AILA Presents Howard “Sam” Myers, III, with the 2016 Susan D. Quarles AILA Service Excellence Award

WASHINGTON, DC - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will award Howard "Sam" Myers, III, of Minneapolis, MN, with the 2016 Susan D. Quarles AILA Service Excellence Award in recognition of his outstanding service, over a period of years, in advancing the mission, development, and value of AILA for its members and the public it serves. He will receive the award this week during AILA's Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV.

Sam Myers has more than 35 years of experience practicing immigration law. He is a 1972 graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and co-founder of the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based law firm Myers Thompson P.A., a firm with a national immigration law practice.

Mr. Myers is a past president of AILA and a 30-year member of AILA's Board of Governors. He served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Law Foundation (now the American Immigration Council) from 1994-1998, and was named an Honorary Fellow of that organization. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and the Minnesota State legislature on employment-based immigration. He participated in writing briefs supporting administrative appeals on AILA's behalf as amicus curiae in several important labor certification cases before the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals, including Matter of Information Industries, Inc., Matter of Delitizer Corp. of Newton, and Matter of Inmos.

On behalf of AILA, Mr. Myers presented the first en banc oral argument before the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals in Matter of Information Industries, Inc., which established the "business necessity" rule. He has served on many AILA operating committees, such as Nominations, Executive Director Search, Board of Publications, Bylaws, Ethics, and Strategic Planning.

As President-Elect and President of AILA, Mr. Myers helped direct AILA's legislative and regulatory strategies during the 101st Congress, which contributed to passage and implementation of the Immigration Act of 1990. As a representative for AILA on the legislative negotiating team of the Business Immigration Coalition, he participated in writing several significant amendments to the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, including the amendments to the H-1B and L-1 visa categories. Mr. Myers conceived and helped write the original "Conrad State 20" legislation, enabling foreign-born physicians to acquire permanent residence by serving in health professional shortage areas.

Mr. Myers has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School since 2004, where he teaches Immigration Law. He co-founded the Immigration Law Clinic at the William Mitchell College of Law in 1983, and taught the clinic for eight years before assuming the AILA presidency. He has served as a mentor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law since 2004 and as a board member and President of the International Institute of Minnesota, and currently serves as Board Chair of The Advocates for Human Rights, under whose auspices Sam and his law firm are representing two unaccompanied children from El Salvador.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.