Welcome
Kevork Law is a full service entertainment and immigration law firm. Our services are customized to each client’s specific legal needs and are developed together with each client we represent. We adapt to work with each client’s unique requirements and with each production and company’s existing operating structure and policies.
Our lawyers are licensed practitioners in the states of California, Florida, Missouri, and Pennsylvania, in the US territory of Puerto Rico and in Ontario, Canada. As a result, we provide a wide range of International, Federal and State-wide legal services.
Our clients include NASDAQ traded companies, artists, architects, musicians, investors and entrepreneurs, tech professionals, creators, influencers, startups and production companies. They come to us from through the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, Australia and India.
We are proud of all our clients. Our goal is to always represent them with that same level of talent and passion they each demonstrate in their own careers.
Expertise
Visitor Visa
- B-1 Business Visitors
- B-2 Tourist Visitors
- J-1 Exchange Visitors
- Change of Status
- Extension of Stay
- Visa Waiver Program
Students
- Student Non-Immigration Visas
Work Based Non-Immigrant Visas
- E-1 Treaty Trader
- E-2 Treat Invesetor
- E-3 Visa for Australians
- H-1B Special Occupation
- L-1 Intra-Company Transferee for Executive
- Managers and Specialized Knowledge occupations
- O-1 Extraordinary Ability in Arts or Achievement in Motion Picture and Television
- O-2 Artist Support Personnel
- R-1 Religious Worker Visa
- TN Free Trade NAFTA Professionals (Canadians, Mexican and US Citizens)
Immigrant Visas (Green Cards / Permanent Residency)
FAMILY BASED
- Immediate relatives – parents, spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21 of US Citizens
- Foreign Nationals married to US Permanent Residents
- Unmarried Children of US Permanent Residents
- Brothers and Sisters of US Citizens
EMPLOYMENT BASED
- EB-1 Priority Workers – Extraordinary Ability in Science, Arts, Education Business or Athletics,
- EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers, Multinational Executives and Managers
- EB-2 Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees or Aliens of Exceptional Ability
- EB-3 Professional, Skilled and Other Workers
- EB-4 Special Immigrants
INVESTMENT BASED IMMIGRATION
- EB-5 Petitions for Direct Investments
- EB-5 Petitions for Indirect (Regional Center based) Investments
- Regional Center Services – Initial Designation Application and Amendments
- Project review for EB-5 eligibility and compliance determination
U VISAS
- Based on the Violence Against Women Act
REMOVAL OF CONDITIONS
CONSULAR SERVICES
CITIZENSHIP AND NATURALIZATION
I-9 / E-VERIFY COMPLIANCE – The form I-9 and E-Verify landscape is constantly evolving. Our lawyers can work with your human resources personnel to consult, audit and identify I-9 errors, omissions, discrepancies and recommend corrective actions. We can work with you to provide best practices for your organization.
We serve as Outside General Counsel and Business Affairs Advisors to various entrepreneurial entities specializing in creative activities, from visual effects companies, talent agencies, film festivals, tech professionals and start-ups.
Many businesses, from start-ups to large privately held companies, do not have in-house counsel for reasons of costs, philosophy or transition. Working closely with our clients, we gain an in-depth understanding of their business activities and objectives. Because of this, we are able to provide focused, client-centered, and cost-effective advice and counsel on legal issues confronting clients on a daily basis.
We represent a diverse business and corporate clientele, assisting business owners and entrepreneurs, startups and established businesses, small local businesses and large multinational corporations. We provide a wide range of services and handle all business transactions encountered in every business life-cycle. Our law firm negotiates, drafts, reviews, revises various business contracts, and advises clients every step of the way, as they build and grow their businesses.
