Senior Counsel
Careen Shannon
Country / Territory
Get in touch
Languages
- English
- Danish
- French
- Spanish
- Norwegian
- Swedish
- Japanese
Contact information
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP
90 Matawan Road, 4th Floor
Matawan NJ 07747
United States
Careen Shannon, Senior Counsel, is based in Fragomen’s Matawan office. Prior to joining the firm in 1998, Careen was a Pro Se Law Clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; a Staff Attorney at The Legal Aid Society (Juvenile Rights Division); an attorney in private practice (focusing on immigration law and family law); and a Legal Editor of immigration publications at Matthew Bender & Co.
A frequent speaker and writer, Careen has spoken before numerous bar associations, professional organizations and human resources groups, and has written countless articles on immigration law topics for a variety of legal and human resources publications. She is responsible for Fragomen’s series of annually updated books on U.S. immigration law published by Thomson Reuters/West and the Practising Law Institute.
Careen was one of the early leaders of the firm’s pro bono practice, and in 2014 she launched the U.S. firm’s nationwide effort to provide pro bono legal services to unaccompanied minors and to detained immigrant women and children from Central America. She has served as a volunteer pro bono attorney in the AILA Artesia Pro Bono Project, and the CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project, providing free legal services to asylum-seeking immigrant women and children being held in detention. In the past, she obtained political asylum for a student leader from the Ivory Coast who had been persecuted for protesting against the government. She worked pro bono to secure entry into the U.S. on a humanitarian basis of the foreign-born children of a victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and assisted the battered immigrant spouse of a U.S. citizen in self-petitioning for permanent residence. She was also a long-standing member of the Study Group on Immigrant Representation (convened by Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit), which has spearheaded numerous initiatives aimed at increasing access to counsel for indigent immigrants in the United States.
Careen is fluent in English and Danish, proficient in French and Spanish, and has a working knowledge of Japanese, Norwegian and Swedish.
Education
- City University of New York School of Law, J.D., 1989
- Oberlin College, B.A., 1981
More from Careen
Admissions
Bar Admissions: New York, New Jersey
Court Admissions: U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York; U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
Practice Limited to Federal Immigration & Nationality Law
Awards
New York City Mayoral Service Recognition Award, awarded in 2017 by Mayor Bill de Blasio for outstanding volunteer service
Listed as one of “The Top Women” in immigration in New York, Super Lawyers - New York Metro 2016: The Top Women
Listed in Martindale-Hubbell Register of Preeminent (“AV Rated”) Lawyers
American Immigration Lawyers Association Artesia Project Michael Maggio Pro Bono Honoree (2015)
American Immigration Lawyers Association Certificate of Achievement as a Pro Bono Champion (2014)
Robert Masur Fellow in Civil Liberties (1988-1989)
Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association Fellowship for Teaching/Study in Japan (1981-1983)
American Field Service Scholarship for Study/Homestay in Denmark (1976-1977)
Professional accomplishments
Member, New York State Bar Association, Committee on Immigration Representation, 2011-2018
Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association (Co-Chair, New York Chapter Website Committee, 1999-2000; Associate Editor, New York Chapter Conference Handbook, 2007; Co-Chair, New York Chapter Law Student Liaison Committee, 2013-14)
Member, Association of Pro Bono Counsel
Adjunct Professor and Director, Immigration Law Field Clinic, Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City (2004-2015)
Member, Board of Directors, Safe Passage Project
Member, Board of Directors, Obirin Gakuen Foundation of America
Member, Board of Directors, Latin American Relief Fund
Member, Board of Directors, Project Amplify
Special Advisor, Advisory Council, Project Lifeline
Former Member, American Bar Association, Section of International Law and Practice Steering Committee for Annual Conference, Beyond Globalization: Issues and Opportunities (2003-2004)
Former Member, American Foreign Law Association
Former Member, Danish-American Chamber of Commerce
Former Member, National Association of Pro Bono Professionals
Experience
Managed a large-scale, in-house compliance audit for a major international investment bank.
Advised a large, global consulting firm on the immigration consequences of a corporate spin-off.
Wrote numerous motions to reopen and appeals that successfully overturned adverse decisions of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Department of Labor.
Successfully represented a dual U.S.-Danish citizen who was threatened with loss of her U.S. citizenship.
Secured permanent residence in the national interest for an independent Chinese filmmaker who risked her life to make a clandestine documentary about the Tiananmen Square uprising.
Publications and lectures
Speaker, numerous bar associations, professional organizations and human resources groups.
Writer, articles and book chapters on immigration law topics for a variety of legal and human resources publications.
Co-author, Immigration Procedures Handbook, with Austin Fragomen and Daniel Montalvo, Thomson Reuters/West.
Co-author, H-1B Handbook, with Austin Fragomen and Daniel Montalvo, Thomson Reuters/West.
Co-author, Labor Certification Handbook, with Austin Fragomen and Daniel Montalvo, Thomson Reuters/West.
Co-author, Immigration Employment Compliance Handbook, with Austin Fragomen and Daniel Montalvo, Thomson Reuters/West.
Co-author, State Immigration Employment Compliance Handbook, with Austin Fragomen and Daniel Montalvo, Thomson Reuters/West.
Co-author, Immigration Legislation Handbook, with Austin Fragomen and Daniel Montalvo, Thomson Reuters/West.
Co-author, bi-weekly newsletter, Immigration Business News & Comment, with Austin Fragomen, Thomson Reuters/West.
Co-author, Immigration Law and Business, Thomson Reuters/West.
Co-author, Immigration Fundamentals treatise published by the Practising Law Institute.
Author, “Regulating Immigration Legal Service Providers: Inadequate Representation and Notario Fraud,” Fordham Law Review, Vol. 78, No. 2 (Nov. 2009).
Author, “Regulating Immigration at the State Level: A Focus on Employment,” Albany Government Law Review, Vol. 3, Issue 1 (Spring 2010).
Author, “To License or Not to License? A Look at Differing Approaches to Policing the Activities of Non-Lawyer Immigration Service Providers,” Cardozo Law Review, Vol. 33, Issue 2 (Dec. 2011).
Author, “Immigration is Different: Why Congress Should Guarantee Access to Counsel in All Immigration Matters.” University of the District of Columbia Law Review, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Spring 2014).
Careen’s insights
March 16, 2020 | Fragomen news
June 6, 2019 | Fragomen news
December 4, 2018 | Fragomen news
