Berry Appleman & Leiden Reviews

Pros

This company genuinely CARES about its employees and is becoming more awesome by the day. They don't always get it right, but they get it right a lot of the time and they always try. They also actively seek feedback, listen, acknowledge any issues and then continually try to improve. They recently took all of leadership to an amazing resort in Puerto Vallarta and challenged each person to be exceptional in our personal...

Cons

Still can't bring our dogs to work

Advice to Management

Keep doing what you're doing and continually strive to be exceptional. We notice and we appreciate it.

Pros

Several different offices across the US so experience may vary by location - its a large company overall but some locations have a small office feel; They managed to hire some really great people so the team environments can be very positive if you get on a team where you are a "fit"; Management "tries" to provide improvements (But often they don't get it right- because they are always up their own butts)

Cons

The fish rots from the head at this place - starting with the company's current mouthpiece - one Mr. Jeremy Fudge who has taken it upon himself to try to indoctrinate staff as if this was a cult and not a business. If you see the word "exceptional in a review about this firm - know that the review has either been written by management or by someone who drank the koolaid. There is blatant favoritism and insecurity among...

Advice to Management

Stop trying indoctrinate your staff and treat them with respect. Try to retain your talented experience staff - you need these people in the trying business climate we find ourselves in - specifically THIS IS AN IMMIGRATION LAW FIRM NOT A PRODUCTION COMPANY IN HOLLYWOOD. SO ACT LIKE IT. Lets stop having ALL HANDs meetings where the Mouthpiece talks to us like we are shareholders and not the staff that churns out the...

Pros

Corporate immigration is basically the same no matter where you go, so what is most important are the people and the support and vision from the company's management. The people at BAL are amazing. Additionally, management supports employees, giving them the tools they need to do amazing work. I would also say that management has a vision and understanding of the field to ensure BAL will continue to be the best immigration...

Cons

The work is hard, the clients are demanding. If you do not like a fast-paced, high volume environment, this is not the place for you. But if you do enjoy being challenged, having a position where you have responsibility and can use critical thinking skills, you can really thrive here.

Pros

I will make almost 5 years with this firm and so many things have changed ever since! You may look at some bad reviews further below and I cannot say that some of them are not true! However, there have been periods with ups and downs and management has recognized most of these pressing challenges the company was facing. I can definitely say that management has started getting things right and they have started caring...

Cons

This is not the industry that everyone will like what they do and strive for more as time passes by. Work by nature is stressful. At times case load has been unmanageable, hence overtime was the answer to a lot of growth and high case load, which has affected employees' work life balance and lead to high turnover rate. Feedback has been provided many times re: case load and things have started improving. Sometimes,...

Advice to Management

Thank you for being open to feedback and addressing issues that matter most to your employees. Please remember: clients do not come first, employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients!

Pros

Very driven to make things easier and better for employees. Very engaged with employees and open to ideas to make it an even greater place to work.

Cons

The case management system can be a little overwhelming at first if you're used to processing cases in your own way. It just takes a while to get used to.

Pros

I love how friendly and relaxed it feels. It is also fast paced and busy which I thrive on. It makes it very easy to want to stay at BAL for a long time.

Cons

Pay could definitely be higher especially for admin, immigration assistant, and paralegal positions

Pros

great people, work life balance, and management

Cons

no competitive benefits to retain talent. standard benefits with no additional benefits like gym, snacks, drinks. too little volunteer time also. not alot of opportunity to help the community through firm work.

Advice to Management

work towards incorporating a better benefits package to help retain talent. bay area companies are getting creative with incentivizing new talent to join and retaining talent and BAL is lagging in this regard. it is a great place to work but would be a better place if they worked proactively to initiate more fun benefits package to remain competitive in the job marketplace

Pros

Young and energetic team You can learn a lot within a short period of time

Cons

Employee turnover rate is high