Find a Lawyer Maryland Owings Mills Immigration
Sheela Murthy

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Sheela Murthy

4.7
204 reviews
This is an aggregated review score of Avvo and Lawyers.com reviews.
Rating: 10.0

Licensed for 37 years

Immigration Lawyer at Owings Mills, MD
Practice Areas: Immigration

10451 Mill Run Circle, Owings Mills, MD

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About Sheela

Biography

We Know Immigration Matters!

Practice Areas

1

Practice Area

Immigration 100%

Various non-immigrant options like H1B, L1A, L1B, O1, J1, F1, F1 OPT, F1 CPT, etc. Various immigrant filings like PERM, EB1, EB2, NIW, EB3, EB4 and EB5 investor filings. Consultations on student, criminal issues for immigrants, etc.

36 years | 38 cases

100%

Fees and Rates

We have not found any cost information for this lawyer

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Awards

Client's Choice
Client's Choice
2020 2019 2018
...
+ 4
Platinum Client Champion
AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating

Avvo Client's Choice Awards

Client's Choice

The Avvo Client's Choice Award Badge is granted to attorneys with a significant number of 4+ star reviews in a given year.

Client's Choice
Client's Choice 2020
Client's Choice
Client's Choice 2019
Client's Choice
Client's Choice 2018
Client's Choice
Client's Choice 2017
Client's Choice
Client's Choice 2016
Client's Choice
Client's Choice 2015
Client's Choice
Client's Choice 2014

Platinum Client Champion

Platinum Client Champion

Client Champion awards recognize those attorneys who excel at service as affirmed by their clients. The awards, based on the quantity and quality of an attorney’s Martindale-Hubbell client reviews, demonstrate an ongoing commitment to delivering excellent client service.

This attorney has received at least 10 client reviews, and has an average review score of 4.5 or higher.

AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating

AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating

An elite group of attorneys who have been rated highly by their peers as having Very High Ethical Standards and an A grade (4.5 or higher).

This is the highest peer rating standard. This rating signifies a large number of the lawyer’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.

Licenses

Licensed in Maryland for 36 years

State: Maryland

Acquired: 1989

Active

No misconduct found

Licensed in New York for 37 years

State: New York

Acquired: 1988

Delinquent

No misconduct found

Location

Murthy Law Firm

10451 Mill Run Circle, Owings Mills, MD, 21117

murthy.com/about-us/law-firm/attorneys/sheela-murthy/
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Sheela Murthy's Reviews

Filter Avvo Reviews (182) Refine reviews to match your needs. Use the filters to quickly surface reviews that align with your case or priorities.
Star rating
5 stars 165 4 stars 4
3 stars 0
2 stars 0
1 star 13
Practice Areas
Immigration (147) Lawsuits & Disputes (6) Appeals (2) Litigation (2) Consumer Protection (1) DUI & DWI (1) Divorce & Separation (1) Domestic Violence (1) Medical Malpractice (1)
What Clients Mention
Practice Area Knowledge (90) Case Results (78) Professionalism (70) Recommendation (62) Responsiveness (48) Communication Style (41) General Knowledge (37) Staff & Support (36) Advocacy (34) Trustworthiness (22) Character & Conduct (18) Cost of Services (18) Compassion (9) Punctuality (5) Free Consultations (1)

Showing 61 - 62 of 62 reviews | Recommendation

Posted by anonymous | August 13, 2015 | Immigration

My Experience with Murthy Law forum:

I am on EB3 and want to port to EB2.Since I don't have Masters I have to file my case under Exceptional Ability category. In order to file it, it required Degree, 10 years of fulltime employment and Client appreciation letter. so I approached Murthy law forum for it. They agreed and process fee $3500... + $500 USCIS fee. I sent all my educational and experience letters to them, they said USCIS not accept the format of experience letter which I have, so you need to change the format of the experience letter. It is really tough to modify and get new format from my old employer. somehow I manage to get them. I am working for government agency for 7 years, my Manager gave me very decent two pages appreciation letter about my work and how did I help the Agency and how company saved money thru my work. When I sent this client letter to Murthy, they said it is not enough to file the case, further said they want how much profit company made because of my work. I told them this is government agency not public company, they can’t give profile and loss. These mails going back and forth for 6th months. Finally I asked them what are the chances if I file my case with this client letter, they said less than 5%. Immediately I told them I want to withdraw my case. They said we will do it and just send appreciation letter from your employer and finally they filed it. I said Yes, because I don’t have any other option. They played the game such way even if the case get Denied, the blame you for it. They try to push you to the corner so that you would not have any option… and say ‘go ahead and file the case, if case Denied I will not blame you’. After six month case got Denied, reason is while filing Labor my company did not mention, it required Exceptional Ability candidate. Murthy said USCIS erroneously denied this petition. They gave option to Motion to Reopen and $2500 Murthy fee + $630 USCIS again. I felt $3500 itself lot of money for it and again they asking for $2500. Top on it they asking Client letter that should show like I am a Bill Gate or Steve Job. This is again they plan to push me to the corner if something happen again they would not take blame on them. I apt to not to file Motion to Reopen because I don’t have confidence on Murthy and I don’t have that much money. I asked Murthy to send me all the copies which they sent to USCIS, so that I can see they work, why they did charge me $3500. They sent 104 pages PDF, except page 96 I don’t see anything other than my documents and my employer. I am not saying you should not go thru Murthy, you must be careful with them. Don’t blindly follow the Murthy Brand name. Finally: when I asked them why did you file my case when you said that I have less than 5% chance of approval, Murthy replied we already done our paper work even if you withdraw the case at this stage you wouldn’t get anything. That means even if I withdraw my case in the middle of the process they would charge $3500.

