Staff

Rekha Sharma-Crawford, is a passionate advocate for immigration rights as it applies to the fair application of the law. With broad experiences as an assistant district attorney and practicing attorney, Rekha is a frequent speaker and lecturer on matters of immigration law. Representing clients whose cases garnered high-profile media attention, Rekha has the ability to articulate the law and its implications to all audiences.

Rekha received her Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University College of Law in 1993. She has been an assistant district attorney in Sedgwick County, Ks. and in Douglas County, Ks. Rekha is licensed to practice law in the states of Kansas, Texas, and Michigan, and has been practicing in the immigration litigation field since 2000. She is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, District of Kansas, Western District of Missouri, and the Federal Appeals Court for the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits. Rekha is also a member of the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association, Texas Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association, and Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.

Rekha is a frequent instructor at the American Immigration Law Foundation Litigation Institute. She has also lectured about immigration law to the Johnson County Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association, and Kansas and Missouri Public Defenders.

Rekha has been involved with cases in municipal, state and federal courts, the Circuit Courts of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. She has been successful in appeals before the Board of Immigration Appeals and has successfully argued before the Circuit Court of Appeals. Rekha has also been successful in litigation against a law enforcement agency that was detaining immigrants beyond their statutory authority.

W. Michael Sharma-Crawford is an aggressive litigator and compassionate advocate of fairness in immigration law. As a former law enforcement officer, Michael has a deeper understanding of the challenges of immigration law enforcement, detainment issues and litigation. Michael frequently handles complex immigration proceedings where current statutes require greater experience and understanding.

Michael received his Juris Doctorate from Washburn University in 2002. The practice of law, while a second career, was not far from his beginnings as a law enforcement officer. Michael “served and protected” the citizens of Sedgwick County for 15 years before he went on to fulfill his dream of becoming a member of the Bar. He is admitted to the District of Kansas, and the Federal Appeals Court for the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth and Tenth Circuits. He is admitted to the District of Kansas, and the Federal Appeals Court for the Second, Seventh, Eighth and Tenth Circuits.

Michael is a member of the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association, Kansas Bar Association, Missouri Bar Association, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and Johnson County Bar Association. Michael serves on the Board of Directors of Kansas Legal Services and on the Advisory Committee for the ABA Commission on Immigration, and the Board of Directors for Kansas Legal Services.

Michael has successfully argued before the Circuit Courts of Appeal. He has also been successful before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Michael has instructed at the American Immigration Law Foundation Litigation Institute. He has also lectured about immigration law to the Johnson County Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association, and Kansas and Missouri Public Defenders.

Genevra W. Alberti is a recent addition to the Kansas City legal community. She grew up in North Carolina and received undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Italian Language from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005. After working in New York City as a paralegal and traveling, Genevra attended law school at Washington University in St. Louis, from which she graduated cum laude in May 2011. Genevra has prior experience in immigration law: she worked for an immigration firm in St. Louis, Missouri during the summer of 2009, and then for the European Council on Refugees and Exiles in Brussels, Belgium during the summer of 2010. She also interned for the Federal Public Defender’s Office in St. Louis during her second year of school.

Genevra moved to Kansas City in August 2011 after passing the Missouri Bar exam. She initially began working for Sharma-Crawford as a volunteer attorney, and then officially joined the firm in November 2011. She has worked on all types of cases since her arrival, and became the attorney for The Clinic at Sharma-Crawford in January 2012.

Genevra is licensed to practice law in Missouri and is admitted to the Western District of Missouri. She is also a member of the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association, Missouri Bar Association and Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.

Ronna M. Harlow serves The Clinic at Sharma-Crawford Attorneys at Law as Clinic Coordinator, managing The Clinic’s day-to-day operations and coordinating program services including community outreach and education.

Ronna developed a respect and appreciation for other cultures during her many visits to her mother’s native country of Japan and further enhanced this appreciation while living abroad in both Brazil and later Canada as a young adult.

Ronna has extensive experience in program and office management having served seven years as the Vice President of Operations for a multi-branched company within the mortgage industry. Additionally, she has been a successful self-employed business owner for over 16 years in the medical records industry.

When Ronna is not working at building and expanding The Clinic at Sharma-Crawford Attorneys at Law, she enjoys relaxing at home in Mission, Kansas. She is the mother of two grown children, the youngest who is currently attending the University of California, Davis.