LARRABEE | MEHLMAN | ALBI | COKER LLP: U.S. Immigration Law

Staff

Adrian Brody
abrody@larrabee.com
Adrian was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended the University of Illinois in Champagne-Urbana where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a double minor in Psychology and Spanish. Prior to joining the LMAC team as the Accounting Manager, Adrian held positions as a high school English teacher, as Vice President of Finance and Human Resources for a local spa manufacturer, and as a Controller for several small to medium sized companies. She enjoys all snow activities, especially dogsledding, and is currently participating in classes for certifications in Play Therapy and Sandplay Therapy to use in her volunteer work with terminally ill children.

Anna Ho
annaho@larrabee.com
Anna was born in Hong Kong and came to the U.S. to pursue a higher education. She attended Northern Illinois University where she earned the degree of Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude, in Business Administration. She has worked as a senior accountant for a variety of successful companies prior to joining the Firm. She is the Sr. Accounting Assistant to the Accounting Manager Adrian Brody and also serves as a Notary for the Firm.

Anna Riazanova
ariazanova@larrabee.com
Anna was born in Moscow, Russia and graduated from the State University in Moscow with honors Master's degree in Linguistics. She also completed a year of study on Urdu language and literature at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. After graduation, she worked as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Asia and Africa in Moscow and was editor of an Urdu-language magazine. She earned her paralegal certificate from West Los Angeles School of Law in California, graduating magna cum laude. She has personal experience with the immigration process, having immigrated to the U.S. as a winner of the visa lottery and prior to that, her H-1B visa petition was used as a part of the National Paralegal Association's efforts to classify a paralegal position as a specialty occupation. Anna worked in the field of immigration law for various law firms in Los Angeles before joining LMAC in 1996. She is a Sr. Paralegal and part of the labor certification team.

Carol Haskell
chaskell@larrabee.com
Carol is a Sr. Paralegal for Larrabee | Mehlman | Albi | Coker LLP. Although she currently specializes in labor certification applications for LMAC, Carol has also worked various aspects of immigration and previously held employment with both the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service and the U.S. Border Patrol.

Caroline Kobayashi
ckobayashi@larrabee.com
Caroline is a Sr. Paralegal with LMAC and has worked for the Firm since August 1997. Prior to this Ms. Kobayashi was a Legal Assistant for Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP. A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, Ms. Kobayashi enjoys scuba diving, outrigger canoeing, and just about anything ocean related.

Celine Wheaton
cwheaton@larrabee.com
Celine is a Paralegal at LMAC. Born and raised in New Hampshire, she moved to San Diego in 1997. After working several years as a successful teacher, she decided to change career paths and obtained her Paralegal Certificate through the UCSD Extension program in 2000. Prior to joining LMAC, Celine worked as an Immigration Paralegal for over five years. She took a short hiatus in early 2006 to care for her ailing father and newborn son. Celine lives in North County San Diego with her husband, Ted; young son, Matthew; and big dog, Angel. She and her family enjoy hiking, going to the beach, and getting away for occasional ski trips.

Christine Carreño
christine@larrabee.com
Christine was born and raised in San Diego, CA. She received her Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Phoenix and is currently pursuing a Master of Forensic Sciences with a specialization in Investigations. Prior to joining the LMAC team as an Administrative Assistant in October 2005, Christine worked with USCIS as an Office Automation Clerk within their Adjudications department.

Elizabeth Honerkamp
ehonerkamp@larrabee.com
Elizabeth is a Sr. Paralegal at LMAC. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. While obtaining her degree, Elizabeth was a tutor for girls who were in the Rhode Island Training School (RITS), a unit within Rhode Island 's Juvenile Correctional Services that is focused on helping teenage girls obtain GEDs. Upon graduation, Elizabeth worked as an intern for the Superior Court of Washington D.C. in the Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division where she played a key role in coordinating with judges, attorneys and mediators in assisting to resolve cases before going to trial. Elizabeth has over 5 years of immigration law experience after working for top immigration law firms in both New York and San Diego. Locally, Elizabeth enjoys representing her community as a member of a local outrigger canoe team.

