Immigration Team

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Michael Hanley
Michael Hanley graduated from Cambridge University in law and was admitted as a solicitor in 1985. He commenced his career as a civil litigator but since 1994 has specialised exclusively in all aspects of immigration, nationality and asylum law. He has been a partner since 1990.

Michael has been ranked as a leading individual in immigration in the Chambers Legal Directory for a number of years. In the 2006 edition he was praised for his "thorough, completely committed approach" and for his "unyielding dedication in pushing cases in the right direction for his client", and in the 2007 edition as a "fantastic all-rounder" who "always sees his clients through to the end of the case."

He is a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association. He taught the Immigration Legal Practice Course at Metropolitan London University for 4 years between 2001 and 2004. He has had the conduct of cutting edge cases in the House of Lords and the Court of Appeal, and was shortlisted for the Human Rights Lawyer of the Year award in 2001. He now has a mixed practice of Legal Aid and private clients, and has considerable experience in business immigration and work permit applications. He is a Legal Services Commission peer reviewer for immigration and asylum work, and a consultant to the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner.

Matthew Davies
Matthew Davies graduated from the University of Manchester and joined Wilson & Co in 1990, qualifying as a solicitor in 1992. He became a partner in the firm in 1997.

Since qualification he has practised exclusively in immigration and asylum. He has considerable expertise in a wide range of immigration work at all levels. His particular expertise is finding solutions for individuals with complex immigration problems.

Matthew is an experienced trainer for the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association and other organisations, and has served as a consultant to the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner. He is a past Chair of both INQUEST and the Stonewall Immigration Group, and shared the Stonewall Equality Award in 1997. He is the author of a number of published texts, including the immigration chapter in the National Aids Manual. Most recently, he wrote the Best Practice Guide to fast-track asylum cases for ILPA. Matthew is recommended as a leader in the field of immigration law in the Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession. In the 2006 edition he was commended for his "well prepared cogent, clear and sensible advice", and in the 2007 edition described as "one of the giants of the immigration field." In 2008, he was praised for his "innovative, intelligent and strategic way of looking at things."

Anne-Marie Tootell
Anne-Marie Tootell was educated at Exeter University and Aix en Provence / Marseilles University, where she studied English and French law. She is bilingual in English and French and holds dual nationality. After Law Society Finals, she trained at Slaughter and May, qualifying in 1991 and worked in the capital markets division until 1992.

After a masters degree in International Human Rights Law and Immigration at the LSE, she joined the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in 1993 as a Legal Consultant, working in Geneva, Paris and London. She also sat as an Adjudicator on the French Refugee Appeals Board.

Anne-Marie joined Wilson & Co in 1997, and specialises in asylum work. Among her notable cases are Zaitz [2000] (conscientious objection to military service) and Horvath [2000] (sufficiency of state protection; instructed as intervener by the Refugee Legal Centre). She was made a partner in 2001. In 2009 she left the partnership but she still provides a self-employed consultancy service to the firm.

Damian Hanley
Damian Hanley was educated at Keele University and the College of Law. He trained at Wilson & Co and qualified as a solicitor in 1998. Since then, he has specialised exclusively in immigration work, particularly asylum cases. He has extensive experience of representing clients at all levels of the system, including the High Court and Court of Appeal.

He represents clients from all over the world, and has a particular interest in entry clearance appeals, on the basis of marriage, student status and entitlement to family reunion. Damian was made a partner in 2004.

Anita Vasisht
Anita graduated in French, Russian and Law. She worked in Amnesty International's Legal Office for two years and represented Amnesty at the UN in Geneva and at a human rights conference in West Africa. Anita qualified as a solicitor in May 1997 and joined Wilson & Co. shortly afterwards. She became a partner in 2005.

