Liz Espín Stern: A day in the life of a global mobility and migration expert

Liz Espín Stern is a partner and the head of the Global Mobility & Migration practice at the law firm, Mayer Brown LLP. She helps top companies manage their global staffing needs to attain a competitive advantage. This is a day in the life of a global mobility and migration expert.

What currently keeps you busy?  Sons, husband, and a super innovative period in the growth of our global practice.

Today I woke up at 8 am.

The first thing I did was pray to ask God to guide me through the day, and I smiled.

My morning ritual includes breakfast in my kitchen with my hubby, a tad of stretching, and a great shower as hot as I can take it.

I started working at 9:15 am, from the drive as I spoke with London and DC.

My biggest challenge was juggling back-to-back meetings on what was ultimately a long Friday.

I celebrated the great team we have and getting to come home and indulge in watching Gotham with my husband and The Middle with my 16-year-old Davy.

What I love most about my work is the mutual creativity with my partners and our next generation.

My favorite part of the day was when a group of talented people brainstormed what can only be described as a Washington, DC analysis and the moment came when we knew we had it.

Least favorite... having to eat lunch on the go.

I am so glad that I get to be completely who I am at home and at work, and know that’s welcomed.

I wish I had more consistent time to enjoy walking in the outdoors- it’s a passion.

Something that surprised me was the strength of a young lawyer’s dissection of a highly specialized issue way outside his wheelhouse – and I loved it.

Did you have a plan for your day? Did it go as planned? Yes, well-planned.

I want to recognize my incredible executive assistant Judy Elofson for helping me with the late in the day polishing of a brief that is important to one of our clients – above and beyond like always.

How do you commute? I drive about 30 miles door-to-door unless I work from home, which I try to do once a week.

For lunch I ate a half a tuna sandwich, and some carrots.

A personal activity I do just for myself is walking in my neighborhood and savoring the beauty of creation.

I most enjoyed spending time with my husband and son – no question.

For dinner I indulged in some cold foods from Wegman’s my husband had bought – delicious.

My favorite technology that I used today is my voice-over car phone – I still get a kick out of talking to Siri.

I am inspired by the versatility of gifts different people bring forth if you simply invite it.

Did you meditate? Did you exercise? Yes, I spent a bit of time thinking, and I did a bit of yoga.

One strategy I use to make my time more effective is organize the expected day the night before – just for a few minutes, I plan the next day.

I am passionate about giving back your best to every task you do – that can be tiring, but it’s just not worth it otherwise.

Something I wanted to get done but didn’t get to do was take my walk – just could not fit it in.

A dream I am currently focused on fulfilling is spending more time by the ocean in the summer and writing something purely fun while I’m there.

I can’t live without streaming– I just love a great movie or dramatic show – really looking forward to watching The Americans.

Today I felt excited, a great deal, and at times, frustrated but focused – frustrated doesn’t get you far.

I went to sleep at around 12:30.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to our Saturday routine – late breakfast, fresh brewed coffee, newspaper and crossword, and this Saturday, a date.

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Elizabeth Espín Stern, a partner in Mayer Brown's Washington DC office, leads the firm’s Global Mobility & Migration practice, which forms part of the Employment & Benefits group. She has 28 years of experience advising on US and global immigration, HR and mobility services, and is consistently ranked as a leading business immigration lawyer by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Who's Who Legal, The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, and national and local publications. In addition, she has been named in Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers and "Women in Law Awards 2014" by Lawyer Monthly and named one of National Law Journal’s “Outstanding Women Lawyers 2015.” She spearheads Mayer Brown's new global worksite management initiative. This "Global People Solution" offers multinational clients, in a variety of sectors including financial services, IT, defense, telecommunications and multimedia, a comprehensive compliance and risk management program in connection with their mobile workforce. Liz regularly speaks and writes about immigration policies and contributes to major news agencies and publications, including Law 360, Quartz.com, Global Business News and a host of global HR publications.

Liz focuses on issues that are unique to dynamic commercial entities with a global work force. She helps companies establish global compliance and management programs to move their executive and professional work corps to various locations around the world. She is knowledgeable in global HR disciplines and transactions, including visas, work permits and compliance and how immigration transactions interface with tax, employment, compensation and benefits, corporate formation, data privacy, export controls, and anti-corruption and anti-bribery regulation.

Learn more about Liz online and follow her on LinkedIn.