OUR ATTORNEYS

James is the Founder and Managing Attorney at Larsen Immigration Law Group, the immigration division of Larsen Legal Strategies PLLC, where he provides innovative solutions to complex immigration and employment challenges for domestic and multinational corporations.  Prior to embarking on this journey, James was Senior Employment Counsel at Farmer Law PC,  where he provided guidance to agricultural employers across the United States.  Prior to joining Farmer, James was Of Counsel at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, an Am Law 100 law firm and one of the largest labor and employment practices in the United States. In this role, he represented multiple Big Five tech giants, the largest bank in the United States, and other companies in the healthcare, construction, and hospitality industries, among other areas.

Over the course of his fifteen-year legal career, James has practiced on the frontier of immigration law. In 2008, while in law school in Iowa, he authored “Clearing the Immigration Hurdles: Challenges in Reforming the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program” and went to work for the in-house legal department of the Iowa-based company that successfully secured federal government classification of construction on a farm as agriculture for immigration purposes. His work helped cement the H-2A visa program as an essential immigration tool for securing thousands of visas for much-needed workers in the construction industry.

Upon moving to Texas in 2014, James pioneered efficient methodologies for large-scale immigration compliance audits and guided employers in converting from paper-based records to electronic Forms I-9 and E-Verify. While working in Austin, he helped  introduce the concept of BATCH processing to a client on the East Coast with one of the largest green card programs in the country, streamlining the PERM labor certification process and expediting permanent residency for foreign nationals by several months.

James frequently presents at conferences and seminars to human resources professionals on immigration and compliance matters. His unique litigation portfolio includes representing multiple employers before the Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (formerly the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices), responding to investigations by the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, resolving Wage and Hour audits, developing strategies to address worksite enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and navigating compliance with state and federal law relating to immigration and employment.

A graduate of Brigham Young University and Drake Law, he is licensed in both Iowa and Texas and advises clients on federal immigration and employment-related matters in all 50 states.

James lives with his wife, four children, and his German Short-haired Pointer in Leander, Texas, the fastest-growing city in the United States. A political strategist and former lobbyist, James was the founder of Keep Leander Connected, a grassroots community group that succeeded in passing a ballot measure to preserve Leander’s sixty-four-mile round trip light rail to downtown Austin.Today, James remains actively engaged in promoting the responsible growth of central Texas communities and currently serves on the steering committee for the Leander Independent School District’s Facility Advisory Committee. James enjoys caring for the longhorns and horses at the Pioneer Living History Farms, where he and his family are volunteer animal feeders.  He recently launched the Leander Jazz Lounge, the first jazz music venue in Leander and the home of SNAZZ (Sunday Night Jazz).