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Partner
Ruth Spillane
![Landscape hero image of Fragomen [SanDiego][Associate][RuthSpillane]](https://www.fragomen.com/a/web/vDVeaY3tzFFad4eSjPA89f/3hJEVu/fragomen_ruth_spillane_hero.jpg)
Country / Territory
Get in touch
Languages
- English
Contact information
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP
5355 Mira Sorrento Place, Suite 750
San Diego CA 92121
United States
Clients seek Ruth’s advice on the policies that guide and define their immigration programs. This work involves deep analysis of her clients’ business objectives, which she translates into a set of policy principles that serve both the individual immigrant employee and the company as a whole.
She is also a skilled tactician, offering practical, day-to-day guidance that balances clients’ business objectives against the external variables that impact the immigration process, including turmoil caused by economic tumult, shifts in regulatory policy and public health crises. Her obsession with detail and tireless oversight of her clients’ projects often yield strategic opportunities that would otherwise remain overlooked.
As a result, she’s forged long-term, highly cooperative relationships with clients, many of whom have worked with her for more than a decade and have come to regard her counsel as an integral part of their evolving business strategy. Her largest single client—a Fortune 500 technology company—has relied on her advice and positive influence through 15 years of company-altering transactions, economic downturns and recoveries, and whipsaw changes in immigration policy.
Education
- Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Juris Doctor, 2008
- Florida Atlantic University, Bachelor of Arts, 2004
More from Ruth
Admissions
Bar Admissions: California
Practice Limited to Federal Immigration & Nationality Law
Awards
Listed in San Diego Business Journal’s Women of Influence in Law, 2025
Named to Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, 2024
Inn of Court Pro Bono Publico Award, Casa Cornelia Law Center’s 10th Annual La Mancha Awards, 2019
Listed among “Top 40 Under 40,” Daily Transcript, 2019
Listed in Super Lawyers as “Rising Star,” 2016 to 2018
San Diego County Top Attorney Finalist in Immigration Law, 2013
Professional accomplishments
Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
Member, California Bar Association
Member, San Diego Bar Association
Member, Lawyers Club of San Diego
Board Member, San Diego County Bar Foundation
Experience
Represents companies across various industries in structuring and managing NIV and permanent residency programs, including providing strategic solutions to complex issues, advising on travel and consular issues and I-9 compliance.
Oversight of NIV programs, including H-1B, L-1, TN, E-3 and O-1 filings. This includes coordinating high volume H-1B cap lottery registration and filings for large global corporations as well as smaller-sized industry leaders.
Management of permanent residency programs, including PERM, immigrant petitions and green card filings This oversight includes providing guidance relative to policy decisions, updates on procedures and trends and training with corporate clients’ internal immigration teams.
Strategically manages immigration updates from mergers and acquisitions, including coordinating requisite filings with internal teams, communication to employees and developing strategies for complex cases.
Publications and lectures
Quoted, “How Trump's Latest Suspension of Worker Visas Could Affect Tech Industry.” The Recorder, 23 June 2020.
Quoted, “Employment Authorization Delays Leave Businesses in Lurch.” Law360, 26 March 2019.
Quoted, “ICE Work-Site Enforcement Likely to Borrow from Obama, Bush.” Bloomberg Law, 5 February 2018.
Ruth’s insights
August 19, 2024 | Awards
October 24, 2023 — October 26, 2023 | Training session
