Head of the Immigration Practice at this leading silver circle city law firm. Managed a team of lawyers advising private and corporate clients on UK inbound and outbound immigration matters.Established the Immigration Team as a stand-alone practice leading to it being ranked Band 3 in the Legal 500 and Commended in the Times Best Law Firms 2021.Advised high-net worth individuals relocating to the UK on their immigration options. Assisted overseas companies establishing their first UK entity with transferring key employees to the UK and UK companies in employing migrant workers in the UK.Sat on the Macfarlanes Brexit Working Group and developed an offering to enable employers to assist their EEA employees to obtain the appropriate immigration permission to remain in the UK post-Brexit.Regularly liaised with senior level contacts at the Home Office to resolve issues and expedite applications on behalf of corporate and private clients, including successfully overturning refusal decisions.Worked with the Corporate and M&A Team on the immigration aspects of corporate transactions, ensuring the client remained immigration compliant post-transaction, including resolving complex Sponsor Licence issues.Particularly known for successfully assisting with Investor extension and indefinite leave to remain applications where the applicant did not satisfy the requirements of the Immigration Rules.Developed a Global Mobility offering with the Employment and Employee Tax Teams, supported by a bespoke IT offering, and strategy to take it to market.Chaired a Home Office working group of immigration advisers, private bankers, wealth managers and stock brokers tasked with updating the Immigration Rules relating to the Investor category.Presented at internal and external seminars on UK immigration and compliance issues, including events organised by ILPA, Lexis Nexis, White Paper and KNect365.

Senior member of the management team of this market leading UK and global immigration practice and Head of the practice’s Education Team. Managed a team of lawyers and paralegals providing advice on UK inbound immigration matters to three of the practice’s largest corporate clients.Business Immigration ExperienceAdvised corporate clients on immigration strategies, compliance policies and employment issues related to managing the movement of staff to the UK. Successfully worked with clients who had or were threatened with having their Tier 2 Sponsor Licence downgraded to regain / maintain their A rating. Clients include companies in the financial services, IT, telecommunication and consulting sectors. Assisting a company in challenging a civil penalty. Advised HE clients on compliance with the UK Immigration laws relating to educational institutions.PresentationsPresented at internal and external seminars on UK immigration and compliance issues, including events organised by Lexis Nexis, the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority. Government liaison and immigration law developmentWorked with senior policy and operational officials at the Home Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the development and implementation of UK immigration law. Assisting representative organisations such as London First, the City of London and the Greater London Authority with their UK immigration agendas.

Head of the UK office of the world’s largest global immigration consultancy. Managed a team of consultants and administrative assistants providing advice on UK inbound immigration and outbound consular matters to the company’s corporate client base.Business Immigration ExperienceManaged and advised on the immigration aspects associated with moving employees of large corporate clients into the UK and around Europe. Designed client-specific processes for the administration of Tier 2 of the Points Based System (PBS). Clients included companies within the financial services, telecommunications, travel, power generation and engineering sectors. Assisted high net worth individuals with their immigration issues.

Senior member of the UK office of this leading global immigration law firm and Head of the firm’s UK Private Client Practice.Corporate experienceManaged and advised on the immigration aspects of moving the employees of corporate clients into the UK and around Europe. Regional Client Services Manager for the firm’s largest global client. Managed projects involving the deployment of groups of employees to countries in Africa. Clients included companies in the financial services, technology and pharmaceutical sectors.Private clientEstablished and led the UK Private Client Practice, assisting high net worth individuals with their UK immigration issues. Developed policies relating to the administration of private client matters.

Assisted with the establishment of Laura Devine Solicitors, a niche practice providing UK and US immigration and European free movement advice, when the entire London immigration team left Eversheds to set up this specialist immigration firm. Role involved advising and assisting corporate and private clients on a range of immigration applications. Clients included companies within the banking, high technology and leisure sectors.

Member of the immigration team forming part of this global law firm. Advised a range of clients and other offices within the Eversheds group on UK immigration and European free movement issues.