander G. Rojas received his B.A. from Tufts University and his J.D. from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. Mr. Rojas is admitted to practice in New York, Connecticut, the Southern, Eastern, and Northern New York Districts of the U.S. District Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Rojas is a member of the New York State and American Bar Associations, and served on the New York State Bar Association's Labor and Employment Section. He is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (ALIA), serving on the Corporate Committee, EOIR Liaison Committee, District Director Committee, National Waivers Committee, National Removal Detention Committee, and as Co-Chair of the Pro Bono Committee in 2006 and 2007. Mr. Rojas's public service experience also extends to his work with the Putnam Hospital Foundation Center, where he serves as Secretary. Fluent in Spanish, Mr. Rojas often speaks on immigration and nationality law at conventions and other industry events. The legal community has recognized his work with listings in Who's Who in American Law and New York Super Lawyers. Alex has over 25 years of experience in Immigration and Nationality Law. He represents multinational corporations involved in a wide range of industries including transportation, entertainment, publishing, financial services, media and technology. Alex also heads up the firm's litigation and removal practice, I-9 compliance, EB-5, and Arts and Entertainment unit. Alex is a frequent speaker before immigration and human resource organizations. Education Tufts University, B.A., 1984 Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, J.D., 1988

Job Titles:

• PARTNER

Born in New York City, Alexis S. Axelrad has two decades of experience in immigration and nationality law. Ms. Axelrad received her B.A. from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1994. After earning her J.D. from New York Law School, Ms. Axelrad was admitted to practice in New York in 1998. Ms. Axelrad has been active in the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) since she began practicing law. Ms. Axelrad currently serves as an Elected Director of AILA National's Board of Governors (BOG) and served as the Chair of the Vermont Service Center committee from June 2013 to June 2015. She currently serves as the Chair of AILA National's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Committee and a Past Vice-Chair and was a member of AILA National's USCIS Headquarters Benefits/Policy Committee for over a decade. Ms. Axelrad is a past chair of the New York Chapter of AILA and served in every capacity on the NY chapter's executive committee. She is currently the Emeritus Chair of the New York Chapter of AILA's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Committee and a member of the District Director Committee for over ten years. Ms. Axelrad is also a member of the Executives Association of New York and is an elected member of the organization's Board of Directors. Ms. Axelrad is the recipient of the AILA President's Commendation Award for Outstanding Service, June 2008-2010 & 2014 & 2019. New York Super Lawyers has listed her in the ‘rising stars' section of top immigration attorneys in New York in 2011 and 2012, and as a Super Lawyer from 2011 to present. She is recognized by Chambers & Partners USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business. Ms. Axelrad is also a proud member of Vistage International, a professional development and executive coaching program. Ms. Axelrad is a frequent national and international speaker on US Immigration Law and served as the author of a quarterly column on immigration matters published in the New York Law Journal. Ms. Axelrad was the researcher and writer of US Immigration Laws: Working, Living and Studying in America (1999). Ms. Axelrad maintains a busy corporate and family-based immigration practice with a particular emphasis on interaction with the various offices of Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department including USCIS, Department of State, and Customs and Border Protection. Education University of Maryland at College Park, B.A., 1994 New York Law School, J.D., 1997

Job Titles:

• ASSOCIATE
• of Counsel

Ms. Kirk received a B.A. in English from Vassar College in 2007 and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, graduating cum laude in 2015. During law school, she served as a Legal Intern with both Fordham's Immigrant Rights Clinic and Immigration Equality, as well as a staff member of the Fordham International Law Journal. Having first joined Barst as a paralegal in 2010 and continuing on as a Law Clerk during much of law school, Ms. Kirk has gained broad experience in employment- and family-based immigration law matters, with a particular focus on specialty occupation and "right to control" issues for H-1B petitions; new office L-1 petitions for tech startups; and establishing and renewing Blanket L-1 programs for large multinational organizations. Education Vassar College, B.A., 2007 Fordham University School of Law, J.D., 2015

Job Titles:

