Our Team
Desmond P. FitzGerald, Esq.
Managing Director
First Generation American
(Irish descent -- and Colombian through marriage)
 FitzGerald & Company would have never existed had it not been for
the tireless work of Desmond P. FitzGerald. In the course of his legal
experience, it became apparent to him that there was very little ingenuity
and a lack of a consultative, solutions-based approach to the area of
immigration law. In order to better serve this need in the community,
Mr. FitzGerald decided it would be beneficial to start his own firm, which
through his leadership, dedication, creative approach and successful litigation
performance, grew into what is now FitzGerald and Company. As the company
continues to grow, Desmond has not forgotten the importance of serving
every client in a personalized manner and with a creative strategy to
their problem. His tireless work has meant that a majority of the new
clients that come to the firm today, are referred by current and former
satisfied clients who realize the full value of our firm’s service.
After graduating from Boston College's Arts and Sciences undergraduate
program, Desmond went on to receive his law degree from the New England
School of Law in 1996. He has since been admitted to practice in Massachusetts,
Florida, and Washington, D.C. and is an active member of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the American
Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association (Litigation Section), the
Massachusetts Bar Association (Criminal Division), Florida Bar Association
(International Section), Washington DC Bar Association (International
Section).
Mr. FitzGerald had the opportunity to live in Bogotá, Colombia,
where he studied Spanish at the Unversidad Javeriana.
Clary
Geraldino-Karasek
Legal Staff Supervisor
 Born
in Santiago, Dominican Republic; fluent both in Spanish and English, Clary
exemplifies the culture of customer service that we encourage at FitzGerald
& Company. As such, Clary is the legal staff supervisor and she is
responsible for the supervision, training and coordination of the activities
of other legal staff members of the firm as well as management of the
overall company schedule. She is also responsible for paralegal duties
such as preparing immigration petitions, complaints, demands, and overall
maintenance of client files. In addition, she helps prepare clients for
interviews, interprets, translates, and corresponds with clients, medical
professionals, and insurance companies. Through her communication skills,
her desire to help, and her courteous nature, Clary is always ready to
provide appropriate support and guidance to our clients, throughout the
development of their case.
With
an Associate degree in Liberal Arts, a degree
in Bilingual Office Assistance, a paralegal certificate,
and pursuing a Bachelor Degree in Political Science
at Northeastern University, Ms. Geraldino-Karasek
has a wide educational experience. She also has
significant professional experience in customer
service, working for several years with American
Airlines. Ms. Geraldino-Karasek is well aware
of the importance of maintaining a high level
of customer satisfaction for a company and has
made this the top priority of her job. Clary went
through the immigration process herself and is
happy to be able to help others going through
a similar experience.
Michelle De Oliveira
Paralegal
 Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and
English, Michelle is responsible for preparing immigration petitions,
complaints, demands, client and court communications, and overall case
management. Her case load has included many immigrant and non-immigrant
visa petitions, and she has established great expertise in handling PERM
cases. Her knowledge of the Portuguese language has also been key in helping
to better serve our Portuguese speaking clients.
Michelle received a BS from Northeastern University, and has been living
in the United States since 1988. Her goal is to attend law school and
practice immigration law.
There is no doubt that Michelle's
experience working at the Boston Bar Association and volunteering at the
Hale and Dorr Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School has greatly
enhanced her passion for working in the legal profession. It is her desire
to provide our clients with the best assistance possible.
Dayan Tabares
Paralegal
 Born in Medellín, Colombia, fluent in Spanish and English,
Dayan is responsible for preparing immigration petitions, complaints,
demands, and overall client relations as well as case management and maintenance
of client files. She is also responsible for preparing applications, preparing
client correspondence, translating and filing documents, and translating
at client meetings. Upon arriving to this country, Dayan held a variety
of positions which provided her with an invaluable experience and helped
her understand American culture and prepare for a challenging career in
law.
Ms. Tabares graduated with a Bachelors Degree on Political Science and
a Psychology minor at Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts. She earned
her Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Middlesex Community
College in Burlington, Massachusetts at the same time that she was settling
into her new county. Her personal experience with the immigration process
allows her to identify with most of our clients encouraging her to give
her best to every case that she manages. She is planning on going to Northeastern
University or Suffolk University Law School.
Gloria Lara
Executive Director
Born in Bogotá, Colombia
 Ms.
Lara's responsibilities are wide in scope, ranging
from strategic planning, marketing, and operations,
to human resources, accounting and billing. Though
this may sound like a huge task to manage, she
is a believer in teamwork and delegation. Her
top priority is to make sure our clients are being
taken care of appropriately at all times. Gloria
is one of our leading problem solvers; her background
in business consulting, marketing and Internet
start-ups has been key to managing the growth
at FitzGerald & Company and making sure that
the firm adopts the best business practices among
service industries.
A graduate
from Boston College undergraduate School of Communication,
and Boston University's dual MBA and MA in International
Relations graduate program, Gloria has helped
propel FitzGerald and Company into the efficient
and service-oriented business it is today. Formerly,
Gloria served as Marketing Director at NewDeal
Inc. and Espanol.com. In addition, she served
as Internet and management consultant at AGENCY.COM,
DIGITAS, Arthur D. Little, and Monitor Company.
She is an active member of the Association of
Legal Administrators and the Legal Marketing Association.
