EXPERIENCE

Lara A. Bushon, Esq. has been practicing immigration and naturalization law since 2009. Lara has represented hundreds of people from around the world and is regarded amongst her clients and their families as a professional and thoughtful attorney who is sensitive to their concerns and provides attention to detail in every case.

Prior to founding the Law Office of Lara Aziz Bushon, Lara served as the sole Immigration Attorney for Bay Area Legal Aid, which is the largest non-profit legal services provider in the Bay Area. In that role, Lara provided immigration representation to victims of crimes and domestic violence by preparing U visa, VAWA, and legal permanent residency applications. Lara was also in charge of training and advising volunteer attorneys through BayLegal’s pro bono program.

Prior to moving to San Francisco, Lara practiced immigration law at Indiana Legal Services, Inc. for a number of years, where she was the Directing Attorney of the Immigrants’ and Language Rights Center. Lara handled a variety of cases, including family-based, adjustment of status, naturalization, U visa, and VAWA applications. Additionally, she trained and offered mentorship to other attorneys working on immigration cases.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Lara has a long history of volunteerism and community commitment. Throughout her career, Lara has conducted outreach and education to advocates and client groups on topics including the U visa, VAWA, and DACA/DAPA. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and was the pro bono liaison for AILA’s Indiana Chapter for two years. In that role, Lara coordinated with other non-profits to organize Citizenship Day and DACA clinics and provided chapter members with pro bono opportunities. Most recently, Lara served as an Event Coordinator with AILA’s Northern California Section.

BACKGROUND

Since she was young, Lara has had a passion for travel and learning about the different cultures of the world and its people. She was raised in an international household, her father being Lebanese and her mother being Brazilian. Lara’s family moved to São Paulo, Brazil, when she was four years old and lived there for five years before returning to Ohio, where she grew up. Lara learned through life experience about some of the many challenges facing immigrants and their families, and this is what motivated Lara to pursue a career in immigration law.

EDUCATION

Lara graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2009. During law school, Lara competed against students from law schools from around the world at the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition in Hong Kong, first as a member and the following year, as a coach. Lara also wrote for the International Law Journal and taught Spanish 101 to undergraduate students.

During her undergraduate years at Denison University, Lara majored in International Studies and Spanish, with a focus on Latin American Politics. She served as a Teaching Assistant to the Portuguese Professor, as a Spanish tutor, and she studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Lara is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.