When Top Attorneys Go Bad – The Tale of Owolabi M. Salis
It’s always a bit of a shock when we notice a significant uptick in traffic for one of the attorneys on our Top Attorney website. Usually, it means only one of two things: either the attorney passed away or they did something really wrong. Today, we’ll be taking a look at Owolabi Salis, who was disbarred in November 2022 after submitting over 1,100 fraudulent and frivolous I-360 petitions! Let’s take a closer look at this interesting case.
Owolabi Salis was an immigration attorney based out of New York who had been practicing law since 1992. Over the past six years, he
submitted 1,185 I-360 petitions – which are applications submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services by immigrants seeking green-card status based on having been married to a U.S. citizen who has since died – but only one was granted. The rest were fraudulent or outright frivolous! With a success rate of only 0.08%, it’s unbelievable that it took authorities so long – what were they doing, counting raindrops?! Fortunately, someone did notice, and it ultimately led to an investigation into his practices and Mr. Salis was found guilty and disbarred in November 2022.
The fallout from this case was significant; not only did Salis lose his license to practice law in the state of New York, but he also faced criminal charges as well as hefty fines based on the number of false documents he had filed with USCIS. Furthermore, since many of these documents were used by immigrants to try and get green cards, individuals had their cases denied due to Owolabi’s actions which caused considerable anger and frustration among the immigrant community.
Cases like those of Owolabi Salis should serve as a reminder for all those looking for legal advice; do your research before selecting an attorney! Always read reviews online before making any decisions and make sure you have all the facts about your potential new lawyer before hiring them. At Top Attorneys, we believe that preying on those in need is a deplorable act and exploiting people’s desperation should never be tolerated. This is the exact reason why we strive to provide users of our site with honest information about each attorney so that they can make an informed decision about their legal representation – no matter what kind of situation they find themselves in. Owolabi Salis has been unceremoniously booted from our site, not unlike other lawyers that have seen their legal license revoked. Guess even attorneys aren’t immune to a good old-fashioned termination!
Author: Sal Aniano
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The Top Attorneys of North America have crafted this article to provide insight and helpful information of general interest. The goal is to keep readers informed and up-to-date on relevant legal topics – not necessarily offering advice tailored for their individual needs or circumstances.