Our team

Davis C. Bae is the founder and Managing Attorney of The Bae Law Group. Mr. Bae's practice focuses on comprehensive immigration planning for multinational and fast growth corporations. He has established corporate immigration policies, consulted on mergers and acquisitions, and developed recruiting plans for companies throughout the United States. In addition, Mr. Bae actively promotes employer interests through advocacy efforts before the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Labor, and Congress.

Mr. Bae regularly speaks to professional associations and companies on a variety of immigration issues including corporate changes, human resources, legal advocacy, foreign recruitment, and employee retention. He has published numerous articles addressing a variety of business immigration topics. Mr. Bae is also an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. His achievements have been recognized by government agencies, lawyers associations and business organizations. Mr. Bae was born in Busan, South Korea and immigrated to the United States in 1971.

Kelsey O'Keefe heads the Nonimmigrant Visa Group of the Bae Law Group. Her practice focuses on working with United States and multinational corporations in the temporary hire and transfer of foreign national employees for positions in the United States. This includes filing of nonimmigrant visa applications for intra-company transferees, athletes, entertainers, and professionals in a variety of specialty occupations (e.g. H-1B, L, TN, O, and P visas).

Ms. O'Keefe received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Gonzaga University and studied abroad in Florence, Italy. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Washington. As a clinical intern with the UW's Refugee and Immigrant Advocacy Project at the Northwest Justice Project, she successfully assisted refugee clients in obtaining public benefits and resolving a wide variety of immigration issues. She also assisted the Yakima branch of the Northwest Justice Project with its migrant farm worker advocacy efforts, conducting research on constitutional protection for farm laborers and policy issues involved in the investigation of Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act violations. As a native of Seattle, Ms. O'Keefe has been an active volunteer in her community, working with Seattle area homeless youth and served as Co-Director of the UW School of Law student group Street Youth Legal Advocates of Washington.

Ms. O'Keefe is admitted to practice in Washington and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyer's Association.

Laura Hofman is a Senior Associate Attorney leading the Adjustment of Status Department of the Bae Law Group.  Her practice includes naturalization applications, both family-based and employment-based lawful permanent residence processes, especially Extraordinary Ability, Outstanding Researcher, Multinational Manager, and National Interest Waiver petitions.  She also handles labor certifications and some nonimmigrant visas. 

Ms. Hofman received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music, studying voice and viola, and in Urban Studies from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  She has participated in study abroad programs to both Germany and Honduras.  Ms. Hofman received her Juris Doctor from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.  While in law school, she served on the Board of Directors of the Free Legal Aid Clinic and interned with the Community Immigration Legal Services program of the Archdiocese of Detroit, both offering legal services to low-income residents of Detroit.  Now in Seattle, she volunteers with several nonprofit immigration legal services organizations.

Ms. Hofman is admitted to practice in Washington and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyer's Association. 

Kohei Yamamoto is an Associate Attorney in the Nonimmigrant Visa Group of The Bae Law Group. His practice in nonimmigrant visas includes H-1B, TN, L-1, E-2, and other temporary visa classifications. He also provides representation in a variety of other immigration matters such as family-based permanent residence and permanent residence for multinational managers/executives, individuals of extraordinary ability and investors.

Mr. Yamamoto is admitted to practice in Washington and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Sarah Kermgard is an Associate Attorney in the Immgrant Visa Department of The Bae Law Group.  Her practice includes both family-based and employment-based permanent residence processes, labor certifications, and naturalization applications. 

Ms. Kermgard received a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from the University of California at Berkeley in Psychology and studied abroad in London, England.    She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Washington. While in law school, she participated in the Immigrant Families Advocacy Project, served as a volunteer with the King County Bar Association Immigration Legal Clinic and International Rescue Committee, and externed at the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. Ms. Kermgard completed a clerkship at the Washington Court of Appeals and continues to volunteer her time on pro bono immigration cases and professional legal committees.

