Alcaraz Tocchini: The Phoenix Firm With One of Only Two California-Certified Immigration Specialists in Arizona

Inside Alcaraz Tocchini LLP, the Phoenix and Tucson firm led by one of only two attorneys in Arizona holding a state bar certification in immigration and nationality law — issued by California, since Arizona doesn’t yet certify the specialty.

Alcaraz Tocchini — At a Glance

Origin: From Tucson Undergrad to a Certification Only Two Arizona Attorneys Hold

Lilia Alcaraz earned a double major in psychology and Spanish at the University of Arizona in Tucson, then a J.D. at Arizona State University, followed by advanced international trade training at the Sorbonne in Paris and an LL.M. in International Tax Law from the University of Denver. She is licensed in both Arizona and California, and holds California’s Certified Specialist designation in Immigration and Nationality Law — a credential her firm states only two practicing Arizona attorneys hold, and, per the firm, the only one nationally who also holds a tax LL.M. Because Arizona’s own Board of Legal Specialization does not currently certify immigration law as a specialty, this is a California-issued credential rather than an Arizona one — a distinction worth understanding rather than a lesser one, since California’s certification program follows a comparable exam-and-peer-review process.

Practice Areas

Alcaraz’s practice sits at the intersection of immigration, tax, and business law: treaty trader and investor visas (E-1/E-2), employment-based visas (H-1B, L-1), TN visas under the USMCA, pre-immigration income, estate, and exit-tax planning, and I-9/employer compliance audits, including defending against ICE Homeland Security Investigations raids. Her partner, Mr. Tocchini, holds a U.S. Customs Broker license and contributes international-trade and customs expertise, allowing the firm to structure a client’s visa, business entity, and tax position as one coordinated strategy rather than separate filings.

Track Record

Alcaraz has appeared as lead counsel in dozens of successful matters before U.S. Immigration Courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, per her own professional biography. Her institutional clients have included the California State University system, Walmart, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the Arizona Attorney General’s office. She is a published authority on the tax consequences of U.S. residency and expatriation, authoring “The Tax Trap of U.S. Residency” for AILA’s Practice Toolbox and co-authoring AILA guidance on citizenship renunciation and expatriation tax.

Note: Immigration case outcomes depend heavily on individual facts and current agency policy. Past results do not guarantee any future outcome.

Client Voice

Alcaraz carries a 5.0 rating from a small number of reviews on Avvo. Awesome Attorneys did not locate a larger, independently verifiable body of quotable client reviews as of the research date — a common pattern for boutique business-immigration practices whose clients are often corporations rather than individuals leaving public consumer reviews.

Community

Alcaraz is a frequent speaker at American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) national conferences and roundtables, has contributed to multiple AILA publications, and teaches on the use of technology in immigration practice. As the first U.S.-born member of her family, she has spoken about migrant rights advocacy as a personal and professional throughline in her career.

Recognition

Alcaraz’s California Board of Legal Specialization certification is a genuine, examination-based credential — but readers should note it is issued by California, not Arizona, since Arizona has no immigration-law specialty certification of its own. Her AILA leadership roles (conference speaking, publications) reflect standing within the field’s leading professional association, distinct from a certification but still a meaningful peer signal.

The Arizona Legal Backdrop

What follows is general legal information, not legal advice.

Immigration law is federal, governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq.), not Arizona state statute — so unlike other categories on this site, there’s no set of A.R.S. citations that directly govern most of Alcaraz’s casework. Arizona intersects with immigration enforcement in narrower ways: state employers must use E-Verify to confirm work eligibility under A.R.S. § 23-214, and Arizona’s 2010 SB 1070 immigration-enforcement law — largely struck down or narrowed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2012 decision in Arizona v. United States on federal preemption grounds — remains a reference point for how far state law can go in this federally-occupied field.

The Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Alcaraz’s genuine differentiator is the combination of a real specialty certification (even if California-issued rather than Arizona’s) with a tax LL.M. most immigration attorneys simply don’t have — a real advantage for high-net-worth investor immigration and pre-immigration tax planning specifically.

The honest caveat: this is a boutique, business/investor-focused practice, not a high-volume, lower-cost general immigration or removal-defense practice — individuals facing straightforward family petitions or deportation proceedings on a budget may be better served by a firm built around that caseload instead.

Methodology & Sourcing

This profile was researched in August 2026 from inxlaw.com (firm site, attorney bio, publications), LinkedIn, Avvo, ImmiRail’s attorney directory, and the AILA lawyer directory. Alcaraz Tocchini LLP did not commission, review, or pay for this profile.

Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice

This profile is an independent editorial article published by Awesome Attorneys. Awesome Attorneys does not endorse, recommend, or warrant any lawyer or law firm profiled on this site, and inclusion in this series is not paid placement.

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