John Brendel has been practicing business and employment immigration law for more than 25 years and helps companies traverse the obstacles of conducting operations in a global marketplace.  He is a Director of Cohen & Grigsby and a member of the Immigration and International Business Groups.

Experience

John's breadth of experience spans more than a quarter of a century, during which time he has helped clients with a wide range of issues related to employment-related and investment-related immigration.  He has handled inbound immigration for international employees wanting to work or live in the United States.

He specializes in addressing matters that pertain to alien investors and “H-1B Dependent” employers, along with scientists, engineers and physicians who have come to work in the United States for all immigrant (permanent) and nonimmigrant (temporary) employment-related visa categories.

John's clients have included U.S. and multinational corporations, hospitals, universities and new companies as well as individual inventors and scientists.  He has practiced before U.S. consular officers, as well as the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.

In order to effectively serve clients, John constantly monitors legislative action related to U.S. immigration.  Analyzing work authorization procedures helps him ensure that companies are in compliance with current regulations.  He also provides clients with perspective on liability issues and recruiting protocols associated with doing business on an international level.

John strengthened his international business savoir faire by serving as vice president and general counsel of Mastech/iGATE Corp., a global provider of information technology services, from 1997-2003.  During this same time, he served in an Of Counsel capacity at Cohen & Grigsby.

He is a former adjunct professor of immigration law at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University.

Additional Roles

John is a founding member of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and a former chair of the Immigration Policy Committee for the Information Technology Association of America.  His community involvement includes serving as a board member for the Jefferson Memorial Park and Funeral Home, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Western Pennsylvania.

Honors and Achievements

• The Best Lawyers in America
• An international Who's Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers
• Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
• Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition 

He is frequently asked to lecture on immigration topics at conferences presented by the International Bar Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the American Council on International Personnel and the Information Technology Association of America.

Education

• J.D., cum laude, Harvard University, 1976
• Comparative International Law Fellowship, Germany sponsored by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)
• B.A., with distinction in all subjects, College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell University, 1973
  

Bar/Court Admissions

• Pennsylvania