Ms. Kermgard is admitted to practice in Washington and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Jennifer Russell is the Bae Law Group's Supervising Paralegal and a Senior Paralegal in our Nonimmigrant Visa Group. She works primarily with attorneys Kelsey O'Keefe and Kohei Yamamoto, as well as Davis Bae, on cases for United States and multinational corporations who are hiring or transferring foreign national employees for positions in the United States. This includes the filing of nonimmigrant visa applications (H-1B, L, TN, E, H-2B, and P) for professionals in a variety of specialty occupations, intra-company transferees, and athletes and working on green card cases for multi-national managers. She collects and analyzes corporate and beneficiary documentation, performs legal research, drafts employer support letters and petition forms, performs foreign education analysis, and communicates case status to clients and beneficiaries.

Prior to joining the Bae Law Group in 2002, Ms. Russell spent more than five years working in the field of international education and foreign credentials evaluation. She is a native of Western Washington who has lived and studied abroad and holds bachelors degrees from the University of Washington in Swedish and in Communications.

Judith Scarcia is a Paralegal in the Permanent Residence Department of The Bae Law Group, working primarily with attorneys in our immigrant visa group. She is responsible for assisting attorneys in guiding corporate clients and employee beneficiaries through the complex green card process. This includes corresponding and updating clients regarding case status and drafting, assembling, and filing labor certifications, I-140 Immigrant and Multinational Manager petitions, and Adjustment of Status applications. Her many duties include ensuring that all rules and regulations set forth by the Department of Labor and USCIS have been met and that petitions and applications are properly filed.

Ms. Scarcia received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from San Francisco State University.  She stumbled upon the immigration field when she researched, drafted, and filed her own family-based Adjustment of Status application for her Czech husband. She has several years of experience providing legal assistance and research services to attorneys in the Seattle area.

Vangie Peaslee is a Paralegal in the Permanent Residence Department of The Bae Law Group, working primarily with attorneys in our immigrant visa group. She is primarily responsible for assisting foreign nationals and their employers throughout the employment-based greencard process, including the filing of PERM Labor Certifications, I-140 Immigrant Petitions, and Adjustment of Status applications. Ms. Peaslee's duties include corresponding with clients, drafting forms and letters, managing Labor Certification recruitment, assembling petitions and applications, and making and responding to USCIS inquiries.

Ms. Peaslee graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Washington and is a former small business owner. Ms. Peaslee volunteers as a teacher's assistant in the citizenship class at the Refugee Women's Alliance here in Seattle.

Anna Russo is a Legal Assistant working in the Nonimmigrant Visa Group of The Bae Law Group, primarily supporting attorneys Kelsey O'Keefe and Kohei Yamamoto. Ms. Russo works on all elements of the nonimmigrant visa case process ensuring that cases are properly filed with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and that all client information is up to date. Ms. Russo's many duties include keeping the Nonimmigrant Visa Group organized, keeping electronic records updated, and maintaining client files.

Prior to joining the Bae Law Group, Ms. Russo received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American Studies at the University of Washington and briefly studied teaching English as a foreign language in Costa Rica.

Sarah Harris is a Legal Assistant in the Permanent Residence Department of the Bae Law Group, working with attorneys in our immigrant visa group. She is primarily responsible for supporting the paralegals and attorneys in the Labor Certification and Immigrant Petition processes by tracking potential clients, opening and closing case files, updating electronic records, drafting and mailing documents, keeping files organized, and archiving files. Her duties also include scheduling, correspondence with clients and the USCIS, and tracking the status of cases and the progress on various tasks and projects.

Ms. Harris graduated from Seattle University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies, with an emphasis in History and Spanish. She also has minors in English and Philosophy. She has lived abroad in Spain for six months, continues to study Spanish, and hopes to learn Arabic.

Jackie Sideman is the Firm Administrator for the Bae Law Group. As a senior member of the Management Team, she collaborates with owner, Davis Bae, and Lead Associate Attorneys, in strategizing and implementing the overall vision for the firm. In addition, her daily responsibilities include: managing all accounting functions; internal operations; vendor relations; administering employee benefits, employee relations, and supervising the administrative staff.

From her previous tenure with major architectural, design and accounting firms, Ms. Sideman brings to the Bae Law Group a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience in the areas of office management, internal systems, human resources, facilities and accounting functions. A native of Seattle, she is active in a number of environmental and humanitarian organizations.