Simmons & Ungar LLP

I have had the opportunity to work with Simmons & Ungar for more than 5 years and find them extremely professional, knowledgeable and flexible in working with our needs. I have attended all of the annual symposiums they host, which is very informative and provided a great forum for exchange of experiences and ideas in dealing with immigration & compliance. I had the pleasure of working with Jennifer Shih, who with her team handled all our cases (non-​immigrant and immigrant) meticulously, proposing alternative strategies, strengthening the RFE responses. I cannot remember a time when my call or email was not responded to within 24 hours, even on weekends. Even when my attorney was on leave, the replacement attorney handling our cases was readily available to address our urgent needs and always familiar with the case to be discussed. Special mention also to the paralegal staff at this firm, who are well trained on immigration do’s and dont’s and very supportive & responsive of our numerous requests! Their special counsel Terry Helbush is particularly knowledgeable on immigration matters and keeps us up to date on USCIS and DOL regulations & best practices thru’ their regular newsletters

I cannot think of words to describe how careless these folks are. They are just template printers who play with peoples career while filing Labor/​PERM petitions.
Unlike the other reviews, I always had my calls returned, emails returned and they were very responsive. I have spoke to Michael Ungar himself and he talks pretty nice and friendly — thats it. But they screwed up my case and a couple of other of my colleague with stupid mistakes.
Their website looks really neat and professional, but these guys stink.
Update: I was speaking to another attorney from California and the moment I mentioned Simmons & Ungar — she had a lot of respect for them — it seems it was Michael Ungar’s dad who fought a case which argued that bachelor’s degree + 5 years is equivalent to masters degree and had been very influential in the immigration law.
Looks like these guys used to be very good, but now rotting slowly bit by bit.

I disagree with the above comment. My boyfriend is a foreign national, and we went to Simmons & Ungar for advice concerning immigration as bi-​national a bi-​national couple.
The attorney we spoke with (Emily) was *very* accomidating to our schedule (stayed until we both free after a normal work day), and had a lot of helpful advice that can’t be found by scouring the Internet.
In the end, it was very clear on the next steps, what we would have to pay for for follow-​up consultations, and what to expect over the next several years as the law changes.
Since then, I’ve had several quick followup emails with Emily, and she’s sent me unsoliciated updates on court cases.
In short, I’m happy with the counciling we had, and can recommend them to anyone interested in discussions concerning immigration and coming to the US.

After reading the unfavorable reviews about this firm I decided to contact them anyway. «It won’t happen to me!» Right.
So, I called and asked to speak to a lawyer and the assistant told me that the «on-​call» lawyer was not in yet (it was 11am) and I should leave a message. So I did and she never called me back.
I’ve never known a law firm to not like clients. Weird. I would suggest finding another immigration lawyer. They are a dime-​a-​dozen here in SF.

Not very professional or helpful as immigration attorneys. They almost never answer phone calls. Late and brief replies for emails. Takes them long time to «review» documents and file them! No information given unless you ask them (sometimes couple of times). Overall, a frustrating experience!