Wildes & Weinberg was honored with having previously represented iconic football (soccer) star, Eric Cantona!
Eric Cantona is a French former professional footballer who is one of the best foreign players to ever play in the Premier League in England. Cantona played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United, before ending his career at Manchester United, with whom he won four Premier League titles in five years, including two League and FA Cup Doubles. He won league championships in England and France in seven of his last eight full seasons as a professional, and at least one trophy in eight of his last nine. At the international level, he played for the France national team and scored 20 goals in 45 matches. He appeared at UEFA Euro 1992 and, in preparation for Euro 96, was appointed captain. He was an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2003, Cantona was voted as Manchester United’s greatest-ever player by Inside United magazine. At the Premier League 10 Seasons Awards in the same year, he was voted the Overseas Player of the Decade. In 2004, he was named in Pele’s list of the 100 world’s greatest players ever. Cantona was later inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
In the middle of his career, in 1997, Cantona announced his retirement from football and pursued a career in cinema. He had roles in the 1998 film Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett; the 2008 film French Film; and the 2009 film Looking for Eric. In 2010, he debuted as a stage actor in Face au Paradis, a play directed by his wife, Rachida Brakni.
Wildes & Weinberg was founded in 1960 by Senior Partner, Leon Wildes. He was best known for his successful representation of former Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono as they fought the Nixon Administration during a five year bitterly contested Deportation Proceeding.
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.