Prior to joining Hanes & Bartels, LLC, Petula worked as the Supervisor for the Littleton Immigrant Resources Center, managing the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), a recognized program that is a 3-time recipient of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Citizenship & Integration Grant. Her legal work there focused on Naturalization law. From September 2011- September 2013, Petula served as an Attorney Advisor for the Denver Immigration Court through the Attorney General’s Attorney Honors Program. In the past, she has presented on the unauthorized practice of law, the intersection of immigration and public benefits, refugee and asylum law, family-based visas, and naturalization. Petula received her JD from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, graduating in the top 5% of her class and an MA in Conflict Resolution from the University of Denver. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, graduating cum laude.
Currently, Petula is the Chair for the Access to Services Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association – Colorado Chapter and a member of the USCIS liaison committee. Prior to law school, Petula worked in refugee resettlement in Phoenix, Arizona where she met her husband. When deciding where to go to law school, Petula realized that she enjoyed having the four seasons as she did growing up in Indiana, but also enjoyed having sunshine as she did while living in Phoenix. Colorado was the perfect combination of the two. Petula and her family have lived in Colorado for more than 10 years and love to call it “home”. Petula enjoys hiking and snowshoeing with her family, taking her daughter to the zoo, and taking her dog to the wonderful dog parks in Colorado Springs. While not an active skier, she has slowly worked her way up from the “bunny hill.”
