VILLACORTA LAW PS - Key Persons
Anna Jones was raised in a military family and traveled the world from a young age, experiencing many different languages and cultures. She was born in the USSR in the beautiful and historic city of Lviv, Ukraine. There Anna experienced the hardships that came with the fall of the Soviet Union before her family immigrated to the suburbs of Seattle, Washington as refugees. Her own immigration journey is what inspired her to become an advocate for others.
Anna attended the University of Washington and graduated with her Bachelor's degree in Political Science in 2010. In 2016 while attending Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, Anna successfully represented herself in her naturalization, securing her own US citizenship. She fondly recalls this experience now as she guides her clients through USCIS, consular processing, and immigration court matters.
Before working as an immigration attorney, Anna worked for public defender's offices in both Portland and Tacoma, where she represented indigent clients in criminal and civil proceedings. She recognizes the complicated repercussions that any crime can have for noncitizens and provides a skilled criminal analysis in every immigration case. Anna is known for providing holistic representation centered around diligent research and creative problem solving.
Although she is licensed in the state of Oregon, Anna practices immigration law nationwide. She is well versed in appellate practice and routinely advances the interests of immigrants in cases before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is fluent in Russian and an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association ("AILA").
In her free time, Anna enjoys reading, yoga, true crime podcasts, and exploring the outdoor wonders of the Pacific Northwest with her husband and son.
Claudia Villacorta is a legal assistant as part of the Villacorta Law PS Team. She is a native Portuguese Speaker as she was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil. She also speaks Spanish. Claudia is passionate about helping all immigrants, especially those who have been victims of domestic violence. When she is not working at the firm, Claudia spends her time creating pieces at her fashion atelier. She enjoys spending quality time with her family and taking walks with her beautiful Australian Shepherd, Mia.
Alejandro Villacorta received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, his Master of Arts degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and graduated with his Juris Doctorate from the State University of New York, Buffalo. A desire to make a dent in the injustices of the world led him to work at non-profit and low-cost organizations such as the Oregon Law Center, the St. Andrew Legal Clinic, and finally to the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project in 2007, where his journey into immigration law began.
The impetus for Alejandro's decision to pursue a career in immigration law occurred while he was on break at a family law hearing and overheard the desperate pleas of a detained immigrant on the radio (at KBOO PDX). Alejandro knows what it is like to be an immigrant, as all his life he has been one; although he was born in Fargo, North Dakota, at only a few years old he immigrated to Colombia. He then moved to Brazil at the age of twelve, where he fell in love with the Brazilian Portuguese language. Amidst one of the economic crises in Brazil, at nineteen years old he decided to move back to his birth country, the United States of America. However, like some immigrants, he arrived with hopes and dreams of making enough money to be able to return (in his case, to open a little sandwich shop in his beloved Florianopolis). Then, life happened; he was threatened by white supremacists in Georgia, stopped countless times by the police in Texas for Driving While Hispanic (although he still considers himself Luso), became a father, and heard that transformative, radio-staticky voice of another father, another immigrant, and knew that not only could he help, but he was in a unique position to do so. He has now been practicing immigration law for over a decade. In his free time he likes to play and watch soccer, read, work in his garden, and dream about that sandwich shop in Floripa.
Alejandro Villacorta received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin,... More Info
Julia joined the Villacorta Law team in August 2017. She grew up in California in a multicultural community, and moved to Washington 7 years ago to study Psychology and Hispanic Studies at the University of Puget Sound. She has a passion for justice and helping overlooked communities, leading her to such ventures as volunteering in a Peruvian orphanage, working in a pilot program for young juvenile offenders at a Residential Reentry Center, and finally to Villacorta Law. When not at the office, Julia enjoys playing soccer and fostering dogs for the local shelter.
Nallely became a part of the Villacorta Law team in October of 2017. She initially intended to work at Villacorta Law simply to gain office experience with the plan to then transition to pursuing a career in economics and finance, but unexpectedly found her true passion and purpose in being able to guide those looking for a stable home in this country. She now helps manage the firm and is also one of our bilingual paralegals that is dedicated to help change the lives of others. During her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her family, going out to eat and dance with her friends, and cuddling with her Belgian Malinois, Sammy.