About NAFA–UNPAM

Who we are

Two organizations that have worked together since 2004, based in Sebring, Florida.

NAFA

National Association for Foreign Attorneys

Asociación Nacional para Abogados Extranjeros

A professional association for lawyers trained outside the United States. It offers continuing legal education and professional development so that each member can move toward practice in this country with a clear plan.

Live courses in U.S. law and legal English
Continuing legal education (CLE) courses
Support, if you want it, with Foreign Legal Consultant and bar applications
Membership, events and the NAFA Global Speaker Series

See our training (in Spanish)

UNPAM

NAFA's credential evaluation organization

It evaluates academic degrees earned outside the United States: those of lawyers and other professionals, and those of international students and immigrants who plan to study or work in the country. Evaluations are done at our office in Sebring, Florida.

Analysis of the degree and its curriculum, course by course
Comparison with each state's requirements
A report with a specific recommendation

See the credential evaluation

NAFA–UNPAM does not grant academic degrees or licenses to practice law. Only each state's supreme court, bar and authorities can grant a license. Our work is to prepare, evaluate and support those who seek one.

Mission

To open a clear, honest and achievable path for foreign-trained lawyers to practice in the United States.

Many foreign-trained lawyers living in the United States today work in jobs far removed from their profession. NAFA exists to help them return to it, for their own good and for the good of their families and communities.

Training

Continuing legal education and professional development: U.S. law, legal English and preparation for each admission route, in live classes.

Credentials

Evaluations that tell you exactly what a foreign degree is worth in each state, before you invest time and money.

Professional network

A community of colleagues, mentors and allies that builds ties with bar associations, professional associations and employers.

Vision

A national network that brings together the Foreign Legal Consultants, foreign-trained lawyers, international law professionals and paralegals of the United States, recognized by the country's bar associations and professional associations, whose members work together to give back to their communities and promote human rights.

The vision of our founder, Dr. Humphrey Humberto Pachecker.

History

Two histories that begin separately and come together in 2004.

1967 UNPAM

UNPAM is founded in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as the Peoples University of the Americas (Universidad de los Pueblos de las Américas), by the Holy Orthodox Christian Church, with schools of Theology and Canon Law and of Philosophy and Letters.
1989 UNPAM

UNPAM opens its School of Law in San Juan.
1991 NAFA

Dr. Humphrey Humberto Pachecker founds Abogados, Corp. in Miami to prepare foreign-trained lawyers on their path to practice in the United States.
1993 NAFA

The association is established under its current name, National Association for Foreign Attorneys (NAFA), together with six affiliated organizations.
1998 UNPAM

After Hurricane Georges, UNPAM ceases its university operations in Puerto Rico.
1999 NAFA

NAFA's years of greatest growth begin. Former Guatemalan president Ramiro de León Carpio is its honorary president.
2001 NAFA

At ESTUDIA, its annual congress on education, NAFA presents its plan for a bilingual university of advanced studies for the peoples of the Americas.
2004 NAFA–UNPAM

NAFA acquires UNPAM and gives it a new purpose: evaluating the academic credentials of professionals trained abroad.
2009 NAFA

When Louisiana reforms its admission rules, NAFA begins preparing its members for the bar exam of Louisiana, the only civil-law state in the country, and advocates for them before the bar's staff and the state's judges.
2021 NAFA

As the State Bar of California reforms its rules, NAFA explains the change to its members and prepares them for it.
2026 NAFA

NAFA renews its model as a professional association for foreign-trained lawyers, with membership, live courses and one-on-one guidance.

Leadership and administration

Dr. Humphrey Humberto Pachecker

Founder of NAFA

In memoriam

He founded NAFA in Miami in 1991, under the name Abogados, Corp., and led it for more than three decades. From 1996 until the death of his mentor and close friend George Chernoff, he was the administrator of George Chernoff & Associates, Mr. Chernoff's Miami firm, which focused mainly on immigration and family law; there he helped foreign students with their immigration paperwork. He tirelessly championed the right of foreign-trained lawyers to practice in the United States, and he wrote three books, among them NAFA's Blue Book, on legal terminology. His idea of a national network for foreign-trained lawyers still guides the association.

Read the In memoriam (in Spanish) See his publications (in Spanish)

“Ignorance kills nations; that is why we must kill ignorance.”

José Martí

Lic. Teresita Barrera de Pachecker

Director

Humphrey J. Pachecker

General Administrator

He manages NAFA's virtual classroom and teaches Legal Terminology and English.

Wendy Castaño

Administrative Assistant to the Director

She worked as a paralegal before joining NAFA's administration.

Meet the faculty

Honorary members

Public figures who supported NAFA, especially in its years of greatest growth, from 1999 to 2001.

Dr. Ramiro de León Carpio
Lawyer. President of Guatemala (1993–1996) and honorary president of NAFA. He died in Miami in 2002.
Carlos Andrés Pérez
President of Venezuela (1974–1979 and 1989–1993) and honorary member of NAFA. He died in Miami in 2010.
Dr. George Chernoff
Admitted to the New York bar in 1936, he was a prosecutor in New York and co-author of the book Photography and the Law. His Miami firm, George Chernoff & Associates, focused mainly on immigration and family law. A mentor and close friend of the founder, he helped NAFA in its early years. He died in 2006.

Recognitions

Current approvals and memberships.

Approved Vocational Rehabilitation vendor State of New York · State of Missouri
Recognized by the Puerto Rico Department of Education UNPAM, for the evaluation of foreign academic credentials (since 2004)
Continuing legal education (CLE) provider The Florida Bar, provider no. 0242835
Member of NAFSA Association of International Educators

Do you need documentation for any of them, for example for your Vocational Rehabilitation counselor? Write to us and we will send it to you.

Meet the people who teach

Lawyers, Foreign Legal Consultants and professors with experience in the United States and Latin America.

See the faculty Contact us