Kempster, Keller & Lenz-Calvo, Ltd. was established in 1985. The firm was originally named after the founding principal, Donald B. Kempster, who began practicing law in 1976. Since then Cheryl Lenz-Calvo, Martina Keller, William Quiceno and Theresa Corcoran have all become partners of the firm.  Ms. Keller retired from the full-time practice of law in 2011 and now serves as of counsel to the firm.

Currently, the firm is made up of eight experienced attorneys and over twenty-five professional support staff including, supervisory legal assistants, legal assistants, clerks and receptionists.   Our clients include world-renowned universities and major research institutions as well as multinational companies.  Mr. Kempster serves as the official pro-bono counsel on immigration issues to the Mexican government at the Mexican Consulate General located in Chicago, Illinois.  Our attorneys have also won precedent decisions for our clients before the Seventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals.

Among immigration practitioners, Kempster, Keller & Lenz-Calvo, Ltd. enjoys a national  reputation and is considered substantial in a field commonly made up of solo practitioners, or practices that do not offer comprehensive immigration services.

As our biographies will indicate, we have very strong ties with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), having current and past members of the Chicago Chapter’s Executive Board.  Our attorneys speak frequently at AILA national and local conferences, write articles in AILA publications and participate in AILA sponsored community outreach and congressional lobbying activities.  We count ourselves among the active and contributing members of AILA.

In our formal capacity as educators and speakers at immigration law conferences, as well as through informal contact with colleagues, we often act as mentors and resources in the field of immigration law.  We believe that the strength of our practice is the ability to pool together our diverse individual experience to share valuable practical information.

We are a friendly office with an international orientation and strong roots in the immigrant experience in the United States.  Each of us has a strong connection with countries outside of the United States.  In addition, almost every member of our staff speaks at least one additional language other than English.  We are either first generation Americans or Americans who have lived abroad.  We believe that these factors allow us to build trust and fellowship with the international clients we serve.