Dallas, April 28, 2020 – Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL) is pleased to introduce an immigration chatbot to help demystify complex legal definitions and immigration concepts.

The chatbot, who goes by the moniker “Ellie,” represents another first as BAL continues to lead the industry in using innovative technology to enhance the client experience. Ellie takes her name from the historic Ellis Island, a gateway to freedom for generations of American immigrants.

“Ellis Island symbolizes the challenges, dreams and complexity surrounding U.S. immigration, and Ellie represents another step in BAL’s mission as a firm to make a positive difference in people’s lives and to power human achievement,” said Edward Rios, a BAL Partner and Innovation Leader who heads the firm’s Boston office.

Ellie is able to field questions about visa categories and other immigration definitions and give simple and straightforward answers to queries, such as “What is a TN visa?” and “How does premium processing work?”

Using natural language processing, a form of artificial intelligence, Ellie can understand everyday speech, so users do not need to have a background in legal terminology or specific search-engine phrases.

“Ellie is yet another innovation we’ve delivered to provide an exceptional experience to our clients. Our chatbot technology enables Ellie to learn, adapt, improve and grow more intelligent with every interaction.” said Vince DiMascio, BAL’s Chief Information Officer. Ellie’s vocabulary and knowledge base will be expanding to encompass answers to more complex questions in the future.

Ellie resides at BAL’s H-1B Electronic Registration Resources Center, which clients can access by logging onto their Cobalt account.

Media Contact:
Emily Albrecht
Senior Director — Marketing & Communications
ealbrecht@bal.com
469-559-0174