Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL) announced today it has officially opened its Maputo, Mozambique Office. BAL had previously announced that Owen Davies had been hired as Managing Director, Africa. Davies is widely recognized as a Sub-Sahara African corporate immigration expert and a leading international corporate immigration lawyer.

"BAL is the leading immigration firm for the energy industry and Mozambique is one of the top countries inAfrica for energy exploration," said managing partner Jeremy Fudge. "Mozambique is a progressive African country with a democratic government that has been focused on providing services back to its population. With substantial infrastructure enhancements, and energy resources that provide revenue to its economy,Mozambique is well-situated to become a focal point for international business and economic growth and stability. Now, with our new BAL office, we are positioned to help energy firms and other businesses partner with this great country in pursuing economic opportunities."

"I am delighted to be leading BAL's office in Africa," Davies said. "I believe that BAL's globally unified structure is critical to successfully partnering with clients in Africa, where the immigration norm requires multi-country document and process support."

With nearly twenty years of experience, Davies brings considerable expertise to BAL's African practice. Consistently ranked as an African immigration expert by the highest bands of legal directories, he is a leading solicitor and advisor to multi-national companies, governments and international trade blocs on global immigration issues, including crisis management and immigration program and policy development.

Emily King, BAL Managing Director, Europe, who had previously supervised the firm's strategy in Africa, stated: "Placing our BAL team within Africa offers an enhanced opportunity to be of service to our clients, and promotes a higher level of ground level focus on compliance. We recognize that Africa is a continent that poses unique challenges that are best addressed by experts on-site who can accomplish and manage work that is compliant and honed to each country's unique needs."

About Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP

Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP was established in 1980 as a corporate immigration law firm. The firm provides comprehensive immigration services from offices in Austin, Boston, Dallas, Geneva, Houston, London, Maputo,McLean, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Washington, DC. The firm and its leaders are highly ranked in every major legal publication, including Best Lawyers, Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Martindale Hubbell, The Legal 500, and Who's Who Legal. Non-U.S. offices are operated by affiliated entities in those countries. See website for details. www.balglobal.com