Professional Background:
Susan Pilcher joined Carroll & Scribner as Of
Counsel in January 2007 after six years with a prominent Burlington,
Vermont commercial law firm, where Ms. Pilcher’s business practice
focused on immigration, intellectual property, health care and commercial
litigation.
Having provided leadership and management of her
former firm’s immigration practice since 2003, she honed her expertise
with successful adjudication in broad range of immigration matters,
including H-1B, L, TN, H-2B, E, O, J-1 waivers (physician and no objection),
B-1/B-2 (including in lieu of H-1B), F-1, PERM, EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-5,
VAWA, K-1, K-3, and family-based matters of all kinds. She has represented
businesses before ICE in worksite enforcement matters, conducted I-9
audits, and provided in-house training on employment authorization and
related matters. She has extensive experience with consular processing,
border practice, and local adjudications.
In the intellectual property arena, she has counseled
large and small businesses and individuals on the protection of trademark,
copyright and trade secrets, registered and maintained trademarks, negotiated
IP-related agreements for employees, contractors and consultants, drafted
and negotiated technology transfer and license agreements on behalf
of software developers, manufacturers, authors and entrepreneurs, represented
litigants and potential litigants in copyright and trademark-related
disputes (in pre-litigation enforcement/dispute resolution, in inter
partes proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and
in federal court). Her current intellectual property practice is limited
to non-litigation matters.
Prior to entering private practice in 2002, Ms. Pilcher
was a full-time member of the faculty at the University of Arkansas
School of Law in Fayetteville, Arkansas. As an Assistant Professor of
Law from 1992 to 1999, she taught overview courses and specialized seminars
in Immigration Law and other subjects, including Criminal Law, Criminal
Procedure, Criminal Justice, Lawyering Skills (Interviewing, Counseling
& Negotiation), and Appellate Advocacy. In 1990-1991, she served
as Law Clerk to the late Honorable John S. Rhoades, U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of California, in San Diego, California.
Ms. Pilcher has published and lectured extensively
on a variety of topics, including immigration law, environmental and
agricultural law, criminal law, and legal practice techniques.
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
“Employment Authorization Workshop,” a
training program for HR professionals in the health care industry, October
2006.
“Immigration 101,” a Continuing Legal
Education Seminar sponsored by the Vermont Bar Association,
April 2003.
“Immigration Law in the Workplace,” Seminar
sponsored by Sterling Educational Services, September 2003.
“Visa Processing for Musicians in the Post-9/11
Era,” a program sponsored by the Boston Early Music Festival,
Boston, June 2003.
“Visa Issues for International Students,”
University of Arkansas International Programs Forum (February 1994).
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Are Your Clients Ready for the ICE?, 32 Vt. Bar J. 40 (Winter 2007)
(with John Newman, Esq.)
Justice Without a Blindfold: Criminal Proceedings
and the Alien Defendant, 50 Ark. L. Rev. 269 (1997).
Assessing Collateral Immigration Consequences of Criminal
Justice Decisionmaking When the Defendant is an Alien, 8 Fed. Sent.
R. (1996).
SELECTED AFFILIATIONS AND SERVICE ACTIVITIES
American Immigration Lawyers Association, Member
Social Security Administration Liaison Committee, Liaison for New York
SSA Region
American Bar Association, Member
Vermont Bar Association, Member
Chittenden County Bar Association, Member
Leadership Champlain, Class of 2004, Lake Champlain
Chamber of Commerce
Founding Member, Northwest Arkansas Multi-Cultural
Coalition (1994-1997)