Lawyers 34
Turnover Not disclosed
Offices 2
Most of the work of this famously tight-lipped firm is done under legal aid. Since its predecessor firm BM Birnberg & Co was founded more than 50 years ago, it has sought to uphold the civil rights and liberties of individuals under threat of unjust or oppressive treatment by police, state agencies or authorities.
The firm represents Shamima Begum, who was stripped of her British citizenship in 2019 by Sajid Javid, the home secretary at the time, after the teenager from Bethnal Green, east London, travelled to join Isis in 2015. In February 2023 Begum lost her challenge to the decision, although the Special Immigration Appeals Commission found that there was a “credible suspicion” that she was trafficked.
The firm represents Chris Cash, a Tory parliamentary researcher, who was arrested in September on suspicion of spying for China. At the time of his arrest, the law firm issued a statement from him, but without naming him.
The statement said: “I feel forced to respond to the media accusations that I am a ‘Chinese spy’. It is wrong that I should be obliged to make any form of public comment on the misreporting that has taken place.
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“However, given what has been reported, it is vital that it is known that I am completely innocent. I have spent my career to date trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party. To do what has been claimed against me in extravagant news reporting would be against everything I stand for.”
★ Commended for administrative & public law; human rights; immigration
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