Rohena Wallace

I am a Director of Public Law and Immigration at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, specialising in immigration, asylum, human rights and public law. I supervise a team of solicitors, trainees and caseworkers who are all committed to delivering a high standard of representation to clients facing complex legal issues which fundamentally affect their lives.

My expertise covers all areas of immigration and asylum law including the 1951 Refugee Convention, European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), detention, bail, nationality law, European Economic Area (EEA) law as well as prison law and terrorism challenges involving the unlawful deprivation of citizenship. I have a particular interest in representing vulnerable clients with mental health problems, unaccompanied asylum seeking children, victims of torture and those being held under immigration powers.

I have extensive experience of challenging decisions by judicial review; removals from the UK; pursuing unlawful detention claims; fresh claim refusals and other related public law challenges. I have also undertaken fact-finding visits to France and Cyprus in order to obtain evidence for use in claims for judicial review before the High Court.

I am accredited as a Supervisor and Level 3 (Advanced) Senior Caseworker under the Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme which means I have a high level of specialist knowledge and experience in the area of Immigration law and enables me to advise and assist both private paying and publicly funded clients. There are only a small number of immigration practitioners throughout England & Wales that hold this quality mark.

• Legal Practice Course (LPC) - Bristol Institute of Legal Practice

• Director at Duncan Lewis Solicitors (2017-present)
• Qualified as a Solicitor (2013)
• Duncan Lewis Solicitors (2011-present)
• Senior Caseworker Immigration Advisory Service (2008-2011)

• Recommended Lawyer - The Legal 500, (2024 - 2021)

High Court

• Sino v SSHD [2016] EWHC 803 (Admin) – unlawful detention – Algerian claiman


• R (oao) JM & Ors v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 2331 – The Secretary of State for the Home Department conceded that the Detained Fast-Track process created an unacceptable risk of unfairness to vulnerable or potentially vulnerable individuals. Further, the Secretary of State conceded that the process as a whole created an unacceptable risk of failure to identify those whose claims were unsuitable for a quick decision within the Detained Fast-Track process.


• R (oao) AI v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 244 (Admin) – This case concerned the decision of the Secretary of State for the Home Department to return the claimant to France, despite being made aware of numerous deficiencies within the French asylum procedure. It was held that the Secretary of State for the Home Department did not err by failing to investigate the fairness of the French ‘Priority Procedure’; the equivalent to the Detained Fast Track Procedure within the United Kingdom. Permission to appeal against the decision of the Administrative Court has been granted by the Court of Appeal.


• R (oao) Antonio v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 3894 (Admin) - The Secretary of State for the Home Department was held to have unlawfully detained the claimant for a period in excess of three years. This case affirms the right of a claimant to be provided with particulars of detention, in addition to clarifying the position concerning the defence of ‘ex turpi causa non oritur actio’.

• Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association
• Level 3 (Advanced) Senior Caseworker - Law Society Immigration and Asylum Accreditation

• Travelling
• Cooking
• Reading
• Politics and International Relations

• Hussein v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 156 (13 February 2020) (6 August 2020)
• Windrush citizens do not need legal aid says justice secretary (29 June 2018)
• Government spent £52m on deportation flights to the Caribbean prior to Windrush scandal (29 June 2018)
• Duncan Lewis Immigration Director Toufique Hossain and assistant solicitor Rohena Wallace achieve Level 3 (Advanced) Immigration and Asylum Law Accreditation (26 July 2016)