Owner & Founder – Matthew C. Shaftel
Matthew Shaftel is the owner and founder of the boutique immigration law firm, SHAFTEL LAW. While based in Denver, CO, the firm is national and international in scope, serving clients across the U.S. and across the globe.
SHAFTEL LAW specializes in handling the immigration needs of new and established companies, family immigration, deportation defense and asylum.
About Me
Family Immigration and Complex Case Expertise
Matthew Clark Shaftel is an experienced employment and family immigration attorney and experienced federal litigator. Mr. Shaftel assists families during all stages of the immigration process and also specializes in complicated immigrant and non-immigrant cases, waivers of grounds of inadmissibility and removal cases.
Mr. Shaftel’s federal litigation background includes immigration petitions for review by federal circuit courts, numerous jury trials and appeals in Federal Circuit courts and writs of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court. In immigration court, Mr. Shaftel has successfully represented clients in asylum and cancellation of removal cases and successfully moved the Court to terminate deportation proceedings. Mr. Shaftel worked as a Trial Attorney for the Federal Defenders of San Diego from 2004-2006.
Corporate Business Immigration Expertise
Mr. Shaftel represents employers and their foreign national employees during the entire trajectory of the immigration process (from first work visa until naturalization). Many work visas are contingent upon either the ownership structure of the businesses or the nature of the investment in the United States. Utilizing his background in business, economics and finance, Mr. Shaftel has successfully obtained work visas and permanent residency for employees and owners of foreign companies with complicated ownership or investment structures. Before dedicating himself to immigration law, Mr. Shaftel worked in the international finance (Latin American equity research) and technology (internet start-up) sectors.
Education
- Stanford University, B.A., Economics and Political Science, 1997.
- University of California, J.D., Hastings College of the Law, 2004: Member of the Hastings Law Review; Recipient of American Jurisprudence Awards for highest grades in Contracts, Torts and Legal Writing and Research courses
Memberships & Activities
- Admitted to the California Bar (2004) and the Colorado Bar (2011)
- Chair of AILA (American Immigration Lawyer’s Association) CO’s Department of Labor liaison committee
- Member of AILA CO’s Federal Litigation committee
- Member of AILA CO’s Asylum liaison committee
- Member of AILA National
- Volunteer at Mi Casa and Centro San Juan free legal clinic nights
- Member of the CBA (Colorado Bar Association) and DBA (Denver Bar Association)
- Mr. Shaftel frequently lectures and gives presentations on employment immigration, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Off Topic Favorite Things to Do
- Spanish Fluency: Mr. Shaftel lived in Chile for a year and has traveled extensively through Latin America and Spain.
- A native of Alaska, Mr. Shaftel relocated from San Francisco, CA to Denver, CO in order to live closer to the mountains. When not practicing law, Mr. Shaftel is climbing, skiing or mountain biking in the beautiful Rockies.