Lawyer Business Advantage

Lawyer Business Advantage


Law Firm Growth with Sophie Alcorn

June 15, 2020

In this episode of Lawyer Business Advantage, I have a conversation with Sophie Alcorn, Alcorn Immigration Law‘s founding attorney. Sophie shares her powerful story as a single mom, building a nationwide immigration practice from the ground up. Along the way, you’ll learn the business development tactics that she used to put herself on the national stage. Sophie’s inspiring story is coming up right now on Lawyer Business Advantage.
Alay Yajnik: [00:00:40] Welcome to Lawyer Business Advantage, your source for biz dev tips, wisdom and inspiration. I’m your host, Alay Yajnik. We’re unleashing your inner rainmaker in three, two, one….
Alay Yajnik: [00:00:55] It’s my pleasure to welcome Sophie Alcorn to the show. Sophie Alcorn is the founding attorney of Alcorn Immigration Law and is an immigration and nationality law specialist certified by the state bar of California’s Board of Legal Specialization. She is the leading immigration attorney in all of Santa Clara County, that includes Silicon Valley, with this designation. Sophie founded Alcorn Immigration Law in Mountain View, California in 2015. Since then, Sophie has been quoted in publications around the globe, including The New York Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, and The Atlantic. She is a regular speaker at the Global Tech Crunch conferences and has been a sought after speaker on immigration for numerous other conferences and events. She advises several nonprofits and Silicon Valley startups, including Global EIR, Project Ellis and Avid Innovations. The American Institute of Legal Counsel has named Sophie Alcorn one of the 10 Best Immigration Lawyers in California in 2019 and her firm, Alcorn Immigration Law, won the Women Business Enterprise Excellence and Growth Award in 2019 to be one of the fastest growing certified women-owned companies in the Pacific region of the United States. Sophie is also the host of the podcast Immigration Law for Tech Startups, which is available wherever you get your podcast. So tune in if you’d like to learn about green visas and green cards in Silicon Valley. Sophie, welcome to the show. So happy to have you with us.
Sophie Alcorn: [00:02:26] Thank you so much, Alay. It is great to be here. I’m so excited to see everything that you’re working on and to be a part of this podcast. Thank you.
Alay Yajnik: [00:02:37] My pleasure. You know, every time we talk, your bio gets longer and longer. So congratulations on your success.
Sophie Alcorn: [00:02:46] Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Alay Yajnik: [00:02:49] You and I have talked quite a bit and obviously I’m familiar with your story, but our listeners may not be familiar with your story. And it’s so compelling. I find it very inspiring. I would love to hear if you could share with us what drove you to start Alcorn Immigration Law.
Sophie Alcorn: [00:03:04] Okay. All right. Thank you. Well, about four and a half years ago, I was a stay at home mom to a one year old and a four year old. I had taken a break from my career as an immigration lawyer and moved to the Bay Area with my ex-husband, where I’d previously grown up and practiced in Southern California and with my dad. So he was an immigration lawyer as well. And I was really struggling doing the mommy thing full time. It’s a hard job that’s been harder than just starting my law firm and growing something for me. Yeah. So I have so much respect for people who do that and and admiration for people who do that and enjoy it. And I love my kids. They’re great. But I’m not cut out to be a full time stay at home mom.
Sophie Alcorn: [00:04:09] And so I was starting to get the first inklings of that about...