Seyfarth Immigration Practice Heads Lead Exodus to PwC Spinoff

Leaders of Seyfarth Shaw’s immigration practice are decamping to a global mobility consultancy with roots in one of the Big Four accounting firms with more than two dozen staff in tow.

Seyfarth partners Mahsa Aliaskari and Jacob Cherry started Monday at Vialto Law, they said in an interview. They brought 27 lawyers and staff with them, a spokesperson for Vialto said.

London-headquartered Vialto Partners, which helps global companies comply with immigration and travel rules, launched Vialto Law in 2023 to advise companies on US immigration law. Vialto Partners says they set up Vialto Law as a separate entity under the same brand.

Jacob Cherry

Vialto

“Setting up Vialto Law in the US has allowed us to provide immigration legal services in the US and other global mobility services that we have,” said Sharan Kundi, global lead for immigration services at Vialto Partners.

Reached for comment, a representative for Seyfarth said the separation is part of an overall strategy. Aliaskari and Cherry’s transition supports a shift in focus at Seyfarth’s immigration practice toward “complex business immigration, compliance, and strategic global mobility matters where our firm is uniquely positioned to deliver the most value to clients,” the firm said in a statement.

“We are grateful for their contributions and wish them every success, and are committed to supporting our clients through this transition,” the firm said.

Aliaskari said their clients have been employing Vialto’s consulting services for years, since before it spun off from Big Four accounting firm PwC in 2022. But her decision to move was “solidified” when Vialto set up a “hotline” to answer client questions about new travel restrictions from the Trump administration’s shake-up of the H-1B visa program. “I can’t do that at a law firm,” she said of the hotline.

Mahsa Aliaskari

Vialto

The migration of Big Law talent to Vialto Law continues a trend of consulting firms expanding in the legal services market. This trend was kicked into high gear when another of the Big Four, KPMG, won approval from the Arizona Supreme Court to operate a law firm in the state.

“Our clients are consistently asking for an ecosystem that can manage their global talent and keep them on track with their business goals,” said Aliaskari, whose team advises multinational conglomerates on navigating immigration policies. “Vialto wasn’t the traditional immigration law firm; it combines the mobility ecosystem with the law.”

Vialto Partners formerly operated as PwC’s Global Mobility Services unit, which rebranded after PwC sold the unit to funds affiliated with private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice in 2022.

The goal of the sale was to liberate its consultants from restrictions placed on auditing firms, said Kundi, a longtime former PwC director.

Many countries have requirements that companies change their external auditors periodically, preventing the long-term engagement that consultants say their immigration clients need, Kundi said. The same year that Vialto formed in 2022, Big Four firm EY attempted to split its auditing and consulting businesses before infighting among leaders led to the plan’s abandonment.

By leaving Seyfarth for Vialto, Aliaskari and Cherry are trading the other legal services provided on Seyfarth’s platform, such as litigation and commercial transactions, for Vialto’s focus on global movement and immigration.

This trade is worth it, the partners said, because they will continue to refer clients to Seyfarth for other areas of legal service while widening the types of global mobility advice they can offer clients. Aliaskari said she expects her “primary” clients to continue engaging her team at her new venture.