Timothy Gambacorta

Mr. Gambacorta was born, March 12, 1971 in Evanston, Illinois, not too far from Northwestern University flagship campus.  He attended high school at Loyola Academy, in Wilmette, Illinois, attended college at the University of Arizona with a major in history and a split minor in political science/economics, went on to graduate school at the University of Illinois at Chicago with a major in secondary education, and finally attended The Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. for his legal education. 

During law school, Mr. Gambacorta worked for the U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Maritime and International Law drafting appeals concerning disciplinary action against merchant mariners, researched the daily enforcement of federal law in the areas of drug interdiction, immigration, marine environmental protection, marine safety, living marine resource law, and general federal laws applicable at sea and performed legal research involving the amount of evidence necessary to rebut a presumption of negligence in maritime law.  He also drafted a detailed legal memo useful in addressing the issue whenever it arises in a U.S. Coast Guard administrative proceeding.

Mr. Gambacorta also worked as a Legal Specialist for International Labor Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor: Office of International Labor Affairs.  At the State Department, Mr. Gambacorta conducted domestic and United Nations legislative research of statutory mandates and assisted in the formulation of statutory construction guidelines to guide upper management on the eligibility criteria used in U.S. statutes to mandate conditioning of aid and trade benefits, outlined relevant legal issues and approaches in solving problems related to maritime port security and negotiated with representatives of the International Labor Organization the effect of revised maritime treaties on workers' legal rights.  Mr. Gambacorta further researched international maritime law and domestic immigration law to inform U.S. Government participation in negotiations to revise maritime treaties to expedite use of crews by shipping industry insofar as may be consistent with the requirements of U.S. immigration law, drafted response letters to Congressional inquiries pertaining to international labor human rights legal issues and instructed non-legal personnel in legislative historical research.  In 2002, he received the U.S. Department of State award for professional contributions to U.S. efforts to promote respect for rule of law and human rights worldwide.

After graduation from law school, Mr. Gambacorta came back to Illinois and successfully passed the Illinois bar exam.  Mr. Gambacorta did not practice immigration law immediately after he became a licensed attorney.  Rather, he worked at a commercial law firm, Shelist and Schwartz, LLP where he evaluated, managed, and litigated matters pertaining to class action and commercial litigation.  Caseload commonly involved consumer fraud and deceptive practices; fraudulent schemes involving business/corporate, healthcare, medical billing, insurance, and bank/trustee/lender; whistleblower (Qui Tam) litigation; and execution on large judgments and awards.  Mr. Gambacorta researched and drafted, legal briefs, motions for summary judgments, and motions for bad faith and sanctions, as well as responses to affirmative defenses, motions to dismiss, and motions for summary judgments.  He prepared Disclosure Statements in Qui Tam matters involving criminal schemes resulting in kickbacks and double-billing for Medicare/Medicaid services and interviewed clients in connection with drafting Qui Tam Disclosure Statements. 

After Shelist and Schwartz, LLP, Mr. Gambacorta worked for another commercial law firm where he represented clients in state courts in a wide range of commercial disputes including: contract; fiduciaries; negligence; employment contracts; slander and defamation; post-judgment collection via supplementary proceedings; preliminary and permanent injunctive relief; and representation of union members engaged in disciplinary misconduct. He also researched and drafted substantive and procedural issues pertaining to pleadings, motions, discovery requests, citations to discover assets on third parties, and legal memoranda, including trial briefs.  He has also has extensive written discovery, deposition, and motion practice experience, including appearances before arbitrators in mandatory arbitration proceedings.

In 2006, Mr. Gambacorta decided to go back to the area of law where his heart is, immigration and nationality law.  He has successfully defended many foreign nationals in immigration court and who were subject to deportation as a result of either criminal and/or immigration violations.  Mr. Gambacorta additionally has successfully handles waiver cases to enable those foreign nationals who are forever barred from coming to the United States to reunite with their families here.

Mr. Gambacorta spends considerable amount of time in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam) where he advises clients on consular processing as well as a host of other immigration legal issues.  He is licensed in Arizona and Illinois and when not practicing law spends family time with his spouse and 7 year old daughter.  Mr. Gambacorta enjoys reading, traveling, running, cooking, learning about different cultures and languages and walking through airports and train stations.