BUSINESS START UP AND MAINTENANCE SERVICES
PREPARATION AND REVIEW OF CORPORATE AGREEMENTS AND COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS
- Shareholder Agreements
- By-laws and Operating Agreements
- Joint Venture Agreements Partnership Agreements
- Power of Attorney
- Non-disclosure Agreements
- Licensing Agreements
- Distribution Agreements
- Service Agreements
- Consulting Agreements
- Purchase and Sale Agreements
- Assignment Agreements and Instruments
BUYING AND SELLING BUSINESSES
- Asset Purchase Agreements
- Non-Competition Provisions
Managing Attourney is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario, Canada), and as such is authorized to provide the following services to individuals requiring Canadian legal services:
CANADIAN PASSPORT GUARANTOR SERVICES
CANADIAN NOTARY SERVICES
- Executive affidavits and statutory declarations for use in Canada
- Certify true copies of original Canadian documents
CANADIAN IMMIGRATION SERVICES
- Temporary Visas
- Permanent Residency
- Citizenship and naturalization
Our entertainment lawyers have also worked as producers, talent managers and industry executives and come with years of legal experience in all areas of entertainment transactional matters across film, television, new media including:
MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION COUNSEL
TALENT REPRESENTATION
FINANCING AND DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENTS
LICENSING AND USE AGREEMENTS
AGENCY AND MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS
GUILD AGREEMENTS
PRODUCTION INCENTIVES
TAX CREDITS
RIGHTS OF PRIVACY AND PUBLICITY
COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK LAW
INTERNET LAW
Team
Zoe Kevork
Managing Attorney
EDUCATION
- Bachelor of Arts, York University, 1997
- Bachelor of Laws, University of Western Ontario, 2000
- Certificate in International Litigation and Arbitration, Cornell University 2000
- Master of Laws, University of Notre Dame, 2001
BAR ADMISSIONS
- State Bar of California
- Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario)
AFFILIATIONS
- Canadians Abroad of Southern California (President)
- American Immigration Lawyers Association
- Canadian American Bar Association
- Women in Film Los Angeles
- ARPA Foundation for Film Music and Art (former Board of Trustee Member)
AREAS OF PRACTICE
- Immigration Law (all areas)
- Entertainment Law
- Outside General Counsel
- Canadian Legal Services
Zoe Kevork is a Canadian and US immigration and entertainment attorney with 12 years experience on both sides of the border. Since 2010, she has been the Managing Partner of Kevork Law building a reputation for success, efficiency and personal attention. Ms. Kevork specializes in entertainment-based immigration issues specifically and entertainment transactional matters generally. With her immigration clients, Ms. Kevork celebrates a 98% success rate across all areas. On the entertainment side she has represented production companies, writers and producers at various stages of contract negotiations and film development.
Before launching Kevork Law, Ms. Kevork had a varied practice. She has previously served as a trade/legal advisor to the Ontario Government and as an entertainment and non-profit attorney for various arts councils and production companies in Los Angeles. She has spoken on the concept of a North American Monetary Union (ACSUS) and taught International Trade Law at Seneca College (Toronto, Canada).
Ms. Kevork has also spent several years as an entertainment industry professional. After an internship with Triggerstreet Productions (Kevin Spacey & Dana Brunetti), she went on to work with Academy Award winners Faye Dunaway, Fred Roos and Francis Ford Coppola. In 2011, she produced her first feature film HERE, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Currently, Ms. Kevork remains active in the entertainment industry by producing several animated series in various stages of development and is a partner in Infinite Echo Entertainment, a talent/business management and production company.
Most recently, under the auspices of FWD.us Ms. Kevork spoke on investment-based immigration issues during LA Startup Week and at privately sponsored seminars in Dubai, UAE. She is also the annual speaker to the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television on entertainment-based immigration topics.
Ms. Kevork is a proud Armenian-Canadian-American lawyer and film producer and in her spare time gives back to the community by producing concerts for Armenian artists and as President of Canadians Abroad of Southern California.
