David Allan Carnes enjoys extensive experience in U.S. immigration law, international legal drafting, and cross-border communication. He earned his J.D. with honors, passed the California Bar Exam, and practiced as an immigration attorney handling complex family-based and employment-based matters.
He later spent a decade in Asia working for Chinese and Japanese law firms, including a Shanghai intellectual property firm where he edited thousands of bilingual contracts, briefs, trademark filings, international client correspondence, and compliance documents. Earlier in his career he taught English in Taiwan, and he has written more than five thousand legal blog posts for U.S. law firms across practice areas including immigration, intellectual property, criminal defense and business law.
In 2025 he founded Carnes Legal Drafting to teach legal English and professional writing to internationally trained lawyers, paralegals, and legal support staff worldwide. His courses focus on clarity, structure, plain-language drafting, and practical techniques for RFEs, affidavits, contracts, briefs, copyright and trademark applications, and other client-facing documents.
His teaching is aimed at non-native English speakers. It emphasizes disciplined drafting under scrutiny as well as writing that is clear, consistent, and easy for reviewers to verify.
David Allan Carnes regularly shares practical drafting examples, case analyses, and petition workflow guidance for immigration professionals on LinkedIn.
