Luz Elena Dávila Palanda is the managing partner and founder of Palanda Law, PA. She has the experience to handle a variety of complex immigration matters. Luz Elena will manage each case from the initial consultation to the preparation and filing of applications and petitions with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Consulates and Embassies all over the world. 

The daughter of Colombian immigrants, Luz Elena grew up in Miami as the eldest of six children and attended magnet schools in Miami’s French International Studies Program. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University in 1999 with a double major in History and French and graduated cum laude with Phi Beta Kappa honors, a distinction reserved for those who graduate in the top ten percent of their major. She was also awarded the Winthrop King Scholarship to study advanced French in Paris, France. Following her undergraduate studies, Luz Elena interned at the U.S. Mission for the United Nations in New York City under then U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke. She then went on to study law at Boston College Law School where she earned her Juris Doctor degree in 2003. 

Luz Elena is a dedicated member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the nation’s largest bar association of immigration attorneys in the U.S., and of the AILA South Florida Chapter. Fluent in Spanish and French, she is a passionate advocate and vocal proponent for immigration rights. 

Degrees and Associations

• American Immigration Lawyers Association, 2006

• U.S. District Court for the Southern District Court of Florida, 2005 

• Florida Bar Association, 2003

• Juris Doctor, Boston College Law School, 2003

• Bachelor of Arts in History & French, cum laude, Florida State University, 1999