The immigration team at Bates Wells stands out for its ‘exceptional expertise, professionalism, and approachable nature’, leveraging the firm’s full-service offering to devise immigration solutions for its commercial clients. The firm is also noted for its particularly strong sectoral expertise in the charities and architecture space. The practice is helmed by the ’outstanding’ Chetal Patel, who harnesses extensive experience in handling sponsorship issues and the relocation of senior leaders and C-suite executives. Aisha Choudhry advises a wide range of clients, notably faith-based organisations, on sponsor license compliance issues, while Smruti Jeyanandhan‘s practice spans both personal and business immigration matters. Alice Bennington combines a ’meticulous attention to detail and dedication to delivering an excellent service’, handling complex issues arising from skilled worker applications and breaches of the immigration rules.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The Bates Wells immigration practice has deep knowledge, experience and connections. They are responsive, timely, professional and easy to deal with. There is diversity on the team, and the tools they use are helpful.’
‘I have worked with Bates Wells for just under a decade now, and the attention to detail and awareness of a client's needs is second to none. The immigration practice takes full care and consideration for you and your potential employees and is honestly fantastic.’
‘Aisha Choudhry: excellent communicator and advisor; very intuitive and practical in terms of guidance and advice.’
‘Chetal Patel and her team are fantastic, everyone we've worked with has been highly competent, responsive, and reliable.’
‘The firm is recognised as one of the leading, if not the leading UK law firm, in relation to charity law and a leading firm in many areas, such as employment and immigration, which overlap with charity law.’
‘The individuals we work with stand out due to their exceptional expertise, professionalism, and approachable nature. They combine deep technical knowledge with a pragmatic understanding of our business needs, which allows them to deliver advice that is not only legally sound but also commercially practical. Their ability to distil complex legal concepts into clear, actionable guidance is invaluable and sets them apart from competitors.'
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Practice head
Chetal Patel
Other key lawyers
Aisha Choudhry; Smruti Jeyanandhan; Alice Bennington