Murthy Law Firm in Forbes’s “Maryland: Women In Business”

Forbes magazine is considered a “must-read” for top managers and entrepreneurs across the United States, and around the world. In this week’s issue [March 1, 2010] there is a special section, Maryland: Women in Business, which includes a profile of the Murthy Law Firm and founder, Attorney Sheela Murthy. The section profiles ambitious, capable women making their mark in Maryland businesses, making significant contributions to the state’s economic growth. 

In the profile, Sheela, herself an immigrant entrepreneur, discusses the need to simplify the U.S. immigration system, to bring more talented foreign-born professionals to the United States. She says, “Thanks to our ridiculously complex immigration rules, it can take forever and a day, not to mention thousands of dollars” for qualified foreign workers to get work permits and green cards. This costs U.S. businesses, she says, causing them to curtail their research and development activities. According to Sheela, “This threatens America’s ability to remain competitive in a global economy and to generate badly needed jobs.”

A recurring theme in the Forbes profile is the vibrancy and dynamism that immigration has brought to the U.S. economy. A thriving, healthy America depends on attracting the best and brightest to our shores, Murthy points out, noting that “half of our Nobel laureates in science and technology have been immigrants, and many of our businesses have been started by foreign-born entrepreneurs, including many women.”

Sheela speaks from experience, as a woman, an immigrant, and an entrepreneur, who founded the Murthy Law Firm in 1994 as a solo practitioner. Now with more than 70 employees, Sheela and her firm have won countless awards and professional accolades. As the Forbes profile notes, Murthy “was the only lawyer to reach the national level of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year” competition and has repeatedly been named a Maryland Super Lawyer. Murthy also has received the highest peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell: AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5.

The profile concludes with an overview of Sheela’s dedication to philanthropic efforts, both here and in India. Sheela has joined the elite leadership ranks of United Way International, and in 2009 was named “Philanthropist of the Year” by United Way of Central Maryland. As the Forbes profile notes, Sheela also has stayed closely involved with her alma mater, Harvard Law School, sharing her knowledge as a frequent guest speaker there, providing scholarships for graduate law students in the LLM program, and giving funds to promote the teaching of immigration law and policy at Harvard. For Sheela, immigration law is not just a job; as she told Forbes, this is her passion and calling – it’s a chance to help others realize the American dream, just as she herself has done.