Teamwork with Immigration Counsel/Padilla Updates (Criminal Law Symposium 2026 session)

Mr. Funt (Jamie) is a partner at Weir Greenblatt Pierce, specializing in blue collar and white-collar criminal defense. He also handles civil rights; plaintiff’s side employment discrimination matters and student misconduct Title IX matters. Mr. Funt is licensed in state and federal courts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a twice Chair of the Criminal Justice Section (CJS) of the Philadelphia Bar Association and has served on the Philadelphia Bar Association Board of Governors as well as the Association’s Commission of Judicial Selection and Retention. He has tried numerous cases before judges and juries in state and federal courts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania ranging from complex homicides to kidnappings, aggravated assaults, robberies, sexual assaults, state and federal drug cases, and white-collar crimes including sexual cyber-crimes. His practice includes adult and juvenile matters. Mr. Funt has also been a speaker and course planner for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) as well as the Philadelphia Bar Association, where he presents to other lawyers and judges on topics ranging from the fundamental practice of criminal law, effective trial strategy, advanced cross examination techniques, self-defense, sentencing issues, developing case theories, multi-county practices and the ancillary consequences of criminal convictions

Ronald L. Greenblatt is partner in the Philadelphia and New Jersey based law firm of Goldshaw Greenblatt Pierce, llc (GGP). Mr. Greenblatt has successfully litigated over 1,000 trials on charges ranging from serious criminal offenses, civil rights, family law, consumer fraud and employment cases. Since the age of 20, Mr. Greenblatt has sought to protect the rights of men and women. In 1981, he became one of the youngest union shop stewards in U.S. history when he was elected shop steward for New Jersey Restaurant Local 54 (now Local 33). In this position, he fought grievances brought against his fellow union members and filed grievances on behalf of union members. Upon his graduation from law school, Mr. Greenblatt joined the Defender Association of Philadelphia. There, he handled the defense and trials of hundreds of accused men and women and was one of only two lawyers appointed to the prestigious Special Defense Unit (SDU). He has also received training in media relations in connection with successfully trying some of the area’s highest profile cases. In employment cases, Mr. Greenblatt teams with Patricia Pierce and other member of the employment group at GGP to investigate and litigate claims of discrimination. Ms. Pierce and Mr. Greenblatt have successfully represented GGP’s clients in state and federal court actions that have resulted in the recovery of millions of dollars. Ron has been named a Super Lawyer in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey; making him one of the few lawyers to be named a Super Lawyer in both states. He also rated as a Best Lawyer in Pennsylvania in both criminal and employment law-individuals. He has been given the prestigious AV rating by the Martindale-Hubbell ratings service. Mr. Greenblatt is regularly asked to lecture to judges as well as to other criminal defense lawyers, new prosecutors, and even Rutgers and Temple law students on adult and juvenile criminal law subjects. He also serves on the advisory board of Ohlbaum on Evidence, and Criminal Law Practice and Procedure in Pennsylvania. Mr. Greenblatt is the Treasurer for the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, (ACCR), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping attorneys and individuals facing the death penalty and other unjust sentences. Mr. Greenblatt is a founding Master of the Philadelphia Criminal Law Inn of Court, where he has served on their Executive Committee since the Inn was founded in 2011. Ron is a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL), where he previously served as Vice-President of the Eastern Region and was on their Board of Directors. He is graduate of Rutgers University School of Law; Mr. Greenblatt also received his B.A. from Rutgers University where he majored in economics and minored in accounting.

Mr. Thompson manages Thompson Law Advocates, P.C., an Immigration Law and Criminal Defense firm located in Philadelphia (www.tlapc.org). Mr. Thompson’s practice includes providing criminal defense attorneys timely, practical and accurate Padilla advice for noncitizen clients, and direct representation in family, employment and business-based immigration matters, and for persons in Immigration Court and on appeal. Before entering private practice, Mr. Thompson founded an Immigration Law Clinic, served as Director of the Defender Immigration Project of the Defenders Association of Philadelphia, and was an Assistant Defender for over a decade. He serves as a NITA faculty member, and regularly conducts CLEs focusing on the representation of noncitizen clients. Among other publications, he has recently co-authored the LexisNexis Practice Guide: New Jersey Collateral Consequences, 2018 Ed. (Immigration Consequences Flowing from Specific Criminal Convictions). Mr. Thompson received his LL.M. in Trial Advocacy from Temple Law, his J.D. from Villanova Law and his B.A. from Villanova University. He also earned a Masters in Education from Widener University.