CURBELOLAW

ABOUT CURBELO LAW FIRM

Clients often want to know how I got started in immigration law. I am an attorney who cares about my clients and community. My professional and personal philosophy includes giving back in ways that makes a meaningful difference to the communities to which I dedicate my practice. I am a firm believer in Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of ‘being the change you want to see in the world’.

I represent individuals in immigration proceedings before U.S. Immigration Courts as well as before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for family-based petitions, naturalization, and humanitarian relief such as asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, U visas, VAWA and T visas.

I have significant experience representing individuals in humanitarian immigration claims, including asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention against Torture. I have represented political activists, those fleeing from forms of gender-based violence, those fleeing gang violence, and members of the LGBTQ community from all over the world. I am particularly skilled at representing unaccompanied minor children and teenagers. My practice also includes family based immigration claims, bond for detained individuals, and immigration assistance for those with criminal records, and advising small businesses and entrepreneurs in business immigration matters.

​

As the mother of a twice-exceptional child, I have first-hand experience negotiating and navigating the special education process. I have represented parents and their children at IEP meetings, due process hearings and settlement negotiations.  

During my summers in law school, I worked as a real estate agent for my aunt’s real estate brokerage in Northern New Jersey. From the offer to the closing, I provide insightful advice and tenacious representation that real estate clients need.

I focus on providing personal service and individual attention no matter how complex or straightforward the real estate matter. I have represented sellers and purchasers of all types of real estate, whether residential, commercial or condominium properties. I also have experience representing clients who are facing foreclosure.

I am a graduate of Vermont Law School and a graduate of Rutgers University. I am fluent in Spanish. After law school, I clerked for the Hon. Joseph S. Conte, J.S.C. in the Civil Division in the Bergen County Vicinage. From September 2006 to October 2011, I worked in the business development and litigation departments of Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP a famous, New York headquartered, international law firm. From October 2011 to May 2015, I served as a New Jersey State mediator resolving employment and labor disputes, and as an Appeals Examiner in unemployment appeals for the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

I am the daughter of Cuban refugees, who grew up listening to the stories of my parents and grandparents fleeing political persecution from Fidel Castro’s Cuba.

In 2015, I decided to take a pro bono case representing an unaccompanied minor child that fled his home country due to gang and gender violence. After patiently working with my child client for about a year, I successfully obtained a grant of affirmative asylum on behalf of this child.

I serve as a pro bono attorney for Northeast New Jersey Legal Services, Kids in Need for Defense (KIND), and Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ). Currently, I am the Chair of the AILA-NJ Pro Bono Liaison for 2018-2019.

Working with Curbelo Law through my legal issues brought me peace of mind and reassurance that there is a chance in every situation. You are in the good hands here.

Julia K.