Associates
NYC Immigration Attorneys
The associate attorneys at Bretz & Coven work hard to uphold the rights of immigrants who want to live and work in the United States:
- Myriam Sanchez Hildenbrand
- Katherine Holbrook
- Oliver Huiyue Qiu
- Tracy Lawson
- Amanda E. Gray
- David K.S. Kim
- Michele Wolgel
- Garo Kapikian
Our goal is to help you find ways to remain in this country lawfully.
Contact our NYC immigration attorneys to learn more.
Myriam Sanchez Hildenbrand
Myriam Sanchez Hildenbrand has been practicing immigration law since 2002.
Ms. Hildenbrand graduated from New York University where she majored in Political Science and French. Ms. Hildenbrand obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she was a Notes Editor for the Cardozo Women’s Law Journal and served as President of the Latin American Law Student’s Association. Ms. Hildenbrand was also a member of the law school’s Trial Team.
Ms. Hildenbrand is admitted to the New Jersey State Bar, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the United States District Court of New Jersey, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Ms. Hildenbrand is an Adjunct Assistant Professor with the City University of New York’s School of Professional Studies where she is developing an online graduate level course entitled Proceedings in Immigration Court: The Removal Process and Applications for Relief. She has frequently appeared as a guest lecturer at the College of New Rochelle and the American Association of University Women where she has lectured on immigration. In addition, she has spoken at numerous community outreach programs on the topic of immigration.
Ms. Hildenbrand is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association.
Email NYC Immigration Attorney Myriam Sanchez Hildenbrand
Katherine Holbrook
Katherine Holbrook graduated from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law in May 2004. At CUNY she was a student in the Immigrant and Refugee Rights Clinic and a student member of the New York City Bar’s committee on Immigration and Nationality Law.
Katherine worked in Dallas, Texas as a staff attorney with an immigration and legal services organization of the Catholic Church. Prior to law school, Katherine was a resettlement caseworker with a non-profit refugee resettlement organization.
Katherine is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and admitted to practice in New York.
Email NYC Immigration Attorney Katie Holbrook
Oliver Huiyue Qiu
Oliver Huiyue Qiu is an associate attorney in the firm’s Business Immigration practice. He has tremendous experience in counseling corporations, non-profit organizations and individuals in business, medical, academics, arts, athletics, and religion in obtaining temporary work visas (H-1B, H-2, J-1, O-1, P, L-1, R-1) and permanent residency (PERM, Person with extraordinary ability & NIW). Oliver has represented some of the world’s well-known scientists, animation artists, interior designers, tennis players and international bankers.
In addition to business immigration, Oliver also represents clients in removal defense at immigration courts. He fought to keep families together. He has a number of victories for immigration detainees.
Oliver is a column writer for the World Journal (Shi Jie Ri Bao), a newspaper published in Chinese language. His column on immigration issue appears weekly and has a wide following. He has been frequently quoted in that newspaper, as well.
Oliver is admitted to practice in the State of New York, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, U.S. Court of International Trade, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law in May 2001, where he received a merits fellowship. His academic credentials also include a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master of Laws gained in China, where he was born. Oliver is fluent in Mandarin. He is Member of American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and Asian American Bar Association.
Email NYC Immigration Attorney Oliver Huiyue Qiu
Tracy Lawson
Tracy J. Lawson graduated from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law in May 2008, where she participated in its renowned Immigrant and Refugee Rights Clinic. Ms. Lawson also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Spanish from the University of Iowa.
Prior to attending law school, Ms. Lawson worked as a program planner for the State of Iowa in the Department of Human Rights, where she worked to promote the rights of the Latino/a immigrant population in Iowa. Ms. Lawson spent her first summer of law school as an intern at Make the Road by Walking (now Make the Road New York) working on projects including immigrant access to social security disability benefits and language access in New York City hospitals.
Ms. Lawson started with Bretz & Coven, LLP, in June 2007 as a summer associate, where she worked primarily on drafting briefs on appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Ms. Lawson continued as an intern at Bretz & Coven throughout the 2007-2008 school year before being hired as a full-time associate in September 2008. Ms. Lawson is admitted to practice law in the state of New York and is a member of the New York State Bar Association.
Amanda E. Gray
Amanda E. Gray, a native of Portland, Oregon, graduated from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law in May 2005. She received her Bachelor of Arts at Whitman College in English Literature with a minor in Japanese. She joined Bretz & Coven in December 2005 and is admitted to the New York State Bar, United States District Courts of the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Since joining Bretz & Coven, Ms. Gray has successfully represented clients before U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, the Executive Office for Immigration Review in Immigration Court and at the Board of Immigration Appeals, and in the Eastern and Southern District Courts of New York. Ms. Gray is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Ms. Gray has been an advocate of workers’ and immigrants’ rights since starting law school in 2002. At CUNY, Ms. Gray took part in the well-regarded Immigrant and Refugee Rights Clinic, during which she was able to prevent the deportation of a long-term lawful permanent resident. She also participated in the Mississippi Project at the Workers’ Center for Human Rights in Greenville, Mississippi, worked summers at the Legal Aid Society and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in New York and was a member of Moot Court and Law Review. Ms. Gray has lived abroad and speaks Japanese.
