Barrister, Senior Legal Officer

Ash Ali is a barrister specialising in commercial law, public law and immigration law and a Member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.

After completing his law degree in 2009, Ash undertook the Bar exams in 2010 and was called to the Bar in the same year. Ash began his asylum and human rights law career in 2010 at Rodman Pearce Solicitors in Luton and joined Duncan Lewis Solicitors in 2014. He is accredited through the Law Society Immigration & Asylum Accreditation Scheme (IAAS) as a Senior Immigration Caseworker. In 2016, he was appointed as the Senior Legal Officer for the University of Bedfordshire.

Ash has experience in conducting advocacy at the First-Tier and Upper Tribunals representing clients at asylum, immigration, human rights, bail and deportation hearings. He also has experience in representing asylum clients that have been detained under the Home Office asylum fast track process and challenging Secretary of State’s immigration decisions by way of judicial review. He has also challenged decisions of the Upper Tribunal at the Court of Appeal. Throughout his career, Ash has undertaken cases covering several areas of law ranging from Criminal Law and Prison Law to Housing Law.

Ash provides a pro-bono legal service with the British Red Cross allowing clients to obtain free legal advice. This was a unique service for the Red Cross, his commitment towards the vulnerable was recognised by HM the Queen, the patron of the organisation. In addition, Ash has represented clients at the Employment Tribunal whilst conducting pro-bono work for the Free Representation Unit.

Ash has been associated with CRiL since 2013; he was one of the co-founders of Refugee Legal Assistance Project, established in 2014, and continues to support the project, including by mentoring and training student volunteers. He has also been involved in several CRiL research projects focusing on the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, including, most recently the Families Together project on Refugee Family Reunion.