Attorneys & Counselors At Law
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53 W Jackson Blvd., Suite 852
Chicago, IL 60604
312.281.4867
Carlina Tapia-Ruano has been concentrating her practice in the field of immigration law for more than three decades. She has handled a wide range of immigration issues based on family and employment, and has extensive experience in litigation related to immigration. Ms. Tapia-Ruano was president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), a national bar association of more than 14,000 lawyers and law professors. She was the first Hispanic elected to this position. Ms. Tapia-Ruano has served as liaison on several committees with the federal government. She has served as President of AILA Chicago Chapter, as a former President of the Immigration Law Section of the Chicago Bar Association, a former Board Member of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, and a former member of the City of Chicago Immigration Advisory Board. She was also a Commissioner on the ABA Immigration Commission, and has been a member of the Advisory Committee of the Presidential Commission on the Rights and Responsibilities of Hispanics of the ABA. She was recently appointed by the Illinois State Senators, to serve on the Senate Selection Committee for Judicial, US Attorney, and US Marshall Nominations. She was an adjunct professor of immigration law at the IIT-Chicago Kent Law School, and at the De Paul University School of Law in Chicago. Ms. Tapia-Ruano has testified before the US Congress about the USA PATRIOT Act and is a frequent lecturer on immigration laws to attorneys across the United States. Since she is bilingual, she appears frequently in Spanish-language television programs and other means of communication. She holds an AV rating (very high to pre-eminent) by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and appears in the Woodward/White's Best Lawyers in America, and has been repeatedly named a "Super Lawyer" in Illinois, by the Leading Lawyers Network. In 2004, she received an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from Wesleyan University in Illinois, where she received her BA, alma cum laude. She obtained her J.D. from the De Paul University College of Law in Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Tapia-Ruano is a US citizen, who emigrated to the United States from Cuba.
Tristan Gunn is a partner in the firm of Tapia-Ruano & Gunn PC. He focuses his practice in the area of removal defense before the Chicago Immigration Court and Family-Based immigration. His practice includes applications for permanent residency in the US and through consular processing abroad. His practice also includes waivers of inadmissibility, U visas, applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and Naturalization.
Mr. Gunn has been named by Illinois Super Lawyers as a Rising Star for 2018. He has also been recognized as an “Emerging Lawyer” by the Leading Lawyer’s Network in 2017. Mr. Gunn maintains a perfect rating on Avvo for client satisfaction and was also named a “Top Lawyer” by Chicago Lawyer Magazine in 2017.
Mr. Gunn was admitted to the Illinois State Bar in 2012. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from DePaul University College of Law in 2011, and in 2004 received his BA from Illinois Wesleyan University, in Bloomington, IL. Mr. Gunn has studied Spanish abroad in Mexico and Cuba. He is fluent in Spanish, having obtained a Diploma of Language Certification from the school of Encuentros in the State of Morelos in Mexico in 2004.
Mr. Gunn was appointed Chair of the Media Committee, of the Chicago Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, from 2014 to 2016. Mr. Gunn has worked pro bono with the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS) on immigration matters.
He is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, and the Illinois Hispanic Lawyers Association.
Elena Gunn is an associate attorney in the firm of Tapia-Ruano & Gunn. Ms. Gunn obtained her Juris Doctorate degree from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, in Chicago, Illinois, and holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, with a major in English Literature. Ms. Gunn has been admitted to the Illinois State Bar as a licensed attorney.
Prior to becoming a licensed attorney, Ms. Gunn worked in the field of immigration law for over ten years, managing cases involving family-based and employment-based immigration law, as well as removal defense. In addition, Ms. Gunn was the elected 1L Evening Student Representative for the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law Student Bar Association. She has previously volunteered with The Immigration Project in Bloomington, Illinois, and participated in a Justice & Technology Practicum, in 2016, to assist self-represented litigants.
Elena Gunn studied and lived in Spain from 2010 to 2011, where she obtained a Diploma of Language Certification from the Enforex Spanish Language School in Madrid. She is fluent in Spanish. She is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, and the Illinois Hispanic Lawyers Association.
E-Mail: malvarado@trgpc.com
Maria is the office manager and senior paralegal at Tapia-Ruano & Gunn PC. Maria Alvarado obtained her Bachelor's in Science in Biological Sciences and Master's in Nursing through the Graduate Entry Program from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a first generation Mexican-American and has extensive experience in matters related to immigration laws, having worked as a paralegal in immigration firms for several years. She is fluent in Spanish and has studied French and Italian.
E-Mail: ezambrano@trgpc.com
Esmeralda graduated from Harold Washington College in Chicago, Illinois, with an Associates in Arts. She has experience working as an assistant with other immigration attorneys in Chicago, and with immigrants from various countries. Esmeralda fluent in Spanish.
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