Email NYC Immigration Attorney Amanda Gray
David K.S. Kim
David Kwang Soo (K. S.) Kim is a Senior Associate with the law firm of Bretz & Coven, LLP, in New York City. He practices exclusively in immigration and nationality law with special emphasis on complex agency cases, deportation defense and federal court litigation. He frequently litigates in federal courts against government agencies concerning immigration law, and recently won a precedential Second Circuit decision in Sharkey v. Quarantillo, 541 F.3d 75 (2d Cir. 2008) (federal district courts have subject matter jurisdiction over suits challenging the government’s unlawful rescission of lawful permanent resident status without following the mandatory statutory and regulatory requirements). He is admitted to the bar in New York, United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Third, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits.
Prior to joining Bretz & Coven, Mr. Kim was an associate with the law firm of Kurzban, Kurzban, Wenger & Tetzeli, P.A., a leading immigration law firm, where he was instrumental in successfully litigating most complex administrative and federal court cases involving immigration law, including federal court actions challenging the INS’s unlawful denial of petitions to remove conditions of EB-5 investor conditional residents based solely on retroactive application of EB-5 adjudication standards. While in private practice, Mr. Kim has successfully litigated hundreds of cases before administrative agencies, and federal district and circuit courts throughout the country.
Prior to his private practice, Mr. Kim served a two-year judicial clerkship with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as a Staff Attorney, where he worked on a host of appeals and motions involving complex legal issues in various substantive areas of law, including immigration law. Prior to his legal career, he was a Staff Writer/Investigative Reporter for the Dong-A Ilbo, U.S.A., a major Korean-language daily newspaper; a Human Relations Specialist for the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission; and a contract Court Interpreter for the New Jersey State Court System. Mr. Kim has business-level fluency in Korean.
Mr. Kim received a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, where he served as an Articles Editor of Journal of Law and Policy and President of Asian American Law Students Association. While in law school, he also represented the law school at the 2000 Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition and received the Best Brief and Second Place awards at the Northeast Regional Competition. He obtained a B.A. in Physics and Philosophy from Emory University, where he was a United Methodist Scholar and an M.P.A. from West Virginia University, where he was a HERF Merits Scholar and the recipient of the 1997 Outstanding Teaching Assistant of the Year Award.
He is an active member of American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) and currently serves as Co-Chair of AILA New York Chapter’s Federal Practice Committee and a member of the National AILA/Executive Office for Immigration Review (“EOIR”) Liaison Committee. He is also active in various local bar organizations, including Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York (“KALAGNY”) for which he currently serves on the Board of Governors and served as Vice President in 2007.
Mr. Kim is a frequent lecturer for CLE seminars on immigration law and co-authored an article on Second Circuit practice involving immigration law. He has been interviewed by various media as an expert on immigration law, including the New York Law Journal, Chosun Ilbo, News Korea, Korea Times, Korea Central Daily, Segye Ilbo, Radio Free Asia, TKC TV and MK TV. He is the recipient of 2008 Public Service Award presented by Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan, Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, during the May 28, 2008, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration.
Email NYC Immigration Attorney David K.S. Kim
Michele Wolgel, Of-Counsel
Michele Coven Wolgel has been a member of the New York State Bar since 1984, and is also admitted to practice law in Israel. She has been practcinig Immigration and Naturalization Law for over 20 years, commencing with the law firm of Lebenkoff & Coven and continuing in Israel when she relocated there.
Mrs. Wolgel works regularly with the Consular Offices in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel. She has resolved difficult cases involving complex legal issues not only for her own clients in Israel, but for the clients of Bretz & Coven and of other immigration law offices in the United States.
She has a very high success rate in all of her dealings with everyday applications to the Consulate. When dealing with cases that are filed in the United States, Mrs. Wolgel works closely with Bretz & Coven.
Email NYC Immigration Attorney Michele Wolgel
Garo Kapikian, Of-Counsel
Garo G Kapikian is a member of the NY State Bar since 1995. He is a 1992 graduate of Quinnipac School of Law and earned a Masters degree in Public Administration from Pace University in 1983.
Mr. Kapikian is an experienced litigator. He began working in criminal defense as a sole practitioner and handled cases including real estate, non-profit law, and family law before joining Bretz & Coven in March 2002.
Mr. Kapikian is responsible for improving the quality of life for millions of people throughout Armenia. He succesfully implemented the new Armenian Welfare and Social Security system and is former Deputy Executive Director for the Fund for Armenian Relief, a non-profit organization. He presently oversees construction projects and massive food aid shipments to Armenia and was instrumental in founding The Homeless Street Children's Shelter in Armenia.
His experiences add a broader dimension to his practice of immigration law at Bretz & Coven.