MARIFE NAZARIO
Of Counsel
EDUCATION
- Bachelor of Arts, Duke University, 1993
- Juris Doctor, Tulane Law School, 1999
- Certificate in European Legal Studies, Tulane Law School, 1999
- LL.M. in Corporate and Commercial Law, University of London, 2000
BAR ADMISSIONS
- State Bar of Florida
- State Bar of Pennsylvania
- State Bar of Missouri
- Bar of Puerto Rico
AFFILIATIONS
- American Immigration Lawyers Association
AREAS OF PRACTICE
- Immigration Law (all areas)
- Outside General Counsel
- Corporate Law
RECENT SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
- EB-5 as Vehicle for Permanent Immigration and Economic Development in Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rico Manufacturing Association’s Annual Convention, Puerto Rico, June 2016
- Immigration Options for Foreign Investors in Puerto Rico
- Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Panama, Panama City, Panama, May 2016
Marifé Nazario has over 15 years of combined experience in the areas of corporate, commercial and real estate law, and business immigration. In recent years, she has focused her practice in the representation of foreign investors and entrepreneurs, and specialized in the complex area of EB-5 immigration, representing regional center clients, private equity funds and individual foreign investors in all aspects of EB-5 representation. Ms. Nazario has extensive experience in EB-5 capital work and has represented some of the largest and most successful USCIS-designated Regional Centers and national real estate developers, having trained as an EB-5 Capital Attorney with the law firm of Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez LLP in Los Angeles. As part of her own practice, she regularly assists clients in seeking initial USCIS Regional Center designation, preparing and filing I-924 petitions and amendments, exemplar requests and annual filings, as well as preparing I-526 templates and reviewing EB-5 offering and other project documents to ensure EB-5 compliance and eligibility. Additionally, Ms. Nazario represents individual investors through all phases of the EB-5 petition process, including the tracing and documenting of lawful source of funds and the preparation and filing of individual I-526 and I-829 petitions. In addition to EB-5, she also specializes in E-1 and E-2 treaty trader and treaty investor petitions, L blanket and individual L petitions. With a background spanning over eight years of experience as a corporate, securities and real estate attorney and an additional four years as a business immigration attorney, Ms. Nazario is uniquely positioned to represent regional center and new commercial enterprise clients in this complex, hybrid and ever-evolving area of the law.
Testimonials
“When I retained Kevork Law I never expecting that I could change successfully my status from student to legal resident. Zoe was able to successfully map a route for my immigration process in what seemed like an impossible situation. She helped me manage my immigration process through a minefield of law and rules pertaining to my particular situation. Zoe showed extraordinary diligence and tenacity and went out of her way to find solutions. She was able to establish a well-researched and creative strategy that rendered the positive result. Without her keen knowledge and experience I would not have been successful. I sent to her a lot of my friend and she was successful with all of them.
I will always be grateful for her patience and kind disposition in dealing with such an arduous task. I highly recommend her professional work and her supportiveness.” – Simona Regolo, Architect/Designer, Den of Thieves
“I have worked with many lawyers in my career and I can honestly say that working with Zoe has been the best experience I have ever had. Finally, someone who actually cares about you! She was always there when I needed her and I would not have been able to get my work visa without her expertise and diligence. Seeing how she has been through the process herself, I always trusted that she knows what she is talking about, whereas many immigration lawyers really do not. When you are talking about your life and well-being, put it in the hands of someone who actually cares – thank you, Zoe!” – Pamela Horner, Management Consultant
Zoe was amazing throughout the entirety of my green card application process. She was incredibly helpful and made me feel confident about the outcome of my application package. With the help of Zoe Kevork, I’m now moving in the fall to start the next chapter of my life and I am so thankful for her!” – Amanda Brooke Perrin, Comedian/Writer, Spun Out (CBC)
