Elaine Witty joined the Memphis office of Siskind Susser Bland PC as a Senior Attorney following a distinguished career in government with the City of New York.

Ms. Witty served as the Executive Director of the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Affairs at the Human Resources Administration during the term of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. In that capacity, Ms. Witty worked with City attorneys and immigrant advocates to draft language access legislation to strengthen language access services for limited English proficient individuals seeking vital health and human services from City agencies.  She also served as Director of Legal Affairs for Citizenship New York City, a mayoral citizenship initiative, developed by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in response to anti-immigrant provisions of the federal Welfare Reform Law. Ms. Witty began her career in City government as Deputy Counsel to City Councilman Noach Dear (D-Brooklyn).

Ms. Witty is an active member of the Bar. She is past Chapter Chair of the New York Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (2005-2006), which boasts a membership of over 1200 immigration attorneys. Ms. Witty served on the City Bar Association’s Immigration and Nationality Committee and the New York State Bar Association, Committee on Women in the Law. She is the recipient of the Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Pro Bono Award in recognition of her tireless work on behalf of low-income Brooklynites.

Ms. Witty is a sought after speaker and has taught immigration law seminars at New York Law School, City University of New York, City Bar Association, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.  

Ms. Witty is a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and Yeshiva University, Stern College for Women. She is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the United States Supreme Court.

Ms. Witty practices employment based immigration managing cases for our clients from Fortune 100 companies. She also practices in family based immigration with a specialty in naturalization and derivative citizenship and religious worker cases. She can be reached via e-mail at ewitty@visalaw.com.