Matthew James > Bates Wells > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Chetal Patel leads the ‘extremely competent team‘ at Bates Wells, which advises on the full range of personal immigration matters. The group has particular expertise advising EEA citizens on the EU Settlement Scheme and other issues arising from the implications of Brexit, and also excels in family and human rights matters. The team is also regularly sought out for its knowledge and experience handling issues such as HNW immigration, visit visas, domestic worker applications, PBS dependents issues and domestic violence cases. As an expert in LGBTQ+ asylum claims, Tim Barnden is a highly regarded practitioner in family immigration work and is particularly skilled in Article 8 claims and appeals, domestic violence applications and advice to EEA nationals and their families. The group also includes Matthew James, whose practice bridges personal and business immigration work and has expertise in post-Brexit Immigration for EEA nationals, and Alice Bennington, who ‘goes above and beyond to get the job done‘ and advises on a broad range of personal immigration issues, with an increasing focus on applications involving children citizenship issues, such as surrogacy and adoption work.

Overseen by Chetal Patel, Bates Wells has ‘an impressive group of immigration specialists doing high quality work‘ in the human rights field of personal immigration. The group advises on a broad range of complex asylum and deportation issues, in addition to having a seasoned human rights appeals practice. Praised as a ‘brilliant, creative and hugely experienced specialist immigration lawyer‘, Tim Barnden has notable expertise with family immigration matters that engage Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. He regularly handles human rights claims both within and outside of the Immigration Rules for clients such as partners, elderly relatives, overstayers and children and is also able to advise on LGBTQ+ asylum cases. Matthew James and Alice Bennington are also key contacts for human rights matters, and both advise on a broad range of personal immigration and citizenship issues.