Jenifer Collins
jcollins@larrabee.com
A Southern California native, Jenifer earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego in June 1997. She went on to obtain her Master's of Business Administration from San Diego State University in August 2003, focusing in Entrepreneurship and Management. Since joining the firm in March 2001, Jenifer has specialized in Immigrant petitions, including first preference outstanding researcher and extraordinary ability petitions. As a Sr. Paralegal, she also contributes to the Non-Immigrant and Permanent Residency teams.

Justin Walters
jwalters@larrabee.com
Justin was born and raised in Porterville, California. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Journalism at San Diego State University in December 2002 and received his Paralegal Certificate at the University of San Diego in the Spring of 2003. Justin has been employed with the firm since July 2003. He works mainly on applications for Permanent Residency, as well as Immigrant and Non-Immigrant visa petitions.

Kanji Kawanabe
kkawanabe@larrabee.com
Kanji is a graduate from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations. He spent two years abroad teaching English in Japan, before moving to San Diego, where he subsequently joined our team here at LMAC. With a strong international background, Kanji is one of our Sr. Paralegals who specializes primarily on immigration petitions..

Kristi Cavanaugh
kcavanaugh@larrabee.com
Kristi graduated from Western New Mexico University with a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a minor in Computer Science. She joined LMAC in April 2001 and is the Sr. File & Records Specialist. Kristi is responsible for managing the file room, administrating internal computer programs and document management systems, and assisting our IT department. She is also responsible for assisting with the LMAC website. When Kristi is not troubleshooting computer related problems or tracking down files, you can find her on the basketball court shooting hoops and spending time with her family.

Matthew Sparks
msparks@larrabee.com
Raised in San Diego, Matthew worked as an Account Executive for the public relations firm The Grove Agency before joining Larrabee & Associates in September of 2000. As a Sr. Paralegal, Mr. Sparks works directly with LMAC attorneys, primarily on permanent resident applications.

Meagan Knepp
mknepp@larrabee.com
Meagan works as a case writer for LMAC. She graduated from Antioch University Los Angeles with an MFA in creative writing and from UCSD with a B.A. in Visual Arts -Film. She was born and raised in Southern California where she still lives with her husband and her cat..

Peggi Vincent
pvincent@larrabee.com
Originally from Manhattan Beach, CA, she recently relocated back to California after 21 years in Wisconsin working as an Office Manager for an IT Company and Assistant Finance Manager for Harley Davidson in Milwaukee while raising her two children. She is not missing snow shoveling one bit! She is also currently studying American Sign Language. Peggi joined LMAC in January 2010 as the firm's Receptionist.

Satoko Hasegawa Simonds
satoko@larrabee.com
Born and raised in Numazu, Japan, a cosmopolitan Ms. Simonds is bilingual in Japanese and English. She accomplished her childhood dream of studying in an American university, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from San Diego State University. After several successful years in Los Angeles as an Editor-in-Chief for the largest Japanese media in the United States, Ms. Simonds moved back to San Diego, and joined the firm in April 2006. She finds the immigration law field challenging yet rewarding, and enjoys sharpening her skills and expanding her knowledge as a valued member of the NIV team.

Thanhthuy Mathiasen
tmathiasen@larrabee.com
Thanhthuy was born in Orange, CA. Although accepted to University of California, Los Angeles, Thanhthuy decided to attend University of California, San Diego and break a family tradition that her older siblings had set forth in attending UCLA. She graduated with degrees in both Psychology and Political Science (with an emphasis on Public Law). Upon graduation, Thanhthuy accepted a position with what was then referred to as Larrabee & Zimmerman LLP and continues to work for the firm as administrative assistant to Diana Vellos Coker.

Yuki Murata
ymurata@larrabee.com
Yuki is a Sr. Paralegal with Larrabee | Mehlman | Albi | Coker LLP. She is bilingual in Japanese and English with an understanding of both Japanese and American business practices and customs. Yuki assisted the firm’s international clients with the preparation of non-immigrant and immigrant petitions for many years before rejoining the firm in July 2007.