History of Peng & Weber

Since 1992, Peng & Weber has grown from a two-lawyer firm into a national immigration law practice through the efforts of its founding partners, Elizabeth Peng and Cletus M. Weber, and through the work of our attorneys and staff.

Elizabeth Peng, who grew up in China, earned her Bachelor of Law (LLB) and Master of Law (LLM) degrees at the China University of Politics and Law in Beijing, China in 1982 and 1985, respectively. Although not an English major, she worked tirelessly to learn English in the hopes that she might receive an opportunity to study abroad. That opportunity came in the form of a Ford Foundation scholarship to study law at the University of Pennsylvania in 1985, but she subsequently decided to study law the University of Kansas in America's Heartland.

During law school, Ms. Peng clerked in the international law department at Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. in Kansas City. After graduating with her Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1988, she joined the international and immigration law group at Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn in Washington, D.C. While at Arent Fox, Ms. Peng played a key role in lobbying Congress and the first Bush Administration on major immigration issues, obtaining immigration status for more than 80,000 Chinese students and scholars in the United States. In 1990, Ms. Peng was invited to join the law firm of Ogden Murphy Wallace in Seattle, Washington, where she practiced immigration law until forming Peng & Weber with Cletus M. Weber in 1992.

Cletus M. Weber, who grew up in Montana, attended the University of Montana and the College of William & Mary in historic Williamsburg, Virginia, earning his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree with Beta Gamma Sigma honors in 1986. He subsequently earned his JD degree from the National Law Center at the George Washington University in Washington, DC in 1989. While in law school, Mr. Weber was a member of the George Washington Law Review and served as Managing Editor in 1988-1989.

After graduating from law school in 1989, Mr. Weber joined the law firm of Ogden Murphy Wallace in Seattle, Washington. He also worked as a staff attorney and legislative drafter in Washington State Senate before forming Peng & Weber with Ms. Peng in 1992.

In the early days of Peng & Weber, our law practice included corporate, real estate, and litigation, as well as immigration law. Given the complexities and constant changes of immigration law, however, the partners believe that we can best serve and protect our clients' interests by focusing our energies exclusively on immigration law. As a result, Peng & Weber has limited its practice to immigration law since the mid-1990s.

Since this time, the firm has developed a national reputation for its experience and success in immigration law, particularly in the representation of scientists, research engineers, Ph.D. students, professors, and the entities that hire them. We also have significant experience in other areas of immigration law, from labor certifications, H-1B, L-1 and other nonimmigrant visa petitions to political asylum, family-related immigration and employer issues, such as I-9 compliance.

Throughout its history, Peng & Weber has been devoted to the excellence of immigration law practice. All of our attorneys are members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and most of us have actively served on the Executive Committee of the Washington State Chapter of AILA. Ms. Peng served on the Executive Committee in 1993-1994. Mr. Weber has served on the Executive Committee since 2001, served as Chapter Chair from 2005-2006, and is currently Immediate Past Chair.

Our law firm is physically located in Mercer Island (Seattle suburb) (because we prefer to live here), but we continue to represent individual and corporate clients located throughout the United States. Since 1992, we have represented clients from about 40 different states in the United States and have represented citizens from countries around the world. We take great pride in our reputation for providing top-quality service in the field of immigration law, and all of our attorneys and staff cherish the responsibility and rewards of carrying on this tradition.