Since 2000, Vincent Lau has worked as a full-time attorney, originally starting off his legal career in the state of California. In 2012, along with his mentor, Lau went on to co-found his own law firm, Clark Lau LLC, in Boston. During his time in the legal industry, Lau has primarily focused his attention on the immigration law practice area, serving as the Chapter Chair of the New England Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Listed with Best Lawyers since 2010, Lau is currently being recognized as the 2022 Boston, Massachusetts “Lawyer of the Year” for Immigration Law.
“I am honored and privileged to have received such an affirmation from my colleagues,” Lau said. “The practice of immigration law is unique in that it cannot be done in a silo. We really need to rely on one another to get a sense of how the relevant government agencies such as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the US Department of Labor and the US Department of State, to name the primary ones, are treating different sets of facts. Unlike areas of law where there may be precedent court decisions, a lot of what we do has the additional gloss of relying on policies and procedures that are inconsistent and changing in real-time. Without the help of each other, no one can do his/her best work. This recognition therefore belongs to the community in which I operate.”
In addition to establishing and managing his firm, Lau managed to transfer his passion for law to a classroom setting by becoming an adjunct professor in Business Immigration Law at Boston’s New England Law School, educating young legal professionals on the complexities of the immigration process.
“I think a great immigration lawyer is someone who is able to stay on top of the law, participate in active listening to the details of a client’s circumstances and develop creative solutions within the existing options. The most rewarding part of my field of law is that we are impacting the lives of people. While this sounds trite, it is really true. We represent employers and professionals to obtain work permission in the U.S. There are a lot of companies, big and small, that have grand plans to contribute to our society in very meaningful ways. These plans are often the brainchild of foreign nationals who need permission to remain in the U.S. At the same time, to implement, sustain and enhance these plans, talent is needed. We help bring and keep talent in the U.S.,” Lau explained.
“One of the biggest challenges that comes with this is that we are working with a government that has policies and processes that are not keeping up with the demands of the modern market and society. The slow pace and the inflexible policies make it very hard for us. While comparable agencies in other countries are conducting business online, some of the government agencies in the U.S. are still requiring reams of paper to be filed.”
