Immigration

Brian joined Duncan Lewis in August 2002 and was called to the bar in October 2002. He started his career in casework and immediately progressed to advocacy. He appeared before immigration adjudicators in a wide variety of matters, and then later in the Immigration Tribunal. These matters included deportation appeals, spouse visa appeals and numerous human rights and asylum appeals, some of which were reported as country guidance, such as: LB (Article 3 - Monrovia - Security) Liberia [2004] UKIAT 00299 AG (Returnees - Deserters - Prison conditions) Rwanda [2004] UKIAT 00289 RB (Algeria - Berbers) Algeria [2004] UKIAT 00220 FO (Risk - Service as village guard) Turkey [2004] UKIAT 00042.

Brian enjoyed working within the atmosphere of a growing vibrant legal aid firm, and decided to become a solicitor, and was admitted to the Roll in October 2005. After transferring qualification, Brian continued to be involved in advocacy in the immigration department, and then carried out advocacy in the crime department, representing the firm's clients in the magistrates' courts at first appearances, committal proceedings, sentencing hearings (pleas in mitigation) and full trials covering numerous areas from benefit fraud, criminal damage and driving offences to s39 assault. He was then made head of the Advocacy and Reconsideration team within the Immigration Department, to provide specialist advice on appeals on a point of law.

Brian is qualified under the Law Society's Immigration & Asylum Accreditation Scheme as a Senior Caseworker and Supervisor, which allows him to specialize in Immigration & Nationality law and provide specialist legal help for publicly funded work under the firm's Legal Services Commission franchise.

Now a Director at the firm, Brian supervises the advocacy department, which is responsible for representing the firm's clients in the Tribunal's Asylum and Immigration Chambers, and oversees the maintenance of a high standard of advocacy within the firm in both the First Tier and Upper Tier Tribunals. Brian continues to regularly appear in the Upper Tribunal in front of Senior Immigration Judges.

In parallel, Brian maintains a busy Court of Appeal case load, with three matters currently listed to be reported in 2012, namely JD (DRC) C5/2011/2009 which will be guidance on the 'Second Appeals Test' and AL (Albania) C5/2011/0550 & FN (Gambia) C5/2011/1518 on the issue of Costs and the applicability of Bahta & Ors v SSHD [2011] EWCA Civ 895 to statutory appeals. Brian is a member of the Inner Temple, speaks French fluently and works in the Dalston Office.