Mayer Brown Partner Ori Lev to Be Honored with Immigration Impact Award for Advancing Rights of Asylum Seekers

WASHINGTON—The American Immigration Council will honor Mayer Brown Partner Ori Lev with its Immigration Impact Award—which recognizes the talents, contributions, and accomplishments of immigrants and their advocates—on June 23 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention in Florida.

The award—formerly known as the American Heritage Award—will be presented during a celebration that highlights notable immigrants, national heroes, and unsung heroes like immigration lawyers.

“Ori Lev and the law firm Mayer Brown have been exceptional partners advancing impactful litigation to defend the rights of asylum seekers at the border for nearly five years in the Al Otro Lado v. Mayorkas case. They have invested their legal resources and litigation expertise to challenge U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s policy of turning away asylum seekers at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border,” said Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the American Immigration Council. “In September of 2021, a district judge in California found that the government had violated asylum seekers’ rights. When the government decided to appeal that decision, Ori Lev and the law firm Mayer Brown did not hesitate to continue fighting the case to ensure that people fleeing persecution have a chance to bring their claims for asylum in the United States. We are grateful for their work.”

Lev is a member of Mayer Brown’s Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement practice group. He concentrates his practice on representing financial institutions and other companies in government enforcement matters, internal investigations, and litigation, and providing regulatory advice and counsel on federal consumer financial and economic sanctions law. He has been recognized by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America®,  and Global Investigations Review for his work.

“I am honored to received this award, grateful for having the opportunity to work on this important case with a truly incredible group of co-counsel from the American Immigration Council and several other organizations and appreciative that Mayer Brown was willing to support this effort for many years. Our clients—Al Otro Lado, which is fighting for justice for migrants every day, and the individual asylum seekers who were turned away—are the real heroes. We will continue litigating on appeal to secure the important victory that we won below affirming the principle that migrants arriving at U.S. ports of entry have a right to seek asylum,” said Ori Lev, partner at Mayer Brown.

Lev is also the Chair of Mayer Brown’s Washington, D.C. Pro Bono Committee and a member of the firm’s U.S. Pro Bono Committee. Prior to entering private practice, Lev spent nearly 20 years working for the federal government, including roles at the Department of Justice, Department of the Treasury, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Lev is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Yale Law School.

In years past, the American Immigration Council has recognized the achievements of other outstanding immigrants and their advocates, including Carlos Santana, General Colin Powell, Sonia Nazario, Edwidge Danticat, Gerda Weissmann Klein, the law firm Arnold & Porter, and others.

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For more information, contact:

Maria Frausto at the American Immigration Council at [email protected] or 202-507-7526.