Chinese Immigrant Establishes Law Firm in Cleveland
Date: January 21, 2022
Su He
Business Immigration Attorney, Professor, and Community Leader
Su He came from a family of physicians in Beijing, China, so when she developed a passion for international business law, she needed to find new role models. Fortunately, she found the support she needed at Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, where she attended in 2008 for a master’s degree in International Business Law. “Studying at Case, I had so many good mentors, and the law school really gave me a good foundation in terms of education, perfecting my English and networking,” she says.
Su followed her master’s with a Juris Doctor degree. In 2013, shortly after graduation, she had a chance to put her training into practice for herself. Her husband, a research fellow for the Cleveland Clinic, was eligible for his green card. “We prepared a lot of our paperwork and started to understand how complicated it is,” says Su. After getting her own green card, Su helped hundreds of clients become permanent residents, but says it’s nerve-wracking that policies can change with each new administration and the process has become more difficult because of long waiting times.
In 2017, after the births of their two children, Su opened her own law firm. Her firsthand experience navigating the U.S. immigration system proved to be an asset.
I always tell my clients, ‘I have been through this,’ so I understand how difficult the process can be.
She believes removing unnecessary barriers would help clear up ongoing delays. “Immigrants pay taxes, buy homes and fill employment gaps,” she says. “Clearing up the immigration backlog and streamlining the green card process will free them to invest even more in the U.S. and in Cleveland.”
In February 2021, the Cleveland Professionals Twenty-Thirty Club named Su to its “Top 25 Under 35 Movers and Shakers” list. In June of 2021, she merged her practice with another local firm, Buckley King. She’s kept busy with both employment and family-based immigration cases and works closely with other partners on business and employment law issues. She is also the executive director of the Greater Cleveland Chinese Chamber of Commerce. “We want the community to know us and the great services that our businesses provide,” Su says.
