Giovanna Valdez

Giovanna Valdez is a founding partner of Valdez & Vilim, LLP and of her prior firm, Valdez Vilim & Wunrow, LLP. She focuses her practice in the area of immigration and nationality law, including family-based immigration, humanitarian immigration (asylum, VAWA, U Visas, T Visas and SIJS), naturalization, immigration appeals, and removal defense. She represents clients with cases before the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and the Department of Justice. She was selected to the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 Illinois Rising Star List by Super Lawyers.

Ms. Valdez is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) where she served as the co-chair of the USCIS District Director committee and Ethics committee. As District Director co-chair, Ms. Valdez spoke at the 2018 Fall Family and Removal Conference and the 2019 AILA Annual Conference on Immigration Law. Ms. Valdez is also on the board of directors for Latinos Progressando, a nonprofit organization in Chicago.

In law school, Ms. Valdez was an active member of the Society of Asylum and Immigration Law. In addition, for three years she was a volunteer student attorney at the DePaul College of Law Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic focusing on Removal Defense and U non-immigrant visas. Throughout law school, Ms. Valdez interned for influential Chicago non-profit organizations providing immigration services for underserved communities.

Prior to co-founding Valdez Vilim & Wunrow, Ms. Valdez practiced immigration law at a private firm in Chicago for 5 years. Ms. Valdez received her B.A. in Marketing with a Concentration in Professional Sales from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. She earned her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law with a certificate in Public Interest Law. Ms. Valdez is fluent in Spanish and is admitted to practice law in Illinois.