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Litigation, Courts and Tribunals
At OTS Solicitors one of the firm’s core practice areas is representing our clients in court, whether this is before the Court of Appeal, High Court, County Court, immigration Tribunal or on an application for Bail, we have an impressive track record in successfully and robustly representing our client in court.
Our solicitors work with people who are involved in any kind of dispute or claim. We will pursue the following types of claims and appeals in England and Wales:
- immigration and Asylum Appeal
- immigration and Asylum Judicial Review
- Judicial Review Claims
- County Court Money Claim
- County Court Debt Claim
- County Court Small Claim
- Landlord and Tenant Rent Arrears Claim
- Landlord and Tenant Disrepair Claim
- Landlord and Tenant Possession Claim
- Landlord and Tenant Setting Aside Judgement Hearing
- Road Traffic Accident Claim
- Workplace slips, trips and falls
- Product liability Claims
- Personal Injury Claims
- Flight Delay Compensation under EU Regulation 261/2004
- Consumer Rights Claims
- Application for Summary judgement
- Application to Set Aside
- Case Management Conferences
OTS Solicitors act on behalf of Claimants, Defendants, Appellants and Respondents in all types of disputes. Our solicitors have built a reputation for providing the best representation at all levels of Court work, from the First Tier Tribunal to Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. At OTS Solicitors our team will peruse your case going above and beyond your expectations to achieve the best results for all our clients. We provide high calibre and highly successful solicitors and barristers to work on your case and to represent you at courts and tribunals across the UK.
Our solicitors will take the time to advise you on the merits of your case and provide a strategy that best ensures that costs and any other risks are minimised in your case.
In certain cases disputes can be resolved out of court and we will ensure to work proactively with you and ensure that an assertive and professional approach is taken against the other side to resolve your case without unnecessary time or money being spent by you.
Our top litigation and appeals solicitors will advise you on the best approach if your case does proceed to court and in many cases our services to you will include:
- Drafting your particulars of claim and the grounds for your legal arguments (i.e. Grounds of Appeal, Grounds for Judicial Review, Particulars of Claim)
- Correspond and communicate with the opposing side and continue to update you on every step and all developments in the case
- Obtain all the necessary documents and serving and filing all documents on the Court and the other parties in the case
- Drafting your witness statement and taking statements from those individuals that are in support of your case
- Instructing expert witnesses and producing expert reports
- Collating, Considering and Preparing Bundles for your court hearing
- Providing highly successful court representation through Barristers and in-house specialist advocates for your individual case
- Making applications to court for enforcement of orders or awards by court trial to the highest standard.
- Enforcing any judgment or award made by the Court.
For a more detailed discussion regarding your case, or to book an appointment with a member of our Litigation, Courts and Tribunals team, please call us now on 0203 959 9123
Litigation, Courts and Tribunals Success Stories
Our client, KK, a national of Lebanon arrived to the UK in 2007 with his wife and two young children. He came as a work permit holder. During his stay in the UK, the employer became insolvent and the business was continued under different company. Our client was not correctly advised at the time of his obligations to inform the Home Office of his change of employer and carried on with his activities.
After reaching the required five year period for settlement, our client applied for Indefinite Leave to Remain. At this point he and his family had fully adapted to the British way of life and from an employee he had become a successful businessman, employing considerable amount of workers.
After a lengthy delay, our client's Indefinite Leave to Remain application was refused due to lack of compliance with his duties to inform the Home Office of change of employers.
Our client approached OTS Solicitors seeking advice and assistance on challenging the decision. As the decision was made under the old rules, it carried right of appeal and our immigration litigation lawyers advised the client on his options and grounds for challenging the refusal. Our client was advised that due to his lengthy presence in the UK, his family ties in the country, he had a strong family and private life grounds for challenging the refusal of his Indefinite Leave to Remain application. He was further advised that due to the length of his children's stay in the UK and their full integration into British society, the rule regarding the child's stay in the UK for more than 7 years was considerably adding weight to the strength of his family's case.
Our team of immigration lawyers specializing in appeals and immigration litigation took over the case and prepared the grounds of the appeal challenging the decision. After the hearing date was notified to our offices by the immigration and Asylum Tribunal, we worked closely with the client advising and assisting him in compiling the evidence to put before the Tribunal. Our team of lawyers also constantly liaised with the Counsel instructed by our firm on behalf of the client, to make sure that the client's and his witnesses' statements and evidence were covering all the issues to be raised during the hearing.
Our client's appeal was allowed on the grounds of family and private life as advised by our immigration litigation team, with considerable weight being given to the fact that he had extended family in the UK, who would be affected by their removal and with acknowledgement that our client's children would have succeeded in their claim to remain in the UK in any event, irrespective of the extended family presence, due to the length of their stay and degree of integration into this country.