On a personal note, Ms. Lara has held 5 different
types of visas to reside in the U.S., including
B1/B2, F1, E2, H1, residency, and now citizenship.
She is fluent in Spanish, French, and English.
Ynes Hernandez
Accounts Receivable Coordinator
 Born
in Barquisimeto-Edo Lara, Venezuela. Ynes supports
the Executive Director and is a member of the
Administration team. She manages the accounts
receivable and collections process. Ynes is in
charge of maintaining our receivables records,
monitoring our aging accounts, creating client
invoices, generating monthly receivable activity
reports, reviewing bills and ensuring the appropriate
application of billing procedures. As part of
the administrative team, Ynes helps ensure that
our office is running smoothly at all times and
with her cheerie attitude she helps make our office
a fun place to work at.
Ms.
Hernandez is fluent in Spanish and English. She
has an Associates degree in Business Administration
from Bunker Hill Community College and will be
pursuing her Bachelors degree in Business Management
at UMASS Boston. Ynes has experience working as
a Spanish/English interpreter and extensive experience
working for car rental companies, which has taught
her the importance of providing exceptional customer
service to clients. She is always willing to listen,
understand and respond to any inquiries or quiestions
that clients may have about billing client concerns
with superior customer service at all times.
Nadia Morales
Administrative Coordinator
 Born
in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Nadia Morales supports
the Executive Director in all aspects of firm
administration. Specifically, she assists with
client contracts, bill payment, vendor relationships,
client database maintenance, marketing and technology
projects, filing system administration, maintenance
of the office calendar, and supervision and coordination
of firm operations.
Fluent
in Spanish and English, Nadia came to the United
States in 1999, graduated from East Boston High
School and has several years of experience in
customer relations in the restaurant, hospitality,
and tourism industry. Nadia is well aware of the
importance of maintaining high customer satisfaction
for a company and has made this the top priority
of her job. Ms. Morales went through the immigration
process herself, and she is happy to be able to
help others going through a similar experience.
Her personal experience with the immigration process
helps her provide a comfortable environment to
our clients since she can directly relate to their
experiences.
Natalia M.
Urrea
Paralegal
 Born in Bogotá, Colombia and fluent in Spanish and English, Natalia is responsible for preparing immigration petitions, complaints, demands, client and court communications, translating at client interviews and meetings, and overall case management. She also handles the relations and work with the Colombian Consulate in Boston for which we are the legal counsel for the New England area. Natalia helps coordinate our client’s requests as well as assist with the preparation of reports. Natalia’s academic and travel experience abroad in Europe and Latin America, give her a set of skills and a special awareness of the importance of immigration issues in today’s world and the increasing international character of legal issues.
Ms. Urrea graduated with a Bachelors Degree in International Relations and a Business minor from Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts and concentrated in Latin America, International Management and Diplomacy. Additionally, her work experience has allowed her to develop customer service, team work and administrative skills. In the future, she would like to help shape the course that countries and companies will follow by creating legislation and policy. For this reason, she believes Law School will be a good fit for her.
Christina K. Salib, Esq.
Associate
Attorney
 Born in Michigan, U.S. of Egyptian immigrants, Christina speaks Spanish, English and some Egyptian Arabic. Ms. Salib prepared a variety of immigration cases for Latin Americans as an intern at Centro Presente in Cambridge, and she has represented asylum seekers from Africa as law student counsel in U.S. immigration court. Christina also prepared asylum cases through the Boston PAIR Project while studying refugee and asylum law and immigration law. Prior to law school, Christina spent time in Latin America designing community development projects in Paraguay, researching labor rights throughout Central America, and serving as an International Monitor for a human rights trial in Guatemala City, pursuant to the 1996 Peace Accords. With much family abroad, Christina has always taken on leadership in multicultural organizations and pursued service to persons from a wide variety of cultures.
Attorney
Salib received her J.D. from Boston University
School of Law in 2004, graduating with honors
in international law. A joint degree student while
in law school, she received her M.A. from Boston
University Graduate School of International Relations
and has her B.A. from the University of Michigan-Ann
Arbor. As a law student, Christina was selected
as a Stanford University School of Law International
Law Symposium Young Scholar for her research and
writing on post-apartheid South Africa. She was
also selected as a European Union Moot Court Competition
finalist in Paris, France. Christina served as
a Note Editor for the Boston University International
Law Journal and is an Editor for the International
Consortium for Law and Development. She brings
knowledge of the court system from the year she
spent working as a judicial law clerk in the Rhode
Island Supreme Court Law Clerk Department, where
she researched and wrote draft judicial opinions
for multiple judges.
Jodi Ziesemer
Paralegal
 Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Jodi serves as a part-time paralegal, handling a wide variety of immigration and criminal cases. Jodi has been working with legal immigration matters both in Chicago and Boston for the past five years specializing in asylum, family-based immigration, and visa petitions. Jodi prepares applications, briefs, and appeals both with the immigration service and with the courts and is fluent in Spanish and English.
Jodi was a Board of Immigration Appeals Accredited Representative with a non-profit firm in Chicago for three years prior to moving to Boston. She now studies international and human rights law at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. Jodi has lived abroad in Latin America and has traveled extensively throughout the world. She is dedicated to helping immigrants navigate legal issues and advocate for their rights.
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