About Kelli Y.
Kelli Y. Allen took a winding route into the law. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1990 and returned to study law two decades later, receiving her J.D. from Charlotte School of Law in 2010. The time between degrees gave her a broad view of systems that touch vulnerable people and communities.
Her early legal work included a judicial internship in 2010 at the Executive Office for Immigration Review. That year in a federal immigration setting exposed her to courtroom procedure and the detailed record work that immigration matters demand. A year later she established a private practice that combined those interests. In 2011 she opened Kelli Y Allen Immigration & Elder Law and began handling cases that crossed both immigration and elder law concerns.
Allen is admitted to practice in North Carolina and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She also pursued training as a mediator and earned Nationally Certified Professional in Mediation status through the National Association of Certified Mediators. Mediation has become a regular part of how she resolves disputes, particularly where older clients or families prefer options outside of litigation.
Her professional memberships span national and local organizations. They include the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Association of Elder Law Lawyers, the American Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association and the Mecklenburg County Bar Association. She also belongs to ElderCounsel, Elder Law Matters, the National Care Planning Council, the National Association for Community Mediation and the National Association of Certified Mediators. Those affiliations give her access to practice resources and peer networks in both immigration and elder law.
Allen’s practice history reflects an overlap between two demanding fields. Immigration work often raises questions about family stability, benefits and long-term care. Elder law work raises questions about benefits, guardianship and financial planning. She has structured her practice to address both sets of issues and the points where they meet.
Today she practices from the Law Office of Kelli Y Allen, PLLC. She handles immigration matters, elder law questions and mediations for clients who need alternatives to traditional litigation.
