Steven A. Morley
Mr. Morley began practicing law in 1976, and has a breadth of experience in federal and state matters, before administrative agencies and in trials and appeals. Before starting his own practice in 1984 Mr. Morley was a senior trial attorney at the Federal Court Division of the Defender Association of Philadelphia and a civil litigation associate at Sprague & Rubenstone. Prior to establishing Morley, Surin & Griffin, he was a partner in Bagia & Morley in Philadelphia where he practiced immigration law and criminal defense.
Significant Court Achievements
Mr. Morley is a leader in trial and appellate advocacy. His legal work has redefined the law. He successfully argued before the United States Supreme Court in Mitchell v. United States, a case that extended the scope of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Among the numerous cases in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Mr. Morley successfully argued Sandoval v. Reno, a case that extended the right of certain long term lawful permanent residents to seek relief from deportation and Ngo v. Reno, giving certain foreign nationals the right to be free from detention. The published Board of Immigration Appeals decision of Matter of Elgendi barred the accumulation of certain minor offenses as constituting an aggravated felony and less than a year out of law school Mr. Morley argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Commonwealth ex rel. Marshall v. Gedney, a case defining the nature of extradition. Mr. Morley has handled immigration matters before the immigration courts in numerous jurisdictions and has presented countless cases to the Board of Immigration Appeals. He has tried complex criminal fraud cases that last months as well as brief hearings before all manner of courts.
Professional Leadership
Through his years in the practice of law Steve Morley has been honored with numerous leadership positions. He has served as Chair of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) as well as on national and local liaison committees of AILA. He was Chair of the Criminal Justice Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association and served on the Board of Governors of the Bar Association. The Judges of Federal Court appointed Steve to serve on the Criminal Justice Act Screening Committee, which selects the attorneys who receive court appointed cases in federal court. Steve also serves on the Board and as a Vice President of Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America since 1999.
Publications and Lectures
Mr. Morley has lectured on numerous occasions nationally, regionally and locally for AILA and other organizations. He serves as an editor of the Immigration & Nationality Law Handbook, the annual compendium of immigration law articles. He published Seeking Readmission After Removal or Deportation, Immigration & Nationality Law Handbook (AILA 2000) and Immigration Law: What Every Criminal Practitioner Should Know (PACDL Handbook, 2002
Education
Mr. Morley received his law degree with Honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School as well as his undergraduate degree.
Elizabeth C. Surin
Ms. Surin is an immigrant herself and has personal experience with the Immigration Service of the United States.
Prior to establishing Morley, Surin & Griffin, P.C., Ms. Surin was an attorney at the immigration law firm of Bagia & Morley and before that, she was an employment and immigration law attorney at the law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. At Drinker Biddle & Reath, Ms. Surin developed the firm's immigration practice, advising clients on current legal issues in business and family immigration and the practical application of the law in various employment situations. She assisted corporate clients in obtaining appropriate non-immigrant business and work visas for foreign employees, and immigrant resident status in the United States.
Besides extensive work in business and family-based immigration issues, Ms. Surin also represents clients in immigration court in removal proceedings and also assists clients in federal appeal matters. In addition, Ms. Surin represents asylum applicants both before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service and before the immigration court.
Education
University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., 1997;
Wellesley College, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1994.
Ms. Surin earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1997 and received the school's Exemplary Public Service award. She is the author of "Government influence on Labor Unions in a Newly Industrialized Economy: A Look at the Singapore Labor System" published in the Comparative Labor Law Journal of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Wharton Business School.
In 1994, Ms. Surin graduated summa cum laude from Wellesley College in Massachusetts with a B.A. in Linguistics and English Literature. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honors society. While at Wellesley College, she researched and analyzed the etymology of a near-extinct Portuguese-cased Creole language, Papia Kristang. This work was the basis for her undergraduate thesis for which she was awarded Departmental Honors.
Ms. Surin holds academic tertiary and professional teaching and educational administration qualifications from Singapore, her native county. In Singapore, she conducted nationwide pedagogical workshops for teachers. She also planned, designed and conducted seminars on managing and implementing change in the school curriculum for Diploma in Educational Administration students at the Singapore National Institute of Education. Ms. Surin is also conversant in the Malay and Indonesian languages.
Ms. Surin is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers' Association.
Thomas M. Griffin
Mr. Griffin is a founding partner of Morley Surin & Griffin, P.C.. Previously Mr. Griffin was an attorney at the immigration law firm of Bagia & Morley in Philadelphia and at Choate, Hall & Stewart, one of Boston's oldest and most highly regarded law firms. At Choate, Mr. Griffin practiced white-collar criminal defense, complex commercial litigation, developed an expertise in the federal sentencing guidelines, and was also active in immigration law. He coordinated the firm's pro bono political asylum program, serving political refugees from around the globe. Mr. Griffin was named Massachusetts Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for 2001 by the Political Asylum and Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Griffin spent 10 years as a Federal Probation and Parole Officer, working in the federal courts in New York City and Massachusetts.
Education
Suffolk University Law School, J.D. (magna cum laude), 1999;
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, M.A. (Forensic Psychology), 1989;
Georgetown University, B.A., (Sociology/Spanish), 1985.
At Suffolk University Law School Mr. Griffin was the Associate Executive Editor of the Suffolk University Law Review, and his article was selected to represent the school in the national Scribes competition.
In 1989, Mr. Griffin received a Masters Degree in Forensic Psychology from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York. Mr. Griffin was also awarded the Robert Morrow Prize as Outstanding Student in the Masters Program.
In 1985, Mr. Griffin received his bachelor's degree from Georgetown University, majoring in Sociology.
Mr. Griffin spent 10 years (1989-1999) as a Federal Probation & Parole Officer, working in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) and in Boston for the District of Massachusetts. In 1992, he was awarded the Attorney General's Public Service Award in New York, and in 1996 received the District of Massachusetts Service Award. Prior to his government service, Mr. Griffin was a teacher on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
Mr. Griffin is conversant in Spanish and Haitian Creole. With a special interest in human rights, he recently was part of a delegation to Mexico, which spotlighted the unsolved October 2001 murder of human rights attorney Digna Ochoa, and the human rights abuses perpetrated by Mexican soldiers on poor indigenous populations. With a commitment to inform Americans of the desperate poverty in Haiti, Tom leads groups on education and service mission there, and he actively supports human rights and justice work in Haiti.
Mr. Griffin is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers' Association.
