For the fourth year in a row, a 2008 issue of New York Magazine carried an article on the best lawyers in the New York area. Our senior partner Leon Wildes was once again selected as a Best Lawyer in America in Immigration Law. CBS Morning News has called Leon Wildes one of “All the right lawyers.”
A 2005 issue of New York Magazine, for the first time, carried an article on the best lawyers in the New York area. Our senior partner Leon Wildes was recognized as outstanding in the article.
Leon Wildes is also included in Who’s Who in America Law, Who’s Who in American Education, The Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World.
A magna cum laude graduate of Yeshiva College in 1954, he completed his law school education at the New York University School of Law in 1957 when he was granted a Jurist Doctor Degree. In 1959 he obtained a Master of Laws Degree at the same school.
Leon has been an adjunct professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law since 1981, where he teaches immigration law and supervises an immigration externship program.
In 1970 he was national president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and has served as a member of its board of governors ever since. AILA conferred upon him its Edith Lowenstein Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Immigration Practice and he was also awarded the Elmer Fried Prize for Excellence in Teaching Immigration Law. Best known for his successful representation of former Beatle John Lennon and his artist wife Yoko Ono in deportation proceedings, he has published 5 law review articles on issues of law raised in the extraordinary litigation connected with that case.
Leon began his intense study and practice of immigration law in 1960 as a migrations specialist at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and has practiced immigration law for the past 45 years. He now serves as a member of the Board of Directors of HIAS.