The Benouis Law Office History

Jim Foley has been a business owner and entrepreneur for over 36 years and has created a number of successful businesses currently in operation. He is a true pioneer in the guestworker industry having started Foley Enterprises over a decade ago which was one of the very first companies offering assistance to business owners trying to take advantage of the H-2A and H-2B programs.

When Jim started very few people knew about the guestworker programs and even less knew how to correctly and effectively utilize them.  He learned the process inside and out and successfully utilized the program in his landscape business. Eventually, Jim shared his experience openly and ended up teaching the process to some of the attorneys and companies that are presently offering these services.

After providing over 2,000 companies with the placement and recruitment of over 50,000 quality guestworkers Jim came to the realization that the most effective way to provide guestworker services was by offering his services under the supervision of attorneys who could provide the legal component, which was becoming increasingly expected by clients in the industry. 

For over a year, Jim sought out the right person who could help make this dream a reality. That person needed to be an attorney who understood immigration law, business, technology and ideally who was a business owner and entrepreneur like himself. Jim was fortunate to be introduced to Ian Benouis through a mutual friend.

Ian has held numerous positions in various industries, including the position of General Counsel, Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Vice President of Operations. He is a business owner and entrepreneur, having built a number of companies and worked at a number of startups. Ian is a West Point graduate, combat veteran and was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in the Army.

Jim and Ian quickly became friends and created a vision of what they could achieve together. The Benouis Law Office is the result of that vision.

The firm offers the best nationwide customer service available in this industry. The firm offers the perspective of a business owner combined with the expertise of a law firm. All this, in conjunction with the latest technology to help streamline the process, allows the firm to take the guesswork out of the Guest Worker Program.

The firm is please to announce the addition of our latest senior paralegals-Vinay Shah and Maureen Olshan

Vinay Shah, Senior Paralegal

Vinay is originally from the Gujurat District of India. An engineer by training, he received his Bachelors degree and Masters degree from the University of Baroda in India in 1986 and received his MBA from Rutgers University in 1996.

Vinay has had his own human resource consulting and recruiting business for over 12 years. He has also been providing employers with back office HR services for their companies - in some cases acting as an entire virtual HR department for smaller companies.

He has experience with the following visas: B1, C1/D, E-1, E-2, H-1, H-2, H-3, I, J-1, L-1, O-1, P-1, P-2, P-3, Q-1, R-1, TN-1.

His main focus has been connecting high technology workers from the Gujurat District of India with employers in the US.

Vinay recently decided to expand his services to other Districts in India and other countries as well and to also offer his services under the supervision of

attorneys who could provide the legal component, which was becoming increasingly expected by clients in the industry.

Maureen Olshan, Senior Paralegal

Maureen's professional life has been dedicated to direct and

provide personal service to the public. Maureen's career started with the Social Security Administration (SSA) as a Social Insurance Specialist.

She received numerous awards of recognition for outstanding performance during her tenure at the SSA.

Eventually, Maureen became the Quality Reviewer of all retirement, disability and survivor benefits for the SSA office that she worked.

She performed District-wide training within SSA, training on benefit entitlements and new legislation. This career allowed Maureen to develop skills that prepared her for positions as a technical expert on Social Security programs.

After a successful career with the Social Security Administration, Maureen has been working the past four years with the H-2A and H-2B programs and has been deeply involved in the legislative and regulatory issues affecting these programs.