Years ago, Elizabeth Garvish was an associate attorney at a large labor/employment law firm, sitting across from three men in suits who were set to deliver her performance review. She had been part of another firm that was merged into this one, and she was eager for feedback from her new supervisors.
They pushed her review across the table, and it included words and phrases such as “unacceptable,” “needs improvement” and “does not fit in.”
While the feedback stung, it was also the driver for Garvish to start a happier place to practice law, a place where she could do impactful work and feel content at the same time.
“My heart told me that there was a different way to practice law, a different way to show up every day,” she said. “I had to shed the pessimistic law school programming and the negative law firm culture and forge something new, and that is how I got on the path to creating the ‘Happiest Law Firm in America.’”
Today, Garvish is managing member at Garvish Immigration Law Group, LLC, a boutique firm based in Atlanta, representing corporate and individual clients. The practice focuses on employment and family-based cases. “The immigration process can be daunting, especially in today’s current environment,” the firm said. “We are committed to close collaboration with our clients to ensure they achieve their goals.”
In the next five years, Garvish Immigration Law Group will operate out of multiple countries with more than 15 lead attorneys and multiple assistants and case managers per attorney. The company headquarters will remain in Atlanta at its soon-to-be new home in Buckhead. The new office will include flexible work spaces, access to outdoor space and amenities for working parents. Staff members will continue to enjoy universal time off, participate in daily meditation sessions and work together “to maintain the firm’s position as the Happiest Law Firm in the World,” Garvish said.
Garvish is an award-winning author and motivational speaker. She has held leadership positions within the American Immigration Lawyers Association, including as past chair of the 500-member Georgia-Alabama Chapter. She was awarded the H. Sol Clark Pro Bono Award in 2007 by the State Bar of Georgia based on her work spearheading a local program called Citizenship Day, which provided an opportunity for lawyers to provide pro bono assistance to immigrants on their paths to citizenship.
In 2022, Garvish was a panelist at two international conferences — the American Immigration Lawyers Association Rome District Fall Conference in Paris and the International Bar Association Immigration Conference in London. She also participated on a panel at the 2022 American Immigration Lawyers Association PERM Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
