Leon Wildes Explained

Leon Wildes
Birth Date:4 March 1933
Birth Place:Pennsylvania

Leon Wildes (March 4, 1933 – January 8, 2024) was an American lawyer who was the founder and a senior partner of the New York City-based immigration law firm, Wildes & Weinberg P.C., which maintains offices in New York City, Englewood, New Jersey, and Miami. He specialized in immigration law.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Pennsylvania where he was an honor graduate of Olyphant High School, Wildes received his bachelor's degree in New York magna cum laude from Yeshiva College. His brother Jerry (Jerome) Wildes served in the United States Air Force and then went to medical school. Leon was awarded J.D. and Ll.M. degrees from the New York University School of Law. He served on the Yeshiva College Board of Overseers and was Treasurer of the Yeshiva College Board.[1]

Career

In 1959, Wildes served as a Migrations Specialist with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, where he concentrated his efforts on issues in U.S. immigration and refugee law. He served on the Board of Directors of HIAS as an Honorary Director.[2]

In 1960 Wildes opened his law office, Wildes & Weinberg P.C., concentrating in the field of U.S. immigration and nationality law.[3]

Wildes was awarded the Edith Lowenstein Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Immigration Practice and the Elmer Fried Prize for Excellence in Teaching Immigration Law.[4] [5] Wildes served as an adjunct professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he originated the immigration law course and has guided Cardozo's active participation in the immigration law field since.[6] Wildes also founded an Immigration Law Externship Clinic through which students work on immigration cases for a variety of non-profit organizations under the supervision of immigration attorneys.[7]

Wildes garnered much acclaim for his successful representation of former Beatle John Lennon and his artist wife, Yoko Ono, in their deportation proceedings instituted by the Nixon administration.[8] [9] Wildes contributed five full law review articles on the subject of developments in U.S. immigration law which resulted from his handling of the Lennon case. While working on the Lennon case, he discovered the government's unpublished practice of granting deportable aliens non-priority status to avoid their removal in sympathetic cases. He has guided the development of this remedy in the law, later referred to as Deferred Action or Prosecutorial discretion. This program allows law-abiding individuals to remain in the United States and avoid deportation if they are elderly, seriously ill, or undergoing severe hardship.[10] [11] [12]

Wildes served as national president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in 1970.[13] Wildes' clientele includes many high-profile clients, notably John Lennon and Yoko Ono, whom he successfully represented in deportation proceedings from 1972 to 1976.[14] [15] [16]

Wildes co-produced Mark St. Germain's off-Broadway play "Ears on a Beatle" depicting the surveillance of John Lennon by the FBI at the time.[17] Wildes also appeared alongside his clients in many press conferences [18] [19] and was interviewed with Lennon by Tom Snyder on The Tomorrow Show,[20] [21] and he appears in the documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon, which focuses on this period of Lennon's life.[22] [23]

Leon Wildes and his son Michael were recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine in 2020.[24] [25]

Wildes published numerous articles in the immigration field from 1959 and lectured broadly to lawyers for the Practising Law Institute, the New York State Bar Association, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He testified before Congress on immigration legislation on numerous occasions from 1970, representing the Association of Immigration & Nationality Lawyers, the recognized national bar association of lawyers in the immigration and nationality field. He contributed law review articles to the San Diego Law Review,[26] Cardozo School of Law Law Review,[27] and the Brooklyn Law Review [28] on subjects relating to U.S. Immigration Law.

