12. October 2009
Expansion in Cologne: BridgehouseLaw opens with Graf von Westphalen-Partners

Munich-based law firm BridgehouseLaw will open another German office in Cologne at the beginning of 2010. Klaus Brisch (43) and Prof. Dr. Elmar Schuhmacher (45), currently Partners at Graf von Westphalen, Cologne, together with Peter Lungerich (51) and Claus Lenz (52), previously Lungerich & Lenz, are the founding partners.

Brisch and Schuhmacher will be accompanied by two associates of Graf von Westphalen, whereas Lungerich and Lenz will join BridgehouseLaw with their entire team. The office will initially consist of nine attorneys.

The new unit will operate under the name BridgehouseLaw Cologne, the Munich office will market under BridgehouseLaw Munich. BridgehouseLaw was founded in Munich in 2004 as member of an alliance with the smaller London law firm Bridgehouse Partners and operates under the name BridgehouseLaw Rückel Bolthausen. BridgehouseLaw has another office in Atlanta and all offices are part of an international alliance of law firms (Atlanta, Cologne, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, London, Manila, Munich, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore).

While the Munich office is comprised of a more broad business practice, the Cologne office will add to the legal areas of plant engineering, media and IT, the latter of which is the expertise of Brisch and Schuhmacher. One of their long-time clients is the broadcaster RTL. According to Brisch and Schuhmacher, their decision to leave Graf von Westphalen was based on "different opinions regarding the development of their business areas.”

29. September 2009
Green Card Lottery - DV-2011

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (“green card lottery”) makes available 50,000 diversity visas (DV) annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to persons who meet strict eligibility requirements from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Winners of the green card lottery obtain the right to live and work in the United States.

Applicants for the green card lottery are initially chosen through a random computer-generated lottery drawing. Immigrant visas are apportioned among six geographic regions, with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration - and no visas going to countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the US in the past five years. If the winner files a successful green card lottery application, he or she can enter the US and exchange the immigrant visa for a green card, issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

If the winner is already in the US, he or she can get a green card from USCIS without leaving the country. BridgehouseLaw offers comprehensive assistance for green card lottery applications for the DV-2011 green card lottery which begins October 2, 2009. The deadline to apply through BridgehouseLaw for the DV-2011 green card lottery is November 30, 2009.

For more information please contact: sebastian.meis@bridgehouselaw.de