News & Highlights – William J. Sanchez, P.A.

Legal Victories & Other Accomplishments

Court Cases – Recently, the law firm was victorious in a $ 63 million dollar judgment.

Litigation and Advocacy before the Department of Justice (DOJ) – The law firm has represented thousands of corporations and individuals before DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Recently, the firm represented a Fortune 500 multi-national in an investigation before DOJ, as well as an information technology company before DHS. Both investigations turned out favorably for the companies. The firm always zealously protects their clients’ privacy and confidentiality, although there are times when the investigations have been made public by the media. In such cases, we also manage the publicity aspects of the case, often hiring outside expertise to assist during the case’s development. It is often possible to settle matters before the governmental entities, without having to engage in an expensive press campaign or litigation in court.
Advisor to the White House and Department of Justice. A founder of the firm recently served as Special Counsel within the Department of Justice on matters related to Immigration and Civil Rights. http://v2011.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/ircaempverif/irca062.htm The firm continues to work in representing clients with legal matters before numerous federal agencies. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/05/20040527-4.html
Charitable Endeavors – Our firm has always supported various charities in the U.S. and other countries. During the late 80s, we helped establish a non-profit agency that mentored junior high and high school students, City Kids, Inc. In the early 90s, we developed programs in Asia that assisted in disaster relief efforts for earthquake and hurricane victims. In 1993, one of the firm’s founders, spent a year in the Philippines establishing a village bank for the poor. The founder of the bank in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, recently was awarded a Nobel Peace prize. The firm is interested in helping establish a similar Grameen bank in Africa, and believes Equatorial Guinea would be an excellent place to begin such a program, as the country is undergoing great economic changes.

The firm has also acted as lead counsel on a pro-bono basis, for CONLAMIC, the largest national organization of Latino Pastors and Ministers, representing over 30,000 churches in America. The cases have been instrumental in helping shape immigration policy throughout the country, including legal challenges against state and municipal governments in New Jersey, Oklahoma and Arizona. After the firm filed the first lawsuit against the State of Arizona when it enacted an anti-immigration state law, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the White House soon followed with supportive lawsuits raising similar issues. The case is currently before the Supreme Court of the United States.http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/arizona/azdce/2:2010cv00943/519056/19/ http://www.clearinghouse.net/chDocs/public/IM-OK-0001-9001.pdf

We also represented as pro-bono, co-counsel, the family of Elian Gonzalez, a young boy who was part of a very public international custody battle in the late 90s, and a class of over 20,000 Haitian and Mexican farm workers who successfully challenged the federal government in immigrant rights cases.

Advisor to former heads of state from Asia – During the late 80’s, our firm worked on several cases for former heads of state from Asia, advising on matters pertaining to public international law as well as immigration law. As a law firm, our representation was primarily focused on international legal protection for our clients. The particulars of our representation are private, however, the firm’s legal position centered on international public law, which in most instances requires that a head of state be tried in his/her own country, if anywhere, and not in a foreign jurisdiction.
Advisor to thousands of refugees, immigrant investors, as well as a former President of a Caribbean nation – The law firm has represented thousands of refugees seeking political asylum and other forms of immigration relief before various governmental bodies. Foremost in the early years of the firm’s advocacy, was representation of hundreds of detained refugees, who did not speak English or Spanish, the predominant languages spoken in South Florida. The firm’s eventual growth into other areas of international and domestic law, emanated from the early years of assisting the most vulnerable members of our community.
Advisor to Jeb Bush for Governor campaign – One of the firm’s founders was actively involved in providing counsel to Jeb Bush for governor campaign. The advice was mainly concentrated in the area of increased development for Florida’s most distressed communities. The state of Florida eventually established a project within the Governor’s Office known as Front Porch Florida for over 10 years; the state has selected 20 of the most distressed areas in the state, and provided special programs to those areas. These programs include educational assistance, mentoring for needy children, development of micro-enterprises and various other developmental projects.