The Lennon Case: Law Review Journal Archive

Death

Wildes died on January 8, 2024, at the age of 90 after suffering a series of strokes.[29] [30]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Yeshiva University News » Yeshiva College Honors Michael and Barbara Gamson and Leon Wildes at Annual Dinner in New York . Blogs.yu.edu . 2013-11-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131202222534/http://blogs.yu.edu/news/2007/10/15/yeshiva-college-honors-michael-and-barbara-gamson-and-leon-wildes-at-annual-dinner-in-new-york/ . 2013-12-02 .
  2. Web site: Leon Wildes . HIAS . 1970-01-01 . 2013-11-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131203072136/http://www.hias.org/en/pages/leon-wildes . 2013-12-03 . dead .
  3. Web site: Best Immigration Law Firm in New York City (NYC), New Jersey (NJ) - Wildes & Weinberg, P.C . Wildeslaw.com . 2013-01-16 . 2013-11-26.
  4. Web site: Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award . AILA . 2005-09-12 . 2013-10-05.
  5. Web site: Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award . AILA . 2005-09-12 . 2013-10-05.
  6. Web site: Directory | Cardozo Law . Cardozo.yu.edu . 2013-11-14 . 2013-11-26.
  7. Web site: Immigration Law Externship | Cardozo Law . Cardozo.yu.edu . 2013-11-14 . 2013-11-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131013140250/http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/clinics-professional-skills/externships/immigration-law-externship . 2013-10-13 .
  8. Web site: Leon Wildes - New York Immigration Lawyers - Lennon Law . Superlawyers.com . 2013-11-26.
  9. Web site: Mishpacha Jewish Family Weekly . Mishpacha.com . 2010-12-15 . 2013-11-26.
  10. Web site: Heinonline : Citation: 9 Conn. Pub. Int. L.J. 243 2009-2010 . Utexas.edu . 2013-11-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131202222250/http://www.utexas.edu/law/journals/tlr/sources/Volume%2091/Issue%204/John%20YOO/JohnYoo.fn016.TheRoleofProsecutorialDiscretioninImmigrationLaw.pdf . 2013-12-02 .
  11. Web site: 1891883 . The Morton Memo and Prosecutorial Discretion: An Overview by Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia :: SSRN . Papers.ssrn.com . 20 July 2011. Wadhia . Shoba Sivaprasad .
  12. Web site: William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal: Volume 21 : Issue 2 : Article 6 : Dreams Deferred: Deferred Action Prosecutorial Discretion, and the Vexing Case(s) of DREAM Act Students . Scholarship.law.wm.edu . 2013-11-26.
  13. Web site: Past Presidents . AILA . 2010-12-03 . 2013-10-05 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120514143619/http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=33784 . 2012-05-14 .
  14. Web site: Remembering John Lennon – All you need is love.. and a good Jewish lawyer – by Leon Wildes . Imaginepeace.com . 26 February 2011. 2013-11-26.
  15. News: The ballad of John Lennon and Leon Wildes | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California . J . Jweekly.com . 2010-12-09 . 2013-11-26.
  16. Web site: John Lennon - Spring 1998 Cardozo Life . Cardozo.yu.edu . 1972-03-16 . 2013-11-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130525073542/http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/life/spring1998/john.lennon/ . 2013-05-25 . dead .
  17. Book: Ears on a Beatle: A Play . 9780573603204 . Germain . Mark St . 2004-01-01. Samuel French, Incorporated .
  18. Web site: Leon Wildes, John Lennon... Stock Footage & Video Clips . NBCUniversal Archives . 2013-11-26.
  19. Web site: John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Leon Wildes... Stock Footage & Video Clips . NBCUniversal Archives . 2013-11-26.
  20. Web site: The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder: John, Paul, Tom & Ringo DVD Review - Yahoo Voices . voices.yahoo.com . 1980-12-09 . 2013-11-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140728192903/http://voices.yahoo.com/the-tomorrow-show-tom-snyder-john-paul-tom-ringo-1388749.html . 2014-07-28 .
  21. Web site: RadioMaxMusic Internet Radio: Tomorrow Show with Beatles . Radiomaxmusic.com . 2013-11-26.
  22. Web site: The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006) : Full Cast & Crew. IMDb.com. 2013-11-26.
  23. Web site: Leon Wildes. IMDb.com. 2013-11-26.
  24. Web site: LEON WILDES RECOGNIZED IN SUPER LAWYERS MAGAZINE. 2021-01-28. Best Immigration Lawyer, Attorneys in NYC, New York, NJ Wildes & Weinberg, P.C.. 18 December 2020 . en-gb.
  25. Web site: 500 Years Of Legal Knowledge. 2021-01-28. digital.superlawyers.com. en.
  26. Web site: USD: Law: News Center: San Diego Law Review: Issue Search . www.sandiego.edu . 2 February 2022 . https://archive.today/20130626181606/http://www.sandiego.edu/law/news/blogs_publications/publications/journals/law_review/archive/archive.php?_find%5Bauthor%5D=leon+wildes . 26 June 2013 . dead.
  27. Web site: Volume 18, Issue 6 . Cardozo Law Review . 1997-07-18 . 2013-11-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131202231446/http://www.cardozolawreview.com/volume-18-issue-6.html . 2013-12-02 . dead .
  28. Web site: A17 595 321 . Uscis.gov . 2013-11-26.
  29. Web site: Leon Wildes . Dignity Memorial . 11 January 2024.
  30. Web site: John Lennon's deportation lawyer Leon Wildes dies aged 90 . 13 January 2024 . Sky News . 13 January 2024.

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