When Ruth Calvillo joined Fry & Elder in the spring of 2017, the Tulsa immigration law lawyer knew she would be expected to embrace the acclaimed Oklahoma law firm’s practice of its attorneys seeking out continuing legal education (CLE), professional development and leadership opportunities.

Calvillo has exceeded expectations thus far. The up-and-coming Tulsa immigration law lawyer recently completed the Oklahoma Bar Association Family Law Section Trial Advocacy Institute (OBA FLS TIA) and was one of approximately 25 attorneys in the state to be selected to the 6^th Oklahoma Bar Association Leadership Academy which begins in September and runs through April of 2018.

“I feel honored to have been selected to the Oklahoma Bar Association Leadership Academy,” Calvillo said. “I am looking forward to learning from other leaders in the profession as well as attorneys in my class. I hope to learn skills that will allow me to be a role model to law students and other young lawyers.”

Calvillo follows in the footsteps of other Fry & Elder trial lawyers Lorena Rivas (Immigration Law) and T. Luke Barteaux (Family Law and Criminal Law) who completed the Oklahoma Bar Association Leadership Academy in 2014 and 2016.

“I’m very proud of Ruth and her efforts,” said Rivas, who works directly with Calvillo in the firm’s immigration law department. “It’s a pretty competitive selection process, but it’s a great opportunity and I know she will take a lot away from it.”

In addressing the benefit and value of taking part in the OBA Leadership Academy, the Oklahoma Bar Association said the following on its website:

“The personal and profession benefit you will derive through this unique experience will be immeasurable. You will meet and interact with bar leaders and some of the most accomplished legal and community leaders. You will also be exposed to the legislative and judicial systems; you will interact with high-level state and local officials and judges and meet many attorneys from the private and public sectors.”

Calvillo, who is licensed to practice law in both Oklahoma and California, focuses much of her immigration law practice on advocating for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Why Experience the Fry & Elder Difference?

Whether you are in need of an accomplished Tulsa immigration law lawyer, a family law attorney, criminal defense attorney or personal injury law attorney, Fry & Elder has the team in place to help navigate you through the legal process. The firm has been named to the U.S. News & World Report’s exclusive Best Law Firms list from 2014-2017. Fry & Elder’s team of 13 attorneys also include:

• One of only 19 attorneys in the state to be a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
• Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year for Family Law in Tulsa 2016
• The 2016 Oklahoma Family Law Attorney of the Yearby the Oklahoma Bar Association Family Law Section
• Five attorneys recognized by Super Lawyers®
• Four attorneys AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®
• Three of the past four Oklahoma Bar Association Family Law Section Chairs
• A Cherokee Nation District Court Judge

Contact Fry & Elder Tulsa or Fry & Elder Oklahoma City today to set up a personal consultation with Calvillo or another experienced Oklahoma trial lawyer.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association’s National Day of Action recently took place in Washington D.C., and the Oklahoma law firm of Fry & Elder was well represented. Fry & Elder’s Lorena Rivas not only attended the event, the accomplished Oklahoma immigration law attorney visited Capitol Hill last week to advocate for necessary reforms to America’s immigration system and to prevent policies that would hurt Oklahoma like mass deportations.

Rivas spoke to a captivated audience that included U.S. Senators James Inhofe and James Lankford, along with U.S. Representatives Frank Lucas, Markwayne Mullin and James Bridenstine. Rivas’ appearance at the event was highlighted by a personal meeting she had with U.S. Representative Tom Cole.

“I shared examples of real immigrants contributing to our community, and highlighted ways our laws could be reformed to increase our shared prosperity,” Lorena Rivas said from her Fry & Elder Tulsa office. “We need Congress to pass immigration reform that ensures America has smart, fair laws that will keep families together and help build our economy.  Every Oklahoman legislator seemed to understand the importance of immigrant labor and were genuinely concerned with the need of foreign workers.”

Rivas followed that statement up with a gripping and appealing call to action of Congress:

“When 9 out of 10 Americans support offering a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants living and working in our communities, an enforcement-only approach like the one President Trump is advocating isn’t pragmatic,” she said. “We need solutions, not more policies that cost taxpayers billions and don’t improve our national security.

“We all benefit when the best and the brightest from all over the world can come to America, bringing their creativity and innovative spirit and building new industries. Our country deserves a system that works, and to get there we need a comprehensive immigration reform bill. We need Congress to lead on this today.”