“First, Zoe is extremely easy going! During my consultation I never felt rushed but instead walked away with the feeling that she totally got the importance of this visa – for me, this visa was everything. I never felt like I was being pushed aside or put second – she was always there to answer my questions, kept me in the loop and didn’t let up on the process. While others said how it was impossible or one in a million to get a work visa – Zoe believed in me, my past work and what I had to offer productions in the U.S.! I received my O1 visa without any major problems and now going for my U.S. residency…. Without a doubt I would recommend Zoe and Kevork Law to other professionals looking to break into the U.S. Film and Television market! – Greg Donis, Producer, Cabin Truckers/Saw Dogs Discovery
“After, almost 4 years of pending status, waiting for approval with no end in sight form the US Consulate in Montreal and thousands of dollars spent on the “best immigration Attorneys” Zoe did what seemed to be impossible and obtained my green card within 8 months of submitting new paperwork taking the unorthodox or perhaps genius approach to a circumstance deemed for failure. The organization, meticulous, approach with attention to every detail was impressive and instilled confidence. I can’t thank the firm enough for giving me a start to a new life.” – Dr. T (review submitted to Avvo)
“Just a note to express my deepest gratitude to you. It’s rate to find legal representation that is so invested in the success of their clients. Even when the path to obtaining my work visa was filled with obstacles, you remained consistent and unwavering. I’m so thrilled we reached a successful outcome. I cannot thank you enough for your sound advice. You are the best, hands down!” – Laura Garcia, Producer, Battle of the Sexes, Lifetime
“I was very lucky to find Kevork Law when looking for someone to guide me through the Green Card process. What I’d feared would be an overwhelming challenge quickly became manageable and straightforward thanks to Zoe’s guidance. With endless patience she answered every question I had, always making me feel she was as invested in the outcome as I was. From the time she took me on as a client to the moment I received my Green Card, I never felt alone, and I couldn’t recommend her highly enough.” – Levi MacDougall, writer / CONAN
“Kevork Law was the right choice for me. Zoe was very easy to talk to and knowledgeable. She had an answer for everything. As a result of their help I’m able to pursue my dream of being a comedian of middle-ing proportion on an international level.” – Graham Keay, Comedian
“Zoe was fantastic! She helped my wife and I through our Canadian EB1 application for a US Green Card. It is one of the most complicated and time consuming processes I have ever seen. Zoe was always there to answer the multitude of questions we had. Without her I am sure we would have given up years ago. However, we have just got it and are absolutely over the moon.” – Jamie Tyndall, Graphic Artist / Creative Director
“Zoe is amazing! As a Canadian working in the entertainment/ news industry, it’s often overwhelming to have to navigate the visa process. I wasn’t sure the O visa was right for me, but Zoe was always patient and took time to explain the process. She meticulously went through everything we would need to put together a solid O visa application and everything was smooth from the time we started the process right up to the acceptance. She goes above and beyond and was in contact with me every step of the way. Although it’s a daunting and anxiety-ridden task, Zoe was a calming presence throughout the whole thing. Her particular knowledge as a fellow Canadian also made me feel much better and more understood throughout the process. I would recommend Zoe to anyone looking into navigating the murky waters of immigration.” – Alyssa Caverley, Producer, ORA TV / Popsugar
“I am so glad I chose Kevork Law as I navigated the TN process that got me from Toronto to California. Zoe’s support was beyond helpful and she was always available by email to answer my every little question. In the end the process went incredibly smoothly and I can’t be more grateful for her impressive knowledge, confidence and guidance. Without her I could never have turned my dream of working and living in California into a reality. Thanks Zoe!” – Christine Donnelley, Marketing Manager, LA Times
“I recently worked with Kevork Law in order to obtain my TN visa and will be recommending Kevork Law to anyone looking for immigration support coming into the US! Truth be told I had previously worked with one of the big Washington law firms to initially get my TN. When their petition was denied I quickly turned to Kevork Law and within 2 weeks crossed the border, with my 3-year TN visa in hand. Kevork Law walked me through every step of the way. Their advice, support and expertise, as well as their availability to always go one step further with one on one personal attention, are what got me my visa. I have never been so thankful and appreciative, and I strongly recommend Kevork Law if you’re looking for immigration assistance into the US. Thank you!” – Constance Smith, Marketing Manager, Lacoste / Mars, Incorporated
