Member
Attorneys
James B. Wood
Member
Jimmy leads both the firm’s business immigration practice group and the economic development practice group. A Virginia Beach native with a national practice, Jimmy helps companies and individuals navigate workforce immigration, fair housing, and the complexities of establishing or expanding U.S. operations. Whether advising on visa strategy or regulatory compliance, his approach is practical, responsive, and rooted in real-world impact.
Jimmy advises employers in Virginia and nationwide on business immigration. His work spans nonimmigrant visas (H-1B, TN, O-1, L-1, E-1/E-2, E-3) and permanent residence strategies (PERM; EB-1, EB-2, EB-3). He aligns filings with budget and project plans, anticipates role and location changes, and resolves issues at USCIS, consular posts, and ports of entry. His approach focuses on speed with defensibility and predictable outcomes.
Jimmy assists companies establishing or expanding operations in the United States, including Hampton Roads and across Virginia. He designs corporate immigration policies, maps roles to the right categories, and sequences filings to meet hiring timelines. He coordinates consular processing, ports-of-entry strategy, and early onboarding so projects can staff on schedule. His counsel emphasizes repeatable procedures, clear communications to business leaders, and documentation that withstands agency review, RFEs, and site visits.
Jimmy guides employers through ICE inspections from Notice of Inspection through responses and negotiated outcomes. He conducts privileged self-audits, remediates technical and substantive errors, and builds practical SOPs for I-9 and E-Verify. He also advises on day-to-day I-9 issues and self-audit practices to keep clients inspection-ready year-round. He trains HR and frontline managers to ensure systems are both compliant and manageable. The goal is simple: clear processes, clean files, and fewer surprises.
Jimmy also assists individuals and families with personal immigration matters. He focuses on family-based immigration, including marriage-based green cards through adjustment of status or consular processing, as well as green card renewals and replacements. He prepares I-130 petitions and I-485 packages with the Affidavit of Support, guides clients through biometrics and interviews, and handles I-751 removal of conditions and I-90 renewals. He explains options in plain language, organizes documentation, and addresses USCIS requests for evidence to keep cases on track.
Jimmy is a trusted Fair Housing advisor to landlords and property managers of all sizes, from owners with a handful of units to national portfolios. He represents housing providers in agency Fair Housing investigations, conciliations, and administrative hearings. His matters have included proceedings with HUD, the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, and counterparts in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Ohio. He develops clear factual records, advises on corrective action where appropriate, and defends client positions with measured, well-supported submissions.
Jimmy helps owners and managers build fair housing-compliant screening and tenancy processes. He develops criteria and tools, drafts adverse-action and notice templates, and designs accommodation and modification workflows that teams can follow. He reviews marketing and communications, trains staff and agents, and tracks local, state, and federal requirements so policies remain current. The result is a usable program that reduces risk and improves consistency.
Jimmy represents employers in administrative matters before the EEOC, the Department of Labor, and OSHA involving discrimination, retaliation, wage and hour, and safety issues. His work centers on agency investigations, position statements, responses to requests for information, conciliation, and negotiated resolutions. He also helps clients build resilient HR frameworks by drafting and updating handbooks and policies, advising on classification compliance, and managing issues involving independent contractors. He brings a steady, resolution-oriented approach that prioritizes business continuity and clear documentation, complementing his compliance and workforce planning counsel.
When the stakes turned political, Jimmy served as counsel during a contested election recount—delivering legal strategy and clear-eyed execution in a high-pressure setting. This experience underscores his ability to operate seamlessly at the intersection of law, policy, and public scrutiny.
Jimmy chairs the Willcox Savage Consulting Steering Committee. Drawing on prior roles working for a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and a former U.S. Maritime Administrator (and Virginia Secretary of Transportation), he maintains collaborative relationships across local and state government and with regional organizations. He helps clients make the right introductions to advance projects and partnerships—always focused on practical problem solving, constructive engagement, and forward momentum.
I cut through complexity and help clients focus on their business, not the bureaucracy. My practice spans a wide range of administrative law-related issues, but it’s grounded in a clear principle: deliver smart, actionable guidance that drives results. Being Structured for Solutions means more than knowing the law; it means applying it in ways that make sense for the client and work in the real world. That’s how I approach every matter.
Norfolk Office
