As with the clients she represents, Nisha has firsthand experience with the process of immigrating to the United States and becoming a citizen. She was 12 years old when her family moved from England to the United States. She remembers talking often with her dad about that process. Those talks certainly made an impact, and now she works daily with the many ways a family can immigrate—often called the “alphabet soup” of visas.
She was a senior business major at UNC-Chapel Hill when she realized she didn’t want to become a consultant or work in business. After talking with family friends in the legal profession, including one with immigration experience, she decided to attend law school and focus her career on immigration. When she had the opportunity during law school to represent her first client—with a professor’s supervision – it sealed the deal for her to pursue immigration law.
The summer after her second year in law school, Nisha assisted her now fellow partners, Carolina Antonini and Marshall Cohen, before they co-founded their firm together. After graduating from law school in 2001, she called Marshall hoping he had a job opening—and he did. Even better, her Atlanta commute was a glorious five minutes! When Marshall and Carolina decided to form Antonini & Cohen, it felt like a family reunion. After 17 years in the industry, Nisha feels like she was raised by Marshall and Carolina.
Nisha is passionate about all types of immigration law. It’s particularly fulfilling when she’s able to help someone get his or her green card or keep families together, especially when the home country lacks opportunity or is in turmoil. She’s a dedicated volunteer with Raksha, an organization supporting victims of domestic abuse in the South Asian community. She’s also one of the founding members of the South Asian Bar Association of Georgia.
Nisha and her husband are both attorneys, although her husband has a different legal role. “We stay busy with our two children,” she says. “Lots of carpools. I like playing basketball in the park with my son and baking with my daughter. We also have family movie night every Saturday. In fact, we vote on movies, which creates some fun arguments.”
Nisha’s family also enjoys cooking together on the weekends, and she’s been experimenting with new Instant Pot recipes. They love exploring the restaurants on Buford Highway, such as Food Terminal and Northern China Eatery, which has the best soup dumplings—if you can find the location (it’s tucked in the basement of an optical store)!
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