Forty Under 40: Abel Albarran

Abel Albarran is making his mark on the legal community in Northwest Arkansas with honesty, directness and empathy.

As a partner with Albarran & Joyce, Albarran, who is bilingual and a native Spanish speaker, focuses mainly on immigration law and criminal defense.

“A majority of clients are Spanish-speaking, and a lot are recent immigrants or second-generation people in the U.S.,” he said. “I enjoy being able to help them because a lot of the clients I deal with kind of remind me of my parents and family, just being limited in their language and being in a new country. I kind of grew up around that environment and am able to have that same understanding of what people fear or want out of an attorney.”

Albarran has achieved a high level of excellence in the area of immigration law, empowering many immigrants by helping them gain work authorization and become U.S. citizens. He’s also won several asylum cases for refugees worldwide, including those from Afghanistan, Honduras, Iran, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

In 2010, Albarran graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in political science. After working several jobs for about four years, he decided to return to school. He completed his law degree in 2017.

He started with Joyce Law Firm in 2016 as a clerk, and after five years, he achieved partner status, which resulted in the firm changing its name to Albarran & Joyce.

This move put Albarran on a short list of Latino lawyers who achieved partner status at established NWA firms.

Though he says he is happy with his life as it is, Albarran said he would like to see the offices expand to other areas in the state.