Jennifer Hallett is the founding partner of Hallett McCann Law Group Ltd. and has practiced exclusively in the field of immigration law for over twenty years. Born and raised in the Chicagoland area, Jennifer has established a thriving practice with her law partner, Beata McCann, in Countryside, Illinois. While corporate immigration has long been her primary area of practice, Jennifer continues to dedicate a distinct portion of her practice to family-based immigration, naturalization, fiancé visas, DACA recipients, as well as asylum matters. Jennifer is admitted to practice before the Illinois Supreme Court and the Northern District of Illinois and is a member of the American Bar Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and the Federal Bar Association. Over the past two decades, Jennifer has spoken extensively on the topic of immigration to state bar associations, community and religious not-for-profit organizations, as well as private organizations.
On a more personal level, Jennifer was drawn to immigration law early in her legal education. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree and prior to attending law school, Jennifer worked as a crisis counselor for homeless families in the Chicagoland area. With her dedicated social services background, Jennifer wanted to practice in an area of the law which directly and positively influenced the lives of those she served: “I wanted to devote my legal career to advising and guiding my clients through a very complex and highly legislated process. Whether immigrating as an employee or as a family member, the U.S. immigration process is often lengthy, confusing, and scary for immigrants. I enjoy working with my clients. I take great pride in explaining to them, in “non-lawyer” terms, how U.S. immigration policy directly affects their particular case, and how we should address each and every requirement. Of course, the end result is the most rewarding — being able to witness first-hand that moment when someone realizes their own personal American dream, or when someone has been approved as a brand new American citizen. It’s extremely gratifying professionally.”
Jennifer completed her Juris Doctorate in 1998. She continued her legal education at the John Marshall Law School and obtained an LLM degree in International Business and Trade Law. Her LLM studies included an externship in Dublin, Ireland, under the auspices of the Supreme Court of Ireland. As a private attorney, Jennifer possesses a unique perspective on corporate immigration which is based on her professional experience. She started her legal career as an associate at a Chicago-based immigration practice. She later moved across the country to assume an in-house counsel position for a software development company. This change from a law office environment to a corporate setting provided Jennifer with a unique insight into the daily operations and needs of technology corporations within the United States. Her experience includes business-based immigration advocacy, corporate immigration compliance, immigration case management of petitions/applications, appeals, USCIS and DOL audit management, USCIS fraud investigations, I-9 audits, and Consular Processing.
