Since 1995, Charla Truett has worked as a full-time attorney and legal counselor at the Richard A. Gump Jr. Law Group in Dallas, Texas, while also actively dedicating time to both the Dallas Bar Association as well as the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Certified as an immigration specialist, Truett was named partner at her firm in 2001 and primarily focuses her time on legal practice areas such as immigration law and nationality law. Listed with Best Lawyers® since 2009, Truett is currently being recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” for Immigration Law in Dallas for 2022.
Of her award, Charla stated: “I’m honored to be recognized as a ‘Lawyer of the Year’ in Dallas, Texas for Immigration Law. The contributing factors, in my opinion, that have led to my current recognition are the accessibility from a practice area standpoint and consistency from myself and my peers. Every day I am committed to educating my clients on immigration law so that they understand the options, requirements and possible pitfalls that come with it. It’s truly rewarding to unravel any challenging case and find a solution for the client—whether it be a plan for an employee to obtain work authorization or a family to be able to remain in the U.S.”
Charla continued, “Our immigration system is dated and broken. It does not stand to serve U.S. employers seeking emigrating employees or individuals who want to assist in the immigration of their family members. It is common to hear—'I just want people to immigrate legally.’ As a lawyer in the practice area, we all do. But in order to do that, we need a system that is reasonable in terms of availability for legal options as well as sets appropriate legal timeframes. To be successful as an immigration lawyer, I try to put myself in my client’s shoes…what would I need to know? How would it make me feel? And how would I want someone to treat me? From returning a phone call to sending an email to delivering less than favorable news—I try to treat every client the way I would want to be treated.”
In addition to representing her clients in a number of immigration law cases, Truett has also garnered experienced in both employment law and business related immigration law as well, previously lecturing on issues such as worksite compliance, taxation of foreign nationals, student visas and relocation topics.
“The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on international travel—affecting many of our clients. We worked diligently to keep up to date with the requirements in order to properly request and obtain travel permission so that our clients’ business operations could continue as normally as possible. Our clients continue to require assistance navigating the long list of delays from the U.S. Consulates, who offer any new COVID-19 related travel requirements. With the Department of Homeland Security reinstituting prosecutorial discretion, we have been able to successfully terminate removal or deportation proceedings so that our clients, some who have been waiting for years, can immediately pursue legal permanent residency.”