This work was carried out by Principal Solicitor Teni Shahiean and immigration Lawyer Dr. Lusine Navasardyan.
To find out how we can help you with your immigration appeal, please phone our London office on 0207 936 9960, to talk to one of our experienced immigration Solicitors.
Our client, RS, planned a flight with a European airline to Armenia by flying from London to Vienna, and then from Vienna to Zvartnots, Armenia, of which her return route would be the opposite. Upon returning home, our client’s flight to Vienna was delayed at Zvartnots airport and because of the time lost our client missed her connecting flight from Vienna International airport to London. Our client’s flight was rebooked onto another flight back to London which was over three hour later. Our client then approached OTS Solicitors and instructed the firm to make a claim for compensation from the airline responsible for the delay on her behalf.
We argued that Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 gives the sufferers of delayed flights the right to compensation as the rescheduled flight was delayed by over three hours and that the distance between the two designations accumulates over 1,500 kilometres. The airline replied to OTS Solicitors and granted our client the required amount in compensation under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004.
This case was a success due to the application carried out by OTS Lawyers, Oshin Shahiean.
Acting for Kenyan national in a Court of Appeal case in relation to a Human Rights Application on both Article 3 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Appellant fears return on account of his imputed political opinion and a challenge has been mounted with a view to Ordering the Secretary of State to reconsider the Appellant’s Human Rights and Asylum protection claim and to make a new decision in the best interest of the Appellant’s British children in the UK. The proceedings have been settled and the Respondent Secretary of State has admitted to conceeding that the previous immigration Appeal hearing was decided in error of the law. The Home Office have therefore addmitted that the case should be sent back to the previous court and have also confirmed the evidence that should be considered which they nor the court considered in unfairly refusing the clients case the first time. Home Office has also agreed to pay client's full legal costs subject to review.
The client in this case was a Nigerian national who approached our firm after his previous applications for Leave to Remain on Article 8 grounds had been refused. The basis of his application, while resting on grounds of family and private life, was that the client feared persecution due to his sexual identity (Homosexual male) and feared that returning to Nigeria would mean persecution for him and his family members.
The Home Office had refused on the ground that our client didn’t have a partner or a child in the UK, therefore failing the requirements of family life and there were no exceptional circumstances for granting him leave outside of immigration rules. Prior to making this decision the Home Office had separately invited the client to personally apply for Asylum if he considered himself to be in danger of persecution upon return. Despite this, no consideration was given to his sexuality when making the decision, or the fact that he faced persecution upon return to his country.
Our immigration department was instructed to appeal against the Home Office decision. Our team of specialist immigration appeal lawyers worked closely with the client and our barristers to prepare the case to an exceptionally high standard. The best outcome was achieved in this case as the Appeal was allowed and the client was granted on Asylum grounds and Human Rights grounds under Article 3 freedom from torture and inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment.
To arrive to such a decision the Judge had accepted our legal argument on immigration and Human Rights grounds and evidence put before him on behalf of our client. The Tribunal acknowledged that the reason for which our client wanted to remain in the UK stem from fear of returning to Nigeria as a gay man. The Tribunal also considered Paragraph 327, which does not require the appellant to make application for Asylum in person. This was an important point that allowed the Tribunal to hear the submissions on our client’s behalf on his refugee status, even though to formally claim for Asylum had been made prior to the hearing.
In order to proceed to hearing the submissions on our client’s refugee status, the Tribunal noted that the Home Office had no need to make any additional checks such as verifying additional facts or documents to be able to make a decision on an Asylum claim. Therefore, there was no reason for which the Home Office would have not been able to consider our client’s case from the prospect of United Kingdom’s obligation under Refugee or Person in need of International Protection Regulations 2006. The Tribunal further noted that the Home Office had already confirmed the UK as the responsible state for the Asylum claim.
The Definition of refugee according to Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention is:
Owning to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside his country of nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside of the country of his former habitual residence ...is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.
Therefore, proving of a well-founded fear of prosecution, as well as belonging to a particular social group is always essential to success in this branch of Asylum cases. In this case the Tribunal was satisfied that our client was a gay man, therefore belonging to a particular social group and that he had well-founded fear of persecution, based on the evidence of recent legislative changes in Nigeria, as well as arrests that have taken place in the country.
The Human Rights Article 3 provides that no-one shall be subject to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
In this case there was a clear and substantial risk for our client of being subject to such treatment and punishment as Nigerian law provides for prison sentence for same sex sexual acts and same sex marