Eleanor Pelta Partner

Eleanor Pelta is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Labor and Employment Practice. With her practice focused on immigration and nationality law, Ms. Pelta assists corporate clients in various industries with the international transfer of key personnel. She is particularly knowledgeable about managing high-volume employee transfers, as her background includes assisting employers in gaining temporary and permanent visas for all types of business, scientific and executive personnel. Additionally, she advises clients on strategic issues involving movement of staff internationally, including the use of blanket visa programs and qualification of companies as "treaty investor" or "treaty trader" entities.

Ms. Pelta provides further support on the immigration implications of corporate changes, including mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, reductions in force and salary level changes. Likewise, she has developed corporate immigration policies and procedures. Ms. Pelta counsels clients on employer obligations related to temporary transfers, employment eligibility verification and avoiding immigration-related unfair employment practices. She has also developed and performed nationwide I-9 compliance training for human resources personnel, and has assisted clients during I-9 and H-1B audits. In particular, Ms. Pelta frequently counsels tax and payroll managers regarding U.S. tax obligations of foreign nationals.

In 2007 and 2008, Chambers USA recognized Morgan Lewis as a leading firm for immigration law, based on the views of clients, peers and other industry professionals. Chambers ranked Ms. Pelta in Band 1, its highest honor, calling her "the backbone" of the firm's immigration practice and crediting her with "really driving the practice forward." Chambers has also noted that clients appreciate that Ms. Pelta "remembers every individual and knows their story" and praise her as "a tremendous resource, whose level of service is outstanding."

Ms. Pelta helps clients think and work proactively by providing them with traditional compliance policy reviews and audits, case management and litigation technology and international executive travel and foreign resident worker visa processing.

Ms. Pelta is also a prolific writer on Immigration issues. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania.