The 36 Group

36 Public and Human Rights

Deborah's work covers all areas of immigration law. She is particularly interested in paragraph 398(c) of the Immigration Rules ('serious harm' and 'persistent offenders'), the proper interpretation of Appendix FM, and the 'reasonableness' test under s117B(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. She has considerable experience of asylum appeals by Christian converts (in which she is able to draw on her undergraduate theology studies) and Sri Lankan nationals.

Deborah is an accomplished written advocate who is frequently praised by judges for the quality of her skeleton arguments, grounds of appeal, and judicial review grounds. She enjoys identifying and advancing novel points of law and challenging common Home Office practices and assumptions.

Before coming to the Bar, Deborah worked for the Immigration Advisory Service (formerly the UK's largest provider of legal advice on immigration and asylum), and was accredited by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner. She then spent a year as the employee of two direct access immigration barristers. She completed pupillage in a predominantly criminal set and, on accepting tenancy there, chose to specialise in immigration law, going on to establish a successful practice in the field almost from scratch. She subsequently expanded and strengthened this practice at Lamb Building before moving to The 36 Group in 2021.

Call: 2009

Immigration Law Practitioners' Association Advocate (formerly the Bar Pro Bono Unit)

BA (Hons) Philosophy and Theology - 2:1 (University of Oxford, 2007)

Graduate Diploma in Law - Distinction (BPP Law School, Leeds, 2008)

Bar Vocational Course - Outstanding (BPP Law School, Leeds, 2009)