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Irene Steffas has been approved by the Council on Accreditation to act as the primary provider in outgoing and incoming Hague adoptions.
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Irene Steffas
Irene Arfaras Steffas began her practice in 1983 in Texas with a focus on maritime law. Collisions at sea, salvage and Jones Act cases were wonderful to study, but not as interesting in real practice. Like a strong current, her deep family roots moved her back to her native state of Florida where she worked in a small civil law firm and volunteered to help a beloved colleague with her adoption caseload. After training Irene to respect the strength of birth mothers, attorney Linda Hochberg bequeathed her adoption practice to Irene.
In 1986, Irene founded the Law Firm of Irene Arfaras, P.A. The Florida Supreme Court then granted Irene permission to change her name to Steffas (her husband’s surname) and so her business also changed its name. Practicing law in the Greek community of Tarpon Springs, Irene had direct contact with many immigrants and therefore decided to immerse herself in this area of the law to assist the people in her community. Irene also gained an interest for the growing field of assisted reproduction technologies and worked on her first surrogacy case in 1992. The Law Firm of Irene Steffas, P.C. now specializes in all three fields of practice: adoption, immigration and assisted reproduction technologies.
In 1993, Irene and her husband moved to Georgia, and embarked in their own journey through adoption, applying the advice that Irene had so often given to her clients. The open adoption process, communications with birth parents and reunion meetings are not abstract concepts to Irene but are real life lessons that Irene and her family have joyously experienced. Irene then gave birth to her youngest child.
During the following years, Irene researched issues present in intercountry adoptions and wrote numerous articles on the topic. By the late 1990’s Irene had distinguished herself as an expert in the area of intercountry adoptions by speaking at national conventions for the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys (AAAA), the American Immigration Lawyers Associations (AILA) and state Continued Legal Education (CLE) seminars. Irene has also committed herself to assisting children in foster care who do not have legal immigrant status in the United States. Among other notable accomplishments, Irene participated in INS’s First Children’s Conference in 2000 (Irene was the only non-government attorney to participate in the conference). She has also been serving the US State Department, Bureau of International Information Program as a good will ambassador in such countries as Spain, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Adoption agencies continue to seek Irene’s advice and assistance as they process visas for adopted children through the US Embassies, while foreign courts refer to Irene’s expertise as they request Legal Opinions on the rights of adopted children in the United States.
Now an Angel in Adoption, Irene shares her practice with an associate attorney Jessica Gordon. Like Irene, Jessica has a deep commitment to children’s issues and immigration law and, together they will continue to grow the practice of adoptions, immigration and assisted reproductive technology.
Irene, her husband and two children are members of Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church where the boys keep the family tradition by dancing at the Marietta Greek Festival.
Irene is a member of:
- State Bar of Georgia
- State Bar of Texas
- Florida Bar
- American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
- American Academy of Adoption Attorneys (AAAA)
- Georgia Association of Licensed Adoption Agencies (GALAA)
- Languages: English & Greek
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Jessica Gordon
Jessica Gordon received her B.A. degree from Emory University, in 2001, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her J.D. degree, magna cum laude, in 2004 from Georgetown University Law Center where she was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as an Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.
She has a history in child advocacy and abuse prevention. During law school, Jessica worked for the Family Advocacy and Domestic Violence Clinics at Georgetown University Law Center. Through her work with these law clinics, Jessica has provided both policy advocacy and direct service representation. Following law school, Jessica served as a law clerk to the Honorable Phyllis A. Kravitch of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Jessica then had the honor of teaching at Emory University Law School as a Post-Graduate Fellow through the Barton Fellowship Program. Through this program, she worked on promoting policies to help foster children find loving permanent homes.
Jessica now lives with her husband and twin daughters in Marietta, Georgia. Based on her strong desire to help other parents find the same joy she did in completing her family, Jessica now concentrates on adoption law, embryo donations, and surrogacy at Steffas and Associates, P.C. Jessica joined Steffas & Associates, P.C. in the spring of 2010.
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Omayra Elder – Office Manager and Notary Public
Omayra was born in Colombia and grew up in New York. She studied at New York University, where she developed a strong financial and administrative background. She is currently working as an office manager in charge of the billing, purchasing and advertising for Steffas & Associates, P.C. In the summer of 2007, Omayra expanded her workload to include domestic independent adoptions. Omayra has a great understanding of immigration procedures because she was an immigrant herself and she assisted family members obtain citizenship. Omayra joined Steffas & Associates, P.C. in 2004. Languages: English and Spanish.
Beatriz Vega – Immigration Paralegal and Notary Public
Beatriz was born and raised in Colombia. She obtained a degree in industrial Engineering from Politechnical de la Costa of Colombia. Majoring in engineering, Beatriz has an excellent eye for detail and precision that has served her well in completing rigorous forms for the Department of Homeland Security. Beatriz has also developed great organizational skills to continuously track immigration and naturalization cases. Beatriz understands the hurdles that new immigrants must face because she was the beneficiary of a family petition filed by her husband and she learned English upon coming to the United States. Beatriz joined Steffas & Associates, P.C. in May of 2006. Languages: English and Spanish.
Jyotika Acharya – Adoption Paralegal and Administrative Assistant
Jyotika was born in Nepal and grew up in the State of Georgia. Georgia State University granted her a double Bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing. She brings her enthusiasm for adoptions, as well as her knowledge and skills in marketing and finance to our firm. Jyotika works as an adoption paralegal and administrative assistant to attorney Steffas. Jyotika understands both immigration and adoption issues having had the experience of an immigrant herself and having taken part in her family’s journey to adopt orphan cousins from Nepal. Jyotika joined Steffas & Associates, P.C. in the fall of 2006. Languages: English, Nepali and understands Hindi.