About Marie
Marie Puertollano trained on two continents. She earned a Master in Local Counties Law from Université Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV in 2007 and completed an LL.M. at California Western School of Law in 2011. Her academic path put her in contact with both French local government law and American practice. That dual perspective framed the early stages of her legal career and informed her move into immigration work in the United States.
Her professional beginnings were in France. In 2006 she interned at the Conseil General du Bas Rhin. The following year she served as a law clerk for the Communauté Urbaine de Strasbourg, getting hands-on exposure to municipal and regional legal issues. After relocating to the U.S. for graduate study, she took on internships in 2011 with the ABA Immigration Justice Project and the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, assignments that introduced her to client advocacy in immigration settings and to the administrative systems that govern removal and immigration relief.
In 2012 she joined the Law Offices of Jacob J. Sapochnick as a lawyer. She has maintained that affiliation while building practice experience in immigration matters. She holds membership in The State Bar of California and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Her professional affiliations include the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Society of Legal Advocates, organizations that keep her connected to developments in federal immigration policy and litigation.
Her work spans administrative proceedings and court filings. She draws on courtroom preparation and appellate procedure when cases require elevated review. The mix of hands-on representation in immigration proceedings and experience with federal appellate practice gives her a practical sense of how cases move from initial filings to higher courts. Colleagues and former supervisors note her steady handling of procedural complexity and client-centered case management.
Outside of individual casework, earlier volunteer and internship roles exposed her to nonprofit and pro bono practice environments. Those experiences inform how she assesses client needs and identifies procedural options. Today she represents clients in immigration matters at the Law Offices of Jacob J. Sapochnick, handling cases at both the administrative and federal appellate levels.
