About Carl

Biography

Attorney Carl Shusterman has over 40 years of experience as an immigration lawyer. He served as an attorney for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) until 1982, when he entered the private practice of law.

For over a decade, he has been voted as one of the Best Lawyers in America and as a Super Lawyer by his colleagues in the bar.

Carl has been named as one of the top 15 corporate immigration attorneys in the U.S. by Human Resource Executive magazine. His hard work and dedication to immigration law have earned him the highest rating (“AV”) in legal ability and ethics from the prestigious Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory. He has also served as a member of the Immigration and Nationality Law Advisory Commission for the State Bar. Carl is also listed in The International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers and the Chamber’s USA Guide for Leading Business Lawyers.

He has testified as an expert witness before the Senate Immigration Subcommittee in Washington, D.C.

Carl is a former Chairman of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Southern California Chapter and served as a member of Shusterman AILA’s national Board of Governors (1988-97). He has chaired numerous AILA Committees, spoken at dozens of AILA Conferences and has contributed a number of scholarly articles to AILA’s publications.

Carl is a frequent writer and lecturer on immigration law. His articles, letters to the editor and quotes have appeared in prestigious publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Canada’s Globe and Mail, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, California Lawyer, Los Angeles Lawyer, Journal of the American Medical Association, Christian Science Monitor, Atlantic Monthly, Computer World, Information Week, Issues in Science and Technology, Variety, and numerous other publications. He has written for, and been quoted extensively in, leading periodicals specializing in immigration law including Interpreter Releases, Immigration Law and Procedure, Immigration Briefings, Inside Immigration, Immigration Journal and U.S. Immigrant Magazine. In addition, he has appeared on various television programs including NBC’s Today Show, CNN’s Headline News and on a wide variety of nationally syndicated radio shows.

Practice Areas

Immigration 90%

Our attorneys represent hundreds of employers and thousands of immigrants. We specialize in employment and family-based immigration, deportation defense and Federal litigation. We conduct internal I-9 audits for our corporate clients.

51 years | 50,000 cases

90%

Asylum 10%

Our attorneys represent hundreds of employers and thousands of immigrants. With over 40 years of experience in Asylum cases, our attorneys navigate such cases through a complex system of procedures that only the best lawyers can maneuver.

51 years | 1,000 cases

10%

Fees and Rates

We have not found any cost information for this lawyer

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Licenses

Licensed in California for 52 years

State: California

Acquired: 1973

Active

No misconduct found

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Location

JR Immigration Law Group

21250 Hawthorne Blvd. Suite 500, Los Angeles, CA, 90503

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Carl Michael Shusterman's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

4.9 /5.0

459 Client Reviews

5 star (443) 4 star (6)

3 star (0)

2 star (0)

1 star (10)

Showing 1 - 5 of 459 client reviews from Avvo

Posted by anonymous | December 8, 2025 | Consulted Attorney

Very fast to respond

Mr. Carl Michael answered all my questions in a timely manner! I appreciate hiss help. Thank you again!

Posted by Narciso (Tony) Lamadrid. | August 17, 2024 | Hired Attorney

Best of the best

Mr. Shusterman solved my wife's immigration problem in less than a month, after we had been battling with the INS for over a year and they kept giving us the round and round and asking us to pay again the fees for her application. Mr. Shusterman took over, and in less than 3 weeks my wife got her pap...ers with no more problems. He was recommended by my brother and it was one of the best decisions we made!

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Posted by Argentina | May 13, 2024 | Hired Attorney

The best of the best

Mr Shusterman is very honest, trustworthy, reliable and professional Attorney. It was a pleasure and a privilege to hired him for our Immigration Case. Very grateful family from Nicaragua. Thanks a lot Mr. Shusterman.

Posted by anonymous | April 16, 2024 | Hired Attorney

Immigration

WHY WOULD SOMEONE PAY $400 FOR A 30 MIN OVER THE PHONE CONVERSATION, HE DOESN'T HAVE YOUR FILE IN FRONT OF HIM, HE DOESN'T KNOW YOUR CASE, THERE ARE PLENTY OF IMMIGRATION LAWYERS OUT THERE THAT OFFER FREE IN PERSON CONSULTATION, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!! REMEMBER THAT THE PERSON YOU ARE SPEAKING W...ITH IS PROBABLY NOT THE ATTORNEY HIMSELF, IF PROBABLY AN ASSISTANT, (( TO THE ATTORNEY Carl Shusterman , SHAME ON YOU FOR CHARGING PEOPLE WHO ARE DESPERATE $400 FOR A USELESS 30 MINUTES OVER THE PHONE CONVERSATION!!!!

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Carl Shusterman

Replied last April 16, 2024

Please take a look at a few of our 400+ 5-Star Reviews on Avvo and you will see how pleased our clients have been with our work on their behalf. If a person hires us within a reasonable time after their consultation, we subtract what they paid for their consultation from their overall fee. I carefully review the information on the person's intake sheet and the attached documents before the start of their consultation. I recommend taking advantage of our free immigration resources at https://www.shusterman.com including how to get a temporary visa, a green card and US citizenship. We encourage you to join our 40,000+ subscribers to our Free Immigration Newsletter to keep up to date on immigration laws and policies.

Posted by anonymous | December 25, 2023 | Consulted Attorney

Very fast to respond and very professional

Carl Michael is a very helpful and professional lawyer. He answered all my questions in a timely manner! Very happy to work with him in the future! If you need a lawyer he is your guy!! Thanks again Mr. Michael!

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