Early in 2007 both attorneys Neil Rambana and Elizabeth Ricci received ratings by Martindale Hubbell. According to martindale.com, a rating is a definitive statement of “above-average ability and unquestionable ethics.”

Our attorneys are proud to be referred clients by the U.S. Department of Justice for providing service to indigent individuals in immigration removal proceedings pursuant to 8 CFR §1003.61.

Along that vein, the Leon County Board of County Commissioners recognized Rambana & Ricci, P.A. for its contributions to World Heritage on May 9, 2006. The firm was similarly recognized in January, 2003 with a Tallahassee City Commission Mayoral Proclamation of Thanks for their outstanding work in the Tallahassee immigrant community.

Both Neil Rambana and Elizabeth Ricci serve the legal community and community at large in a variety of volunteer positions. Mr. Rambana and Ms. Ricci are both members of the membership by invitation Stafford Inn of Court Legal Ethics Society. Both attorneys were nominated for the NSU Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. The team was featured at the 2004 Florida Bar's Voluntary Bar Leaders Conference.

Neil St. John Rambana

     Attorney Rambana concentrates on criminal immigration issues and regularly represents clients before U.S. Immigration Courts around the country. He is admitted to practice in the federal courts of the Northern, Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Atlanta, Georgia as well as the United States Supreme Court.

A member in good standing of the Florida Bar, Tallahassee Bar Association, American Bar Association, and the Federal Bar Association, Mr. Rambana is immediate past President of the Federal Bar Association Tallahassee Chapter.

Mr. Rambana recently served as a Congressional liaison for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Locally, he sat on the Board of Directors of the Tallahassee Community College Alumni Association, has been President and Treasurer of the Tallahassee International Affairs Council and Secretary for the Brokaw-McDougal House. He co-chairs the Tallahassee Bar Association's Membership Committee, served on the 21st Century Council and Cultural Resources Commission. He recently served on the Girl Scout Council of the Apalachee Bend. Mr. Rambana is a 32nd Degree Mason and a member in good standing of the York Rite, Scottish Rite and J. Edwin Larson Lodge as well as the Talwar Grotto, Tallahassee, Florida.

Attorney Rambana received awards from Legal Services of North Florida for two consecutive years for his generous pro bono work. He has been nominated for the Florida Bar Young Lawyer's Division Diversity Award, personally named "Outstanding Legal Professional" by the Association of Black Public Administrators, named 2004 Black Achiever by the Tallahassee Branch of the NAACP, honored by the Caribbean Carnival of Tallahassee, and has spoken at the Model United Nations, among other engagements. Attorney Rambana is featured in the 2006 TCC Black Achievers Calendar.

Mr. Rambana received his Masters in International Affairs and Bachelors in English and Political Science with a minor in Public Administration from Florida State University. Past activities include being President of the International Affairs Graduate Student Association and Vice President of the Capital City Jaycees.

Attorney Rambana graduated from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center. While in law school, he served as national vice president of the International Law Students Association, NSU President of the International Law Students Association, President of American Bar Association/Law School Division, Vice-President of the Student Bar Association, was editor of Nova’s Travel Law Journal and was a member of Phi Alpha Delta, Law Fraternity International.

Mr. Rambana is originally from Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies.

Elizabeth Ricci
 
        Ms. Ricci has worked in the area of immigration law since 1989 and has given immigration seminars in Florida, Georgia and New York. She has been an expert witness in litigation regarding immigrant employment issues and has co-counseled with personal injury attorneys representing immigrant plaintiffs. Ms. Ricci is rated by Martindale Hubbell. According to martindale.com, a rating is a definitive statement of “above-average ability and unquestionable ethics.

Attorney Ricci received her Bachelor of Science in International Business from Barry University and her Juris Doctor from Nova Southeastern University where she studied immigration law under renowned immigration expert and author, Ira Kurzban and argued in Washington, D.C. for the Moot Court Honor Society. Attorney Ricci is an Adjunct Instructor in Legal Studies at Barry University where she has taught immigration, among other subjects. Ms. Ricci is an Advisory Board Paralegal at Keiser University and is currently pursuing a Certificate in Homeland Security.

A member in good standing of the Florida Bar and Federal Bar Northern and Middle Districts of Florida, and the United States Supreme Court, Ms. Ricci is president of the Federal Bar Association Tallahassee Chapter, co-chairperson of the Tallahassee Bar Association Membership Committee, Executive Vice Chair of the Central Florida Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and a member of the Stafford Inn of Court. She is a Rotarian and recently presented "9/11 Effects on Immigration" to the Downtown Tallahassee Rotary club and the Paralegal Association of Florida. She and her partner Neil St. John Rambana presented "Immigration, Terrorism and Homeland Security" at the 2006 Mayor's Summit on Race, Culture and Human Relations.

Attorney Ricci currently serves on the Mission San Luis Blue Ribbon Committee. She was Treasurer of the Big Bend Fair Housing Center and is past District Justice of the international law fraternity Phi Alpha Delta. She served on the Tallahassee/Leon County Cultural Resources Commission and was nominated for the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Most Productive Lawyer Award, the Nova Southeastern University Distinguished Alumni Award, the American Immigration Lawyers Association Outstanding Young Lawyer Award and named Pineview Elementary Volunteer of the Year.

Her publications include the entry "Citizenship" in the Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court and a recent article in the 27th Annual "Immigration Law Update". A judicial profile in the magazine "The Federal Lawyer" is forthcoming.

Fluent in Spanish, Ms. Ricci served in the United States Peace Corps in Guatemala as a Small Business Development volunteer and has lived in Spain, Ecuador, and Mexico.