John Nechman is a partner in the law office of Katine Nechman McLaurin LLP, where he focuses on immigration law. Born in Seoul, Korea to a Korean mother and American father, he is an immigrant and long-time immigration advocate. He has lived in Houston, Texas since second grade and could not imagine permanently living anywhere else.
In 1983, John received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and International Business from the University of Texas in Austin. After graduating, he spent the next 5 years living, working, and traveling in over 100 countries and every continent. During this time, he became fluent in Spanish and proficient in several other languages, including German, Portuguese, Italian, and Norwegian.
In 1995, John received his law degree from South Texas College of Law-Houston, where he has served as an adjunct professor since 2003 teaching courses such as “Sexual Orientation and the Law” and “HIV and the Law.” He has also been an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center. He began working in immigration law and established a strong reputation, particularly on difficult asylum cases involving individuals seeking the protection of U.S. laws to avoid being forced to return to nations where they could be persecuted. He served as chair/president of several national, state, and local legal organizations, including the New York-based non-profit organization Immigration Equality and the Washington, D.C.-based National LGBT Law Association. He has become a frequent speaker on immigration, business, human rights, and GLBT/HIV-related legal issues, and he often visits Houston-area schools to speak to students on such topics as the importance of jury duty, becoming a lawyer, and the dangers of drug and alcohol use.
Opening Katine Nechman McLaurin LLP is among John’s proudest achievements, and he sees the unique partnership with Mitchell Katine and Neil McLaurin as offering Houston a firm unlike any other and one that understands the complexities of the city and its ever-growing role locally, nationally, and internationally. John has made several trips to China and Latin America to explore new links to and from Houston, and much of the firm’s focus will be on providing all Houstonians and those in need of the firm’s unique services with the hands-on care one expects of a boutique firm together with the connections, services, and prestige expected of a large firm. John is particularly proud of the firm’s role as a cooperating attorney with the Consulado de México in Houston, providing legal assistance and education to Houston’s enormous Mexican community.
He has twice been named a “Super Lawyer Rising Star” attorney by Texas Monthly Magazine and is the recipient of the 2004 Stonewall Law Award for Excellence in Advocacy, the Human Rights Campaign’s 2005 Political Equality Award, the 2007 State Bar of Texas’s Judge Norman Black Award, and the 2007 Outsmart Magazine Statue of Liberty Award. In 2005, Houston’s Ballet Fiesta Mexicana presented him an award for his support to the organization, and in 2013, he was named Male Grand Marshal of the Houston LGBT Pride Celebration, the largest LGBT Pride Parade in the South.
In his free time, John and his husband Ricardo, together since 1996, enjoy walking Houston’s Hermann Park, spending time with family, listening to Latin and world music and jazz, traveling, eating at Houston’s incredible array of restaurants, and discovering everything they can about Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast.