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Elora Andrade Ortego always knew she wanted to be a lawyer. She was inspired by her father, the late Professor Attila de Souza Leão Andrade Jr., a Yale graduate and a leading legal scholar in Brazil, who taught International Law in the United States. Following her father’s footsteps, Elora graduated with a juris doctor degree from the very prestigious University of Florida Levin College of Law in Gainesville, Florida. Previously, she obtained her bachelor’s in arts degree, Cum Laude, with a major in English and a minor in Criminal Justice and Education from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. Her professional career started as a law clerk in a prestigious immigration law firm in Miami, Florida, where she was eventually hired as an attorney after graduation providing legal immigration services to clients of multiple nationalities. In 2011, Elora opened her practice as a solo practitioner, and in 2017 she joined attorney Andrea Canona and founded Andrade Canona.
Elora is American, Brazilian, and Italian. She born and raised in the city of São Paulo, Brazil and she immigrated to the United States with her family in 1998. From the moment Elora first came to this country, she had the opportunity to experience each step of the immigration process, along with all of the feelings and worries involved. Her legal practice of immigration law is born of her own immigration process, which has lasted over eighteen years.
Elora is highly skilled in business immigration and has assisted numerous entrepreneurs and investors in their immigration cases. Furthermore, she has extensive experience in cases of individuals of extraordinary and exceptional ability, as well as complex family and naturalization cases. A fierce negotiator and advocate, Elora has successfully negotiated with attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice satisfactory decisions for her clients in federal court. Importantly, Elora empathizes with her clients and shares in their worries and uncertainties which naturally derive from the immigration experience.
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Andrea Mattar Canona, born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Florida International University College of Law, where she graduated number six in her class. While in law school, Andrea worked as a student attorney at the Immigration Law Clinic, representing detained immigrants in removal proceedings. Andrea also served as a research assistant to Professor Thomas E. Baker, a renowned constitutional scholar, and worked as a law clerk intern to Judge Frank A. Shepherd at the Third District Court of Appeals in Florida.
After graduation, Andrea was selected through the prestigious U.S. Department of Justice’s Attorney General’s Honors Program to work as an Attorney Advisor at the Executive Office for Immigration Review, Miami Immigration Court. Her responsibilities included preparation of written decisions involving complex immigration issues for 14 judges. Andrea provided presentations and summaries to judges regarding novel areas of the law, as well as analysis of criminal convictions in the immigration context.
Andrea also worked at a prestigious boutique immigration law firm, where she focused her practice on employment-based visas, investor visas and extraordinary ability petitions, as well as on asylum, waivers, motions to reopen and reconsider, and appeals. In 2017 she joined Elora Andrade and founded Andrade Canona, where she continues to dedicate herself to ensuring the best legal representation to her clients.
Andrea is a sought-after lecturer and is often invited to speak about immigration law to audiences in the United States and Brazil. Andrea is passionate about finding creative legal solutions for her clients, and she enjoys researching complex issues in the law. Andrea also dedicates her time to educating people about immigration law through videos, radio shows, lectures and articles. Andrea is actively involved with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).
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Book Awards: LSV III, Administrative Law and Florida Constitutional Law
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Cristina Neuman-Moreno is an American and Venezuelan citizen. She graduated cum laude from Florida International University College of Law in May 2013 and was admitted to the Florida Bar in October 2013. Cristina was also admitted to the Ohio Bar in November 2014 but is currently an inactive member of the Ohio Bar. As an immigration attorney, she may represent clients all over the United States and at U.S. Consulates around the world.
While in law school, Cristina had the opportunity of interning for different judges at various state and federal courts, and even at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, one of the most prestigious internship programs in the country. In addition, due to her excellent academic standing, Cristina served as the Managing Editor of the FIU Law Review. Cristina has extensive experience with employment based-petitions, and she has successfully assisted many investors and US companies with their immigrant and non-immigrant visa petitions.
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Book Awards: Torts, Property, Complex Litigation, and Law in Latin America.
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Leah Shadle earned her Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from Creighton University School of Law in 2007. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Creighton University in 2003, with a major in Justice and Society and a co-major in Political Science. Leah is licensed to practice law in Florida and the District of Columbia. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. As an immigration attorney, she may represent clients all over the United States and at U.S. Consulates around the world.
Leah previously worked at an immigration firm in Miami, Florida where she handled a variety of employment and family-based immigration matters. She assists clients with petitions based on extraordinary ability, national interest waivers, provisional waivers, writs of mandamus and investment visas. Prior to the practice of immigration law, Leah served as in-house counsel to One Laptop Per Child, Inc., a non-profit organization created to provide children around the world with a quality, innovative educational program.
She has experience with commercial contract negotiation and regulatory compliance matters. Leah served as Co-Director of New Leaders Council (NLC) Miami, a chapter of a national non-partisan organization that connects the next generation of leaders in Miami. She was selected as an NLC Fellow in 2014 and as a member of the 2016 Dade Legal Aid Leadership Academy.
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Renata Keller Duran is originally from Salvador, Brazil, where she earned her law degree from Faculdade Unime in Brazil in 2008 and passed the Brazilian Bar Association examination that same year. In 2009, she earned a special certification in Electoral Law from the Universidade Mauricio de Nassau, in partnership with the Tribunal Regional Electoral Court of the State of Bahia. In Brazil, Renata worked as a legal advisor to the Court of Justice, State of Bahia from 2007 to 2010. She went on to join a large law firm as partner, where she worked until moving to the United States in 2016. Renata completed her paralegal training at the University of Miami in 2017 before joining Andrade Canona in 2018. Renata obtained a master’s degree in law (LL.M.) from the Florida International University and is currently pursuing admission to the New York Bar.
Fernanda Souza Leal earned her bachelor’s degree in law from Universidade Salvador, Brazil in 2007, with a certification in Civil Procedure Law from JUSPODIVM in 2010. In 2018, she earned a LLM in Corporate Law from IBMEC, the Brazilian Institute of Capital Markets. Fernanda began her career in corporate law and worked for ten years as a partner for a law firm based in Salvador, Brazil, where she specialized in corporate law. Her work focused on civil litigation, corporate structuring, contracts, strategic negotiations, and representation before government agencies. She also represented large companies in the transportation, tourism, and communications industries. She joined Andrade Canona in 2020 and has been assisting clients with their immigrant visa petitions and adjustment of status.
Katia Cabrera, a Brazilian and American citizen, has extensive experience in advertising and marketing, as she worked for several advertising agencies in Brazil before coming to the United States over than 20 years ago. Prior to joining Andrade Canona, she worked for many years for Globo TV International, in Miami, Florida. Katia is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish and is responsible for the office’s internal communications and event planning.
Cristina Obara, originally from Brazil, has obtained her doctoral degree in psychology from the prestigious IPUSP-USP (University of São Paulo). She received her master’s degree in clinical psychology from UNIFESP-EPM. Cristina is in charge of all client’s files, documentation, and immigration appointments. Cristina is also responsible for the purchasing of materials and equipment at Andrade Canona, and she makes sure that our office is operating in a very efficient and smooth manner.
Nagila de Oliveira is originally from Brazil, and she is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish. She has obtained her bachelor’s degree in law from Universidade Salgado Filho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She moved to the United States shortly after her graduation, and has held administrative and customer service roles over the years. She joined Andrade Canona in 2021, and she is responsible for all appointments and calendaring. She is the first “hello” you hear at Andrade Canona!
American Immigration Laywers Association member.
Florida Bar Member
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