815-394-1359

Bethany Hoffmann

Principal Attorney

Bethany Hoffmann is the principal attorney of Hoffmann Immigration Law LLC.  Ms. Hoffmann practices family based immigration, humanitarian relief for immigration (visas for abused spouses of U.S. Citizens or Residents, visas for victims of crimes, visas for victims of human trafficking, asylum), naturalization law, and removal (deportation) defense. While in law school, she participated in the DePaul Asylum & Immigration Clinic, was an intern for U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and was employed as a Teaching Assistant with the Law School. Ms. Hoffmann grew up in Northern Wisconsin and lived in California, Hong Kong, New York, and Connecticut, and Chicago before settling in Rockford, Illinois.

Education

  • DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, IL, Juris Doctor (2004)
  • California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA, B.A. in English & Political Science (2000)

Licenses

  • Admitted to the Practice Law by the Illinois Supreme Court 
  • Admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • Admitted to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals

Professional Associations

  • American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • Winnebago County Bar Association
  • National Immigration Project 
  • ASISTA-Advancing dignity, rights, & dignity of immigrant survivors of violence

Boards & Committees

  • American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n (AILA) Chicago Chapter, Executive Board (2019-present)
  • Illinois Access 2 Justice, Advisory Committee (2019)
  • AILA Chicago Chapter, Ethics Committee (2018-2019)
  • AILA Chicago Chapter, Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee (2016-2019)
  • AILA Chicago Chapter, Midwest Conference Planning Committee (2015-2018)
  • YWCA–Northwestern Illinois, Leader Luncheon Committee (2017)
  • Dilley Detention Pro Bono Project (2014)
  • Winnebago County Bar Association, Secretary (2013-2014)
  • Trinity Day Care, Inc., Board Member (2011-2019)

Advocacy & Volunteer Work

  • Policy Team Member, Campaign for a Welcoming Illinois, Illinois TRUST Act & Illinois VOICES Act
  • Organizer and Presenter, Know Your Rights & Short Term Guardianship Workshops servicing Northern Illinois 
  • Organizer and Presenter, Know Your Rights Worshops servicing Southern Wisconsin (Rock County)
  •  Volunteer Legal Screener, New Americans Initiative, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights
  • Arbitration Judge, Illinois 17th Judicial Circuit, Alternative Dispute Resolution Center

Select Speaking Engagements

  • AILA Chicago Chapter, Midwest Regional Conference, “Ethics: How to Stay Sane in an Insane World,” Discussion Leader (Mar. 2019)
  • AILA Chicago Chapter, Immigration Summit on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, “Pursuing Relief for Victims of UPL,” Discussion Leader (Jan. 2019)
  • League of Women Voters of Greater Rockford–Forum on the VOICES Act, Speaker (Jan. 2019)
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Northerin Illinois Synod, Congretional Resourcing Event Conference, “Immigration 101: Myths & Facts,” Speaker (Mar 2018)
  • Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Policy Forum, “U Visas and the VOICES Act,” Presenter (Oct. 2017)