Chanel Payne Owner / Lawyer
Chanel Payne founded her own law firm, The Law Office of C. Payne, LLC, in 2014, focusing her practice on family immigration, personal injury, and family law. What she enjoys most about being a lawyer is continuing to be of service to those in need in her community in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. She works closely with Catholic Charities which led to a niche specialty in handling special immigrant juvenile cases for children sent to the border on their own. Chanel’s law firm team is very passionate about ensuring that everyone, despite their background or socioeconomic status, has access to legal representation.
She has represented clients in Immigration and Superior Courts throughout Georgia, successfully defending clients in deportation/removal trials. She has also appeared before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chanel has completed countless waivers and guided her immigration clients as they pursue petitions through U.S. consulates around the world. As part of this work, she maintains an office in Cape Town, South Africa to handle athlete visas and other immigration matters.
In addition, while running her own law firm, she has served as a Special Appointed Attorney General prosecuting child support cases in Fulton County and as a Court Appointed Parent Attorney in Dekalb County Juvenile Court.
Chanel graduated from Clark Atlanta University with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice in 2008. Subsequently, she earned her law degree from Ave Maria School of Law in 2013, becoming licensed to practice law in Georgia in 2014.
As part of a concerted effort to make legal services more accessible, Chanel obtained a storefront office in Marietta, Georgia. Since many believe attorneys are unapproachable, she wanted to create an environment where she is easy to reach for those who need help. Chanel is communicative and personally reachable, which means her clients don’t have to go through support staff when they need her, while still handling business like any other law firm.
Of working with her, clients say, “She is kind, knowledgeable, caring, and just excellent. I would highly recommend her,” “Chanel Payne is the best immigration lawyer I’ve spoken to. She explains everything in a way you can actually understand and she doesn’t lie about the complexities of an immigration process. You can tell she knows what she is doing, very professional and trustworthy,” and “She was very professional from the start and showed TRUE compassion to my cousin during this difficult time. What a GREAT decision to go with Ms. Payne, she literally took care of everything and was able to get my cousin child support and alimony which was definitely a MAJOR concern.”
Chanel used to work at group homes with foster youth teens between the ages of 12 and 18. These children were hard to place in foster care, so they were placed in group homes, where she taught independent living classes for those aging out of the system.
She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). In addition to running her own law firm, Chanel created her own nonprofit to handle pro bono casework, Atlanta Immigration Coalition, where she seeks to help youth who achieved immigration status adjustments through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) remain in the United States. In addition, she remains in touch with many of the juveniles she has helped with their immigration cases, including taking them on college tours. She also enjoys traveling with her toddler son and exposing him to different cultures so he too can absorb the richness of diversity at a young age.
Practice Areas
- Immigration
- Family Law
- Personal Injury
Employment History
The Law Office of C. Payne
Owner
2014 – present
Dekalb County Juvenile Court
Court Appointed Parent Attorney
2014 – 2016
Special Appointed Attorney General
Prosecuting Child Support Cases
Fulton County
2015 – 2017
Education
- Ave Maria School of Law, Juris Doctorate, 2013
- University of Western Cape, South Africa, 2011
- Clark Atlanta University, Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, 2008
- Dean’s List
- Student Government Secretary
Bar Admissions
- Georgia, 2014
Professional Affiliations
- State Bar of Georgia
- American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)