Lorena Rivas: A Rising Star in Oklahoma Immigration Law

Though five years removed from law school, Rivas already has established herself as an authority figure in Oklahoma immigration law whose legal prowess is in high demand throughout the state. Rivas provides comprehensive legal representation in the following areas of immigration law:

• Asylum
• Business Immigration
• Citizenship/Naturalization
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
• Deportation/Removal Defense
• Family Immigration
• Fiancé Visa
• Humanitarian Relief
• Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity
• Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
• Waivers

In 2016, Rivas was recognized by the Tulsa Business & Legal News as being one of the city’s most accomplished professional women with their annual Women of Distinction Awards.

A native of Mutual, Oklahoma, Rivas is a first-generation American who takes great pride in being able to represent the Oklahoma Latino community as an attorney.

“I’m a Mexican-American,” Lorena Rivas said. “Immigration law is something that is constantly hitting my life, whether it be family members, friends or my clients. In law school, I initially thought I wouldn’t go into immigration law, but I started thinking about it more, and felt like I could make a bigger impact in that area.”

Experience the Fry & Elder Difference

Rivas is just one of many standouts on a Fry & Elder legal team that features five attorneys who have garnered Super Lawyers® accolades, four attorneys who are AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® and three of the past four Oklahoma Bar Association Family Law Section Chairs. Collectively, Fry & Elder’s lineup of attorneys, which now totals 12, have helped the firm be named to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report’s Best Law Firm’s list from 2014-2017. Whether you are in need of legal representation in immigration law, family law or criminal law in Tulsa or Oklahoma City, Fry & Elder has the team and resources in place to help navigate you through the process. Contact Fry & Elder today to speak with an elite and accomplished Oklahoma trial lawyer.

The trial lawyers of Fry & Elder must not only be considered some of the most decorated in Oklahoma, they must also be considered some of the most published.

Oklahoma immigration law attorney Lorena Rivas is the latest attorney from the heralded firm to have her work published. Rivas penned the article “To Be, or Not to Be, a Doctor?” in this month’s edition of the Oklahoma Bar Journal – the official publication of the Oklahoma Bar Association.

Featured in the popular “The Back Page” section of the OBJ, Rivas’ article discusses the appropriateness of referring to an attorney as a doctor. While in the United States the notion of this title may seem a bit odd, lawyers are commonly referred to as doctors in Latin America.

As Rivas stated in the article:

“In many countries of Latin America, an attorney is commonly referred to as a doctor — a wise doctor who knows how to navigate the complex legal system and fully advocate for them.”

Known as a rising star in Oklahoma immigration law, Rivas provides context to what it is like being called a doctor through a personal experience with a Peruvian client when she first began practicing as an immigration law attorney.

“She was lost and in fear for her future,” Rivas wrote. “She begged me, ‘Doctora, por favor ayudame. Doctor, please help me.’”

Rivas ended up helping her client and has since been referred to as “doctora” by many other Latin American clients. She closed out the article saying:

“While I still wonder if I am worthy of being called a doctor, the client’s smile and sense of peace confirms that we, as attorneys, do have some type of healing powers, and there is no harm in being called such a name from time to time.”

Being Published Becoming More of the Norm at Fry & Elder

Rivas is just one of many Fry & Elder trial lawyers who have had legal articles published. Fellow Fry & Elder attorneys M. Shane Henry and Aaron D. Bundy penned the article “Show Them Yours” which appears in the current January issue of Tulsa Lawyer Magazine. Bundy and Henry also have wrote three other articles for the Tulsa Lawyer Magazine and another two for the Oklahoma Bar Journal in 2016.

Rivas’ “To Be, or Not to Be, a Doctor?” was the third piece she has had published in legal publications. Rivas also wrote an editorial that was featured in a 2016 June issue of the popular Tulsa Hispanic publication La Semana del Sur.

Experience the Fry & Elder Difference

Fry & Elder has not just established itself as one of the premier law firms in the state, but in the country. The U.S. News & World Report has named Fry & Elder to its Best Law Firms list each of the past four years. Individually, Robert G “Hap” Fry Jr. was named Lawyer of the Year for Family Law in Tulsa for 2016 by Best Lawyers® and he is one of just 19 attorneys in the state of Oklahoma to be named a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

Henry, for his efforts, was named the 2016 Oklahoma Family Law Attorney of the Year by the Oklahoma Bar Association Family Law Section, while Aaron D. Bundy and T. Luke Barteaux, along with Fry and Henry also garnered Super Lawyers® accolades in the fall.

Rivas was recognized by the Tulsa Business & Legal News for its annual Women of Distinction Awards in 2016, while Kirsten Bernhardt was counsel in a recent high-profile murder trial. James R. Elder, Katie Egan and Melissa Fell round out a talented team of attorneys. Contact Fry & Elder today.