Teodora D. Purcell – Partner

Teodora (Teo) Purcell is a Partner with Larrabee Albi Coker, LLP, with almost 20 years of diverse immigration legal experience. An immigrant herself, she has a passion to help people and advises on global mobility and business immigration issues. Ms. Purcell advocates for the rights and opportunities of people of diverse backgrounds and counsels corporate and individual clients on immigration compliance. She devises strategies for bringing and retaining foreign talent to the U.S. and assists individuals in complex family immigration and citizenship matters.

Ms. Purcell is certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. While she has experience in all facets of immigration law, her focus is business and family immigration. Ms. Purcell’s corporate immigration practice focuses on the life science, biotech, technology and engineering sectors. She works not only with employers, but also entrepreneurs, scientists, researchers, emerging companies, as well as represents individuals in various immigration matters before the Department of Homeland Security and its agencies. Ms. Purcell is sought after to provide creative solutions to complex legal issues related to inadmissibility, removability and eligibility for a wide spectrum of immigration benefits in the U.S. She is a frequently invited speaker on immigration topics and a faculty member in Immigration Law at the University of California San Diego ABA approved paralegal program. Ms. Purcell obtained her LLM in Comparative Law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and her JD and LLM degrees from the top Bulgarian law school, Sofia University. She is licensed to practice in both the U.S. (California) and Bulgaria. Ms. Purcell is dedicated to pro bono work and volunteers her time to assist victims of domestic violence, human rights violations, or unaccompanied immigrant children, or other immigrants who seek humanitarian relief or citizenship.

Ms. Purcell is the recipient of many professional accolades, including the San Diego Business Journal Top 100 Leaders in the Law (2022), Thompson Reuters Super Lawyers (2015-2022), Top 25 Women Super Lawyers in San Diego, CA (2019 -2021), KPBS Local Hero Award (2016), Casa Cornelia La Mancha Distinguished Pro Bono Attorney of the Year (2015), to name a few. Ms. Purcell is dedicated to community service and has served in leadership positions for different local legal or industry organizations. She currently serves on the Boards of the Women of Color in Law San Diego, the Corporate Directors Forum, and the University of San Diego School of Law Alumni. Ms. Purcell loves to mentor newer attorneys and law students, and is a member of the Diversity Fellowship mentoring program with the San Diego County Bar Association.
Ms. Purcell is an identical twin and a mother, who enjoys traveling, beach walks, spending time with family and friends, yoga, watching her teen girls play sports,or taking care of her pets (a golden retriever and a cat). She is a dual citizen of Bulgaria and the United States and is fluent in Bulgarian and conversant in Russian and Spanish.