header-logo header-logo

Solicitors hit back at government statements on asylum claims

09 August 2023
Issue: 8037 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Immigration & asylum , Human rights
printer mail-detail
The Lord Chancellor and Home Secretary this week announced the launch of a ‘dedicated taskforce’ as part of ‘a clampdown on crooked lawyers who coach illegal immigrants to lie’

However, Law Society deputy vice president Richard Atkinson said: ‘This “taskforce” has been around for months now, so it is not clear what, if anything, the government is announcing today.

‘The focus of the Home Office on a tiny minority of lawyers to which they are apparently applying considerable resources should not deflect from the fact that there remain significant backlogs in asylum claims or the unworkability of the Illegal Migration Act.’

The Solicitors Regulation Authority suspended three firms last week for offering to submit fake asylum claims for clients.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Ceri Morgan, knowledge counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, which reshapes the law of fiduciary relationships and common law bribery
The boundaries of media access in family law are scrutinised by Nicholas Dobson in NLJ this week
Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege
Geoff Dover, managing director at Heirloom Fair Legal, sets out a blueprint for ethical litigation funding in the wake of high-profile law firm collapses
James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector
back-to-top-scroll