Beata Anna Leja

Beata Leja is an Associate attorney at the law firm of Minsky, McCormick & Hallagan, P.C. Beata's practice includes both employment-based and family-based immigration law. She is an active member of the Chicago Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), where she currently serves as the Co-chair of the Fall Conference Planning Committee, and a member of the LGBT Committee and the Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Liaison Committee. She has previously served on the Social Security Administration (SSA) Liaison Committee and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) & Department of Labor (DOL) Liaison Committee, as well as other committees. She is also a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Women's Bar Association, and the Advocates Society for Polish lawyers. In 2015, she was named an Emerging Lawyer in Immigration Law by Leading Lawyers, a distinction given to only 2% of lawyers licensed to practice law in Illinois. She has also been recognized as a Rising Star in Immigration by Super Lawyers Magazine in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, and awarded the Pro Bono Guardian award by AILA for her pro bono services to the immigrant community. Beata has conducted seminars about immigration law for students, employers, employees and attorneys. She is admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois and in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Beata is a 2007 graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she was a member of the Niagara International Moot Court Team (3^rd Best Oralist). Prior to law school, she was a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools as a corps member of the national service corps Teach for America. She has a Master of Education from National–Louis University and two Bachelor's degrees in Spanish and International Relations from the University of Southern California. She is fluent in Polish and conversant in Spanish.