TOP ATTORNEYS IN SPECIALIZED FIELDS
investment with a focus on best practices,
compliance, litigation and targeted due
diligence. Lurie counsels individual
investors on immigration benefits and risks
and advises project developers, issuers
and regional centers on EB-5 structuring
and finance matters. Lurie has practiced
law for over 25 years and is based out of
the firm’s Washington D.C. office. She
educates her colleagues and clients on
measures to enhance the integrity of the
EB-5 program and its stakeholders. She
co-chairs the Best Practices and Policy
Committees for IIUSA and sits on the AILA
EB-5 Committee.
DAWN M. LURIE
Partner
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
D
awn M. Lurie is a partner at Seyfarth
Shaw LLP, as well as co-chair of the EB-5
Investment practice and the Immigration
Compliance Team. When advising clients,
Lurie presents creative solutions and is known
to identify issues long before they become
problematic. Specialized in immigration
compliance, her EB-5 practice includes a
range of representation involving EB-5 foreign
WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN
THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
When filing my first EB-5 in 1993, I never
imagined the industry would grow to
where it is today. My Middle Eastern
clients originally motivated me to become
familiar with the program, and I then
continued to dabble in EB-5 for the next
10 years. In 2010, I was fully drawn back
in and quickly realized that EB-5 was
missing a compliance component. I saw
an opportunity to work closely with my
securities partners on due diligence as
500, LawDragon, Best Lawyers, and the
Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration
Lawyers. Paparelli also hosts a monthly
EB-5 national teleconference for project
developers and regional centers, and
writes frequently in many business and
legal publications. He co-edited Forming
and Operating a Regional Center: A Guide
for Developers and Business Innovators
and The EB-5 Book 2014-2015 Edition.
ANGELO PAPARELLI
Partner
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
A
ngelo Paparelli is co-chair of the EB-5
Immigrant Investment Specialty Team
and a partner in the Business Immigration
Practice Group of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. A
Certified Immigration Law Specialist, with
a background in international business and
tax law, Paparelli brings unique expertise to
the EB-5 field. He is recognized as a Band
1 immigration attorney by Chambers, Legal
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EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
WHAT DO YOU THINK
THE FUTURE OF THE EB-5
INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE?
More job creation, geographically-dispersed
economic development, and program
integrity. The missing program element:
Meaningful investor protections. Congress
should empower an independent fiduciary
for investors to continually monitor
project activity and compliance, and alert
investors if material changes to projects
or deviations from the business plan have
occurred. It should also give defrauded
investors a variety of immigration “soft
landings” such as reasonable alternatives
to remain lawfully and, in deserving cases,
to be employed. The choice need not only
be to leave or face an immigration judge.
the Securities and Exchange Commission
gained an awareness of EB-5. By 2012,
I had fully committed myself to raising
awareness on best practices, disclosures,
conflicts and transparency.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
I foresee new mandamus actions forcing
the federal government to make decisions
within reasonable time frames, along with
challenges to unreasonable or inconsistent
agency decisions. I also anticipate investor
class action litigation’ civil suits between
regional centers, projects, sponsors and
developers and escrow agents. We will
likely also see malpractice cases against
attorneys providing poor or uneducated
advice, and companion civil cases
against attorneys with alleged conflicts
and inadequate disclosures. Also, if
redeployment of capital is mandated
and then not outlined carefully, I foresee
systematic failures affecting the program
including litigation over failed secondary
projects or loss of funds.
Soft landings should be available to all
investors, including those lacking funds
for new or re-fortified investments.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
I foresee federal and state aggrieved-
investor class action litigation and suits
against federal agencies by individuals
and entities challenging unlawfully
promulgated regulations and improper
agency practices and adjudications. I
also see federal and state court suits
between and among investors, regional
centers, new commercial enterprises,
job creating entities, developers, lenders,
broker/dealers, insurance companies and
agents and miscellaneous third parties,
based on breach of contract, tor ts
and statutory rights. Lastly, there are
challenges involving license revocations
and revocations of regional center
designation, criminal prosecutions,
receiverships in bankruptcy and civil
forfeiture actions.