Vilash Gami

I am a Director in the Immigration department. I supervise a team of solicitors and caseworkers. I specialise in asylum, human rights and public law work. I have wide experience of litigation in the Administrative Court and Court of Appeal as well as in the First-tier and Upper Tribunals of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.

Examples of cases include asylum applications including those on DAC, deportation, general immigration matters such as entry clearance, family reunion, marriage application, EEA and nationality matters. Having represented vulnerable clients such as minors, victims of torture, trafficking, victims of domestic violence and those with mental health issues, I fully understand the need to be patient and sympathetic but also proactive to ensure they benefit from the relevant protection by ensuring proper and relevant experts and or specialists are instructed to help progress the application and secure a positive outcome.

Examples of Judicial Review cases include:

• Unlawful detention;
• False imprisonment;
• Unlawful delay in processing immigration and asylum applications;
• Fresh claim challenges/unlawful denial of appeal rights;
• Challenges to refusals of Article 8 ECHR family and private life applications;
• Third Country removals;
• Challenges to decisions to deny access to public funds; and
• Challenging removals by way of urgent interim relief applications.

I am accredited as a Senior Caseworker under the Law Society's Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme, which demonstrates that I possess the desired level of knowledge and competence in this area of law as defined by the Law Society. It also enables me to represent and advise both publicly funded and private clients.

• 2007 - The College of Law, London - Professional Skills Course (PSC)
• 2003-2004 - Thames Valley university, London - Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (LPC): Commendation
• 2000-2003 - Middlesex university, London - BA (Joint Honours) Law with Criminology: 2.1

Duncan Lewis Solicitors

• Director: January 2022 - present
• Solicitor/Supervisor: February 2017 - present
• Consultant Solicitor: September 2014 – February 2017
• Solicitor/Supervisor: January 2008 - September 2014

Palis Solicitors

• Trainee Solicitor: November 2004 – December 2007

• "Vilash has substantial ability and competence" - Legal 500 UK 2023

• Recommended Lawyer - The Legal 500 UK, (2024 - 2023)

• August 2019 - Re-accreditation Supervisor and Senior Caseworker Level 2 - Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme
• July 2016 - Re-accreditation Supervisor and Senior Caseworker Level 2 - Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme
• November 2007 - Admitted as a solicitor
• 2006 - Supervisor and Senior Caseworker Level 2 - Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme

• Duncan Lewis Solicitors Helps Refugee Win Damages from Former Home Secretary after Being Left Destitute (13 November 2023)
• Duncan Lewis Solicitors welcomes new Immigration Director Vilash Gami (14 January 2022)
• MA, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 1502 (Admin) (16 July 2020)
• R (Julien Benchaouir) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 2606 (Admin) - Detention of a foreign national offender with accepted mental illness (14 February 2020)
• 'I'm a victim of slavery but I'm just seen as an immigration problem' (The Guardian) (1 August 2019)
• Substantial damages for unlawful detention in R (On the Application Of) Adegun v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 22 (Admin) (25 January 2019)
• Damages for asylum-seeker unlawfully detained and deprived of medication in detention in R (On the Application Of) Adegun v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 22 (Admin) (25 January 2019)