Anita specialises immigration and asylum work, and particulalrly in cases involving Palestinians. Among her notable cases are XY and YZ (Russia) [2008] EWCA Civ 180 and KK IH HE (Palestinians-Lebanon-camps) Palestine CG [2004] UKIAT00293 which argued that the discrimination suffered by Palestinians in Lebanon amounts to persecution. Anita has a particular interest in cases from Iraq and generally from the Arabic speaking Middle East. She has also successfully represented women fearing persecution in the form of “crimes of honour”.

Russell Blakely
Russell Blakely grew up in Northern Ireland and read law at Oxford University. He qualified as a solicitor at Wilson & Co in 1999. He specialises in complex asylum litigation.

Russell is a trustee of the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group charity, and is convenor of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association's Detention and Fast Track sub-committee. Russell is on the advisory board to the Immigration Advisory Service, for their Lottery-funded research project on the use of country of origin material in asylum cases.

James Elliott
James Elliott was educated at the Universities of Leeds and Westminster, and trained as a solicitor at Wilson & Co. Since qualification in 2001, he has specialised in immigration and asylum law, and has extensive experience at all levels of the system.

Among his recent cases is R (on the application of Ay) v Secretary of State, a high-profile case on the legitimacy of detaining children of asylum seekers.

James is a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association, and has provided training for ILPA in London and Manchester on "Somali Refugee Claims". In 2008, James was commended for his work in Chambers and Partners, who singled out his "tenacity and … great capacity to fight his clients' corner."

Muhunthan Paramesvaran
Muhunthan Paramesvaran was educated at the University of Sussex and the College of Law. Prior to joining Wilson & Co in 1999, he taught English and A-Level Law. He qualified as a solicitor in 2003, having trained in asylum, nationality and public law.

Muhunthan now specialises in asylum, immigration, nationality and human rights. He is particularly interested in judicial review and Court of Appeal work. Among his recent cases is Miao [2006] EWCA Civ 75 (interpretation of family reunion policy, paragraph 317 Immigration Rules, Article 8 ECHR). He is a regular trainer for the Immigration Law Practitioners Association.

Ana Gonzalez
Ana Gonzalez was born in Spain and educated at the University of La Coruna. She moved to the UK in 1994. She joined the Refugee Legal Centre as a casework assistant in 1996, where she worked full-time whilst studying part-time to convert to English law.

Ana joined Wilson & Co in 1999 and qualified as a solicitor in 2003. Having trained in asylum, nationality and public law, she now practises in immigration and asylum work, and has interests in human rights and European law. She is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese. She was praised in the 2008 edition of Chambers and Partners for her "constant attention to cases, leading client care and real knowledge of the law."

Kay Everett
Kay Everett read Law and Chinese Studies at the University of Leeds. She trained and worked at Lovells before moving to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer where she worked in the project finance team. Whilst reading a Masters in International Human Rights Law, Kay worked at Hackney Community Law Centre specialising in asylum and immigration law. Kay then joined the immigration team at Christian Khan where she became head of the department.

Kay joined Wilson & Co in January 2008. She specialises in asylum, immigration and human rights.

Rosalyn Akar
Rosalyn Akar studied psychology and sociology at the University of Bath, with a year placement at Harvard University and then studied law at the College of Law. She joined the Refugee Legal Centre in 2002 and began working as an appeals caseworker in 2003. She joined Wilson & Co in 2005 and trained in immigration, asylum and criminal law. She qualified as a solicitor in 2008.

Rosalyn now practices in a range of immigration law, with a particular interest in asylum and human rights cases.

Abigail Evans
Abigail Evans was educated at the University of California, Los Angeles where she studied Anthropology. She returned to the United Kingdom in 2002 and began working for Wesley Gryk Solicitors. She joined Wilson and Co in 2004. After a year out to complete her studies at the College of Law, Abigail returned to Wilson and Co as a trainee solicitor.

She qualified as a solicitor in 2008, having trained in asylum and human rights, immigration, public law and crime. She is specialises in human rights and asylum work.