Posted by anonymous | November 09, 2014 | Immigration

Murthy firm turn my case down, went to Carl Shusterman and I got my visa waiver approved in 6 months

I'm a physician and I was on a J1 with the 2 year home requirement rule. I needed to get a hardship waiver in order to stay in the US with my wife and daughters, so I called Murthy's law firm. I paid around $400 for the initial phone consultation and after telling her all my story and personal/family... situation, she said that I had no chance of winning the case, so she recommended not to persue the waiver. I had a real hardship case, I was not trying to cheat the system, we were going through a real bad situation. After Murthy's firm turned my case down, I kept looking for someone to help me. A friend recommended me to talk to Carl Shusterman. I got an initial consultation, which lasted around an hour and twenty minutes of extensive serious questioning over the phone with Dr. Shusterman and after he realized that I was having a real hardship issue, he took my case. To make a long story short, I got a J1 hardship waiver approved 6 months later. Please don't take me wrong, I am not suggesting that Dr. Shusterman is the best lawyer, just saying that you need to be really careful about Murthy's recommendation. In my opinion she is not reliable at all. Please make sure to consult to another lawyer after talking to Murthy, she might mess up your life giving you the wrong advice. Hey she made $400 for a $30 minute consultation and gave me the wrong legal advice.

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Sheela Murthy's Lawyer Endorsements

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Wendy Renee Whitt headshot
Wendy Whitt

Immigration lawyer | Oct 05

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer. I've worked on several American Immigration Lawyer Association committees with Sheela, and I'm always impressed by her knowledge, kindness and commitment to helping others. She is an incredibly talented immigration attorney."

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Experience

Rating:  10.0 (Superb)

Honors

2026

AV Preeminent Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

2026

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2025

National Spark Award (First Recipient), American Immigration Council

2025

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2024

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2023

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2023

Best Law Firms – Tier 1, U.S. News & World Report

2023

Hall of Fame (Lifetime Achievement), Baltimore Sun

2023

Hall of Fame Induction, MD Chamber of Commerce

2022

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2021

Publication of Being Sheela (Biography), HarperCollins

2021

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2020

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2019

Influential Marylander for 2019, Daily Record

2019

Thought Leaders in Corporate Immigration, Who’s Who Legal

2019

Maryland Super Lawyers, Maryland Super Lawyers

2019

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2018

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2017

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2016

20 Most Admired CEOs in Maryland, Maryland Business Community

2016

Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers

2016

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2015

Maryland Super Lawyers, Super Lawyers Magazine

2015

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2014

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2014

Clementine Peterson Award for Philanthropy, United Way of Central Maryland

2014

Maryland Super Lawyers, Super Lawyers Magazine

2013

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2013

Future 50 Award, Baltimore SmartCEO Magazine

2013

Maryland Super Lawyers, Super Lawyers Magazine

2013

Who's Who Legal, International Who's Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers

2012

50 Most Influential Marylanders, Maryland Leadership Organization

2012

Award for Excellence, ASHA For Women

2012

The Sadie Award, The Children's Guild

2011

Maryland's Top 100 Women Award, Maryland Daily Record

2010

Fastest Growing Private Companies (500/5000), Inc. Magazine

2010

Best of Business Award, The Small Business Commerce Association

2009

Entrepreneur of the Year, Ernst & Young

2009

Entrepreneur Of The Year, Ernst & Young

2009

Global Leadership Award, State of Maryland

2009

Philanthropist of the Year, United Way of Central Maryland

2009

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2009

Philanthropist of the Year, United Way of Central Maryland

2008

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2008

Leadership in Law Award, The Daily Record

2008

Leadership in Law Award, The Daily Record

2007

Maryland Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers (Maryland)

2007

Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers

2007

Circle of Excellence (3-time recognition), Top 100 Women Organization

2006

Leadership in Law, American Desi Magazine

2001

40 Under 40 Emerging Business Leaders, Business Leaders Organization

1999

Top 25 Lawyers in Baltimore-Washington, Baltimore Business Journal

Work Experience

1994 - Present

Founder and President, Murthy Law Firm

Associations

2015 - Present

Maryland Chamber of Commerce

Chairman

2010 - Present

Girl Scouts of Central Maryland

Chair, Board of Directors

American Immigration Lawyers Association

Member

American Immigration Lawyers Association (DC chapter)

Former Executive Committee Member

2002 - 2009

American Immigration Council

Board of Trustees

1999 - 2001

American Bar Association

Member, Immigration Law Coordinating Committee

Education

N/A

Harvard University Law School

LL.M - Master of Laws

Speaking Engagements

2015

Second Annual American Bazaar IT Conclave U.S. Immigration Law

2015

ITechLaw, Asia-Pacific Conference Updates on immigration law

2013

Leadership Summit

Immigration Reform Update

2012

Immigration Seminar

Immigration law

2012

AILA DC Fall Annual Conference

Employment-based Immigration

Publications

2015

2004

2003

The Economic Times L-1 & H1B Visas

Languages

French

Hindi

English

Avvo Rating

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