Anita M. Sorensen, special counsel with Foley & Lardner LLP, counsels clients on employment and immigration law and represents their interests in court litigation, administrative hearings, and in other forums. She is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment and Immigration, Nationality & Consular Law Practices.
Ms. Sorensen was selected by her peers for inclusion in the 2007-2013 editions of The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of immigration law and is listed in the International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers 2012 (10th edition) and the International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers 2013. In addition to her employment counseling and litigation work, Ms. Sorensen handles complex business, family, and citizenship immigration cases before the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Labor, Department of State, other administrative bodies, and the courts. She regularly counsels employers on compliance issues and has successfully defended employers during government investigations on employment and immigration matters. She is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Ms. Sorensen has been elected to various leadership positions within the immigration bar, including as chair of the Wisconsin Chapter of AILA. She also has served as a member of AILA’s national board of governors and on AILA committees at the national level. Currently, she serves as an American Immigration Council Ambassador, as chair of the Wisconsin AILA Chapter’s pro bono committee, and as a pro bono liaison to AILA at the national level. Ms. Sorensen is a frequent speaker on immigration and employment topics at national and regional conferences. She is a contributor to the annual employment law treatise, The Law Guide - Employee Relations Law for Wisconsin Employers, published by MRA - The Management Association, Inc.
After law school, Ms. Sorensen accepted a judicial clerkship with Chief Justice W. Ward Reynoldson of the Iowa Supreme Court, and later with the Hon. George G. Fagg, U.S. Circuit Court, Eighth Circuit. Her law degree was awarded, with high distinction, by the University of Iowa College of Law, where Ms. Sorensen was executive editor of The Journal of Corporation Law. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with highest honors, from Graceland College.
As evidence of the scope of her business practice, Ms. Sorensen's extensive practice admissions include the states of Iowa and Wisconsin, U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa, and the Northern District of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh and Eighth Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court.