• Associate
• of Counsel
• Partner

Deborah J. Notkin is a partner in the firm of Barst Attorneys at Law and maintains a large international immigration and nationality practice. During her 30 years in practice, she has acquired a nationally recognized expertise in business immigration matters. Ms. Notkin is the lead attorney at Barst Attorneys at Law for the PERM Unit and maintains a corporate client base spanning all business immigration matters. She is a past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), 2005-2006 and serves on its Board of Governors. Within AILA, she has held numerous leadership positions including Chair of the National Labor Liaison Committee, Chair of the Vermont Service Center Committee, Chair of AILA's Interagency Committee and New York Chapter Chair. She served also as the Co-chair of the New York Chapter Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, and Chair of AILA's Media Committee. For the past nine years, Human Resource Executive has named Ms. Notkin one of the 20 most powerful business immigration attorneys in the U.S. In June 2010, Ms. Notkin received the American Immigration Lawyers Media Award for her work in advocating for reasonable immigration laws. She is listed in Best Lawyers in America; the International Who is Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers, and Chambers USA as recommended immigration counsel. New York Super Lawyers has listed her as one of the top immigration attorneys in New York and one of the overall top women attorneys in New York City. Currently, Deborah serves on AILA's Business Immigration Rapid Response Team and on AILA's Labor Liaison Committee. As an advocate for positive immigration reform, Deborah Notkin has appeared on many television and radio programs and has addressed many religious and business organizations. She remains a resource and occasional commentator for MSNBC, CNBC and Fox News regarding immigration legislation and related issues. A noted expert in business immigration she has been a lecturer for the past 13 years at the Practicing Law Institute's Seminars on Immigration Law, the New York State Bar Association's bi-annual immigration seminar and AILA's Annual and regional conferences. She has also been a presenter at many different venues including the American Council of International Personnel (ACIP), the Pacific Chapter and New York Chapter of the US Mexico Chamber of Commerce and the Global Independence Organization. Education Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, B.A., 1979 New York Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1987 State University of New York at Buffalo, J.D., 1972

Job Titles:

• PARTNER
• Member of the AILA

Originally from Pittsburgh, Ms. Perkul is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey. She received her B.A. from the University of Delaware and her J.D. from New York Law School, graduating cum laude in 2001. Ms. Perkul is a member of the AILA and has served on numerous AILA New York Chapter committees, including the CLE Committee, the Corporate Practice Committee, the YLD Committee, the New York District Director Committee, and EOIR/Asylum Committee. Ms. Perkul also served as Co-Chair of the New York Chapter Media Committee. Elise is recognized as a "New York Superlawyer" and has been a Speaker on I-9 Compliance with Park Avenue Presentations, Speaker at New York AILA New York Chapter on Immigration in the Media, Speaker on firm sponsored seminar "Employing Foreign Nationals in the United States", Speaker on Family-based Immigration at Half Moon Seminars, and Speaker at the AILA New York Conference. She practices all facets of immigration law including I-9 compliance, employment and family-based green card cases, intra-company transferees, and short term employment-based visa petitions. Elise represents many Fortune 500 companies including banks, investment firms, and many other companies in the financial sector.

Job Titles:

• PARTNER
• Member of the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Focusing on employment immigration and family immigration law since his legal career began in 1997, Emre Ozgu has developed an outstanding reputation in the legal community. As a partner at Barst, Mr. Ozgu adds to our firm's extensive immigration law experience. Mr. Ozgu was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from Lehigh University in 1994 and his J.D. from New York Law School in 1997. A member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) since 1998, Mr. Ozgu has served on the AILA National Immigrant Investor (EB-5) Committee, the AILA New York Chapter Corporate Practice Committee, and the AILA District Director Liaison Committee. Fluent in Turkish, Mr. Ozgu is also a member of the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Turkish American Business Forum. Mr. Ozgu is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. Education Lehigh University, B.A., 1994 New York Law School, J.D., 1997

Job Titles:

• Associate
• of Counsel

Isaac Fromm has been practicing Immigration Law since 1975. At the present time he is Of Counsel to Barst Mukamal & Kleiner, LLP. He is admitted to all of the State and Federal Courts of New York and New Jersey and the Supreme Court of the United States. He has been admitted to the Court of Appeals of New York since 1973 and the Supreme Court of New Jersey since 1976. He has been active in Aila since 1976, and has been chairman of the CIS committee for the New Jersey Chapter as well as having been a member of the New Jersey Governor's Commission on Immigration Reform. He has also lectured on Immigration Law for the Federal Bar Association in New Jersey, Alaska, Hawaii as well as other venues as well as Seaton Hall Law School. He speaks Spanish, French and Yiddish Education Brooklyn College, B.A., 1966 Brooklyn College, M.A., 1971 State University of New York at Buffalo, J.D., 1972

Job Titles:

• PARTNER
• Member of the American Bar Association

Troy also counsels individual clients on family-based immigration matters. Troy is a member of the American Bar Association, the New Jersey State Bar Association, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). He has been a member of various AILA chapter committees, he speaks on permanent labor certification issues at the New York Chapter, and he has contributed to AILA's amicus curiae efforts in matters before the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals. Education Tufts University, B.A. Brooklyn Law School, J.D.