Stephen Pattison is an attorney and nationally recognized expert in U.S. immigration law, Department of State policy and procedures, and consular operations. Mr. Pattison had a distinguished twenty-eight-year career with the State Department, serving as a consular officer and manager in overseas postings in Beirut, Colombo, Bangkok, Bucharest, Brussels, and Berlin, and in Washington in the Visa Office and the Bureaus of Near Eastern and Inter-American Affairs. Mr. Pattison is a member of the State Bar of Texas and an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).  He was a founding member of AILA’s Rome District Chapter, where he has served as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice Chair, and Chair, and has served for several years as a member of AILA’s Department of State Liaison Committee.  He also served on AILA’s Global Migration Steering Group and has for the past two years been a member of AILA’s Business Immigration Response Team.

Lily S. Axelrod is a Spanish-speaking associate attorney at Siskind Susser, PC, a full-service immigration firm in Memphis, TN.  Her practice focuses on removal defense and family-based immigration, especially for clients with criminal records or complex immigration histories. She also participates in the firm’s impact litigation challenging the government’s extreme delays and unlawful interpretation of the nation’s immigration laws. After graduating with honors from Harvard Law School, Ms. Axelrod practiced removal and criminal defense at Masferrer & Associates in Boston.  She defended clients before state and federal courts, including appeals and post-conviction relief. Ms. Axelrod serves as the liaison to the Memphis Immigration Court for the Mid-South Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She was proud to receive AILA’s Sam Williamson Mentor Award in June 2021.