Managing Partner Michael Wildes and Senior Attorney Caroline Gabela-Monteiro are proud to announce the approval of the O-1 petition filed on behalf of extraordinary horticulturalist, Simon Rice.
Mr. Rice is known for managing historic estates and gardens, including Culham Court and Friar Park. He studied at the prestigious Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Kew), a world-renowned scientific institution and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kew houses the world’s largest collection of living plants, employs over 1,100 staff, and collaborates with organizations in more than 95 countries. An education from Kew is a prestigious honor, and its endorsements carry significant weight, such as its approval of the botanicals used in global brand Herbal Essences and several other bio:renew (hair) products.
In 2010, Mr. Rice was appointed Head Gardener of Friar Park, the 40-acre estate of the late George Harrison of The Beatles. Under the employment of Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison, he maintained and enhanced the estate’s gardens, including Britain’s largest rock garden, the Henley Matterhorn. One of his notable achievements was creating a wildflower meadow from scratch for the 2012 wedding of Dhani Harrison, an event featured in Vogue magazine.
Since 2015, Mr. Rice has served as Head Gardener and Landscape Manager for Culham Court, a historic estate dating back to medieval times. Tasked with restoring the 3,500-acre 18th century property, he collaborated with world-renowned landscape architect Tom Stuart Smith to renew its grandeur. Mr. Rice’s innovative restoration techniques brought the estate back to life, earning coverage in House & Garden magazine, which credited him with preserving the estate’s beauty and ensuring its continued evolution. Wildes & Weinberg is proud to have represented Mr. Rice in this matter!
The firm was founded in 1960 by Senior Partner, Leon Wildes. Nearly three quarters of a century later, the firm continues to concentrate its practice in all aspects of U.S. immigration and nationality law, servicing the immigration requirements of prominent American and International firms, banks, industrial, financial, and manufacturing concerns, as well as law firms in connection with the personnel needs of their foreign national employees.
In addition, the firm has a distinguished clientele and has done substantial immigration work for performing artists, directors, writers, models, actors/actresses, athletes, fine artists, art dealers, curators, and literary agents. Most notable was Leon Wildes’ successful representation of former Beatle John Lennon and his artist wife, Yoko Ono in their deportation proceedings, the basis of which has inspired legislation, and has been portrayed in films, plays, and literary works worldwide. Some of the firm’s other distinguished clients include scholar Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (z”l), as well as soccer icon Pele, Master Chef Jean-Georges, musicians Sinead O’ Connor and Boy George, as well as First Lady Melania Trump and her family.
Michael Wildes, the firm’s Managing Partner, is also currently serving his fifth term as Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey, is the author of Safe Haven in America: Battles to Open the Golden Door (which draws on over a quarter of a century of his practice in the immigration field), is an Adjunct Professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, and serves as Counsel to Lincoln Center and several international/corporate law firms.
Despite difficulties currently being encountered in dealing with U.S. immigration authorities, the firm has maintained an extraordinary track record for success in its cases. The firm’s litigation group has expanded its efforts in filing Mandamus Actions and other Actions in Federal Courts throughout the nation.
In addition, Wildes & Weinberg’s multilingual staff is spread throughout its offices in New York City, Englewood, New Jersey, Miami, Florida, and by appointment only in Los Angeles, California and Tel Aviv, Israel, and are known for their experience and special expertise in processing each foreign national’s case with nothing less than the highest level of professionalism.
For more information on our firm please visit www.wildeslaw.com or contact Michael Wildes at michael@wildeslaw.com.