Known for ‘taking ground-breaking cases and fighting them all with great ability and energy’, Duncan Lewis Solicitors has unique expertise in immigration judicial review claims involving human rights breaches, as well as a reputable practice in asylum, protection, deportation and modern slavery. Toufique Hossain, ‘a very capable leader and builder of teams’, is a prominent figure in human rights and immigration law, and Ahmed Aydeed advises on all aspects of immigration, including human rights, asylum and international protection. Rohena Wallace and Gemma Lynch have notable experience representing vulnerable clients such as unaccompanied, asylum-seeking children, whilst James Packer has a specialist practice in complex immigration and is ’deeply committed to clients with cases at all levels from tribunal to Supreme Court.’ Vilash Gami and Pardeep Somel are both well-established in complex asylum claims, and the ‘calm and competent’ Bahar Ata has a specialised practice in immigration and human rights-related judicial review claims.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'James Packer is very intelligent, and deeply committed to clients with cases at all levels from tribunal to Supreme Court.'

  • 'Toufique Hossain is knowledgeable, extremely determined, a very capable leader and builder of teams.'

  • 'Bahar Ata is a very experienced and knowledgeable director, calm and competent, a good supervisor.'

  • 'Vilash Gami is an excellent solicitor, experienced in working with counsel on very complex cases, skilled and with great dedication and perseverance.'

  • 'Pardeep Somel is excellent, a very skilled and experienced solicitor, excellent client skills, tremendous commitment to clients’ interests.'

  • ‘Arguably the biggest player out there now. Taking ground-breaking cases and fighting them all with great ability and energy. Toufique Husain has built a critical team. It's extremely impressive.’

  • ‘The immigration team combines big-idea strategic litigation with volume legal aid work, and do so very effectively.'

  • ‘The firm are well ahead of many competitors, they are acutely aware of the market around them and are able to keep ahead with the changing landscape.'

Work highlights

  • Represented six of the lead Claimants in the Rwanda Policy litigation from the Administrative Court through to the Supreme Court.
  • Representing six people who were formerly detained at Brook House and Reverend Nathan Ward, a whistle-blower who worked at Brook House and helped bring the mistreatment to light.
  • Brought several successful judicial review challenges on behalf of detainees at Harmondsworth IRC who were left in inhumane conditions and abandoned by staff during an evacuation.

Lawyers

Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Ahmed Aydeed, Bahar Ata, Gemma Lynch, James Packer, Pardeep Somel, Toufique Hossain, Vilash Gami

Other key lawyers

Claire Ryan, Gergana Pentcheva, Gabor Nagy, Jenna McKinney, Nazia Khan, Rohena Wallace, Satvir Sahota