“Having Zoe as an entertainment rep has given me the peace of mind that frees me up to do what I do best, knowing they’ve more than “got my back” in every situation. She has been one of my keys to success in the business. Being in her capable hands has given me the confidence to boldly stride through hard-won doors of opportunity. I trust her with my life.” – Eric Gable, Writer/Actor/Producer
“Working with Kevork Law was a great experience. I’m a small business owner and Zoe was extremely attentive, professional, and provided numerous updates throughout the process. She was very patient in answering all of my “first-timer” questions. I would highly recommend Kevork Law to anyone in need of legal services.” – Joe Nicchi, @CVTSoftServe
“Working with Zoe made the visa application process fluid and straightforward. It was super easy to be in touch at anytime via Skype, and I was followed in every step, from gathering the evidence, letters etc. up to the final interview at the American Consulate. Thank you, Zoe!” – Curzio Aloisi, Woodworker / Artist
“Last spring at an Industry mixer, I had the pleasure of meeting Zoe Kevork. We immediately clicked – I appreciated her quick wit, sensibility and range of knowledge. When I needed to hire an entertainment attorney, I knew just who to turn to. Zoe knew exactly how to handle my situation and in no time it was no longer a “situation”. Her attention to detail, her expertise and negotiation skills were invaluable.” – Amy DeSouza, Casting Director / Manager
“I owe Zoe and everyone at Kevork Law a huge debt of gratitude for their guidance in putting together my O-1 Visa application. Their understanding of how to navigate the process was instrumental in the successful approval of my application, and they couldn’t have been more helpful and patient with all of my anxieties and questions (of which there were many). I’m currently working as a staff writer on a TV show in Los Angeles – a dream-come-true that never would’ve been realized without the hard work of Zoe and Kevork Law.” – Bob Dearden, Writer, iZombie (CW)
“We have happily worked with Kevork Law for the past 5 years during our business expansion from Australia. Zoe and the team have always been prompt, intentional and straightforward about our options and applications. Our documents have always been prepared in the most organized, logical way and we have been successfully granted 3 different visas over the last five years. We always look forward to working with he team, they make a stressful situation less so by bringing understanding, experience and the very best legal support available. We happily recommend Kevork Law to friends and colleagues and we trust them implicitly to handle all of our immigration matters. – Suplove / Stand-Up Paddleboards
“As a US immigration attorney, Zoe is in a class of her own. I did a lot of research before I retained Zoe’s firm because choosing the right immigration counsel can make all the difference. Zoe came highly recommended to me by a fellow Canadian comedian with whom Zoe had worked on his successful Greencard petition, and she was helpful, responsive, and generous with her time, right from the start, even before our retainer formally began. Her strategic thinking, creativity, and hard work in planning and assembling the evidence to support my Greencard petition was nothing short of remarkable, and it made the fee I paid her worth every penny. She impressed me from the moment we first spoke on the phone, and she has not let me down once in the two years that we have been working together on my Greencard petition. Unlike so many attorneys I have known or heard about, she is always available to talk, by phone or e-mail, she is always professional, and she is always a pleasure to deal with. I cannot recommend her highly enough. She has literally helped me make my dreams come true. – Robert Keller, comedian/actor/writer
“Prior to meeting Ms. Kevork, I had interviewed various immigration lawyers, none of which were able to comprehend my stunt work as a case worthy enough to merit an O-1 Visa. Zoe greatly surpasses previous lawyers I’ve hired, and I can confidently recommend her to anyone in need. She is part of my “entourage” and without her services I would not be pursuing my dream as a stunt woman and actress. She takes care of my legal business so I can take of my show business.” – Tara Macken, Actress/Stunt Woman, Hunger Games, Iron Man 3
“Zoe did a great job getting me my greencard. She is super professional with a warm human touch. She is a diamond and gets my highest recommendation.” – Peter Cornwell, Director, The Haunting in Connecticut, Lionsgate
Contact
We are committed to responding to all queries in a timely manner, and look forward to working with you.
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In the SUBJECT LINE please indicate if you are seeking entertainment, immigration, talent, casting, business or production services. If seeking immigration services, please also indicate your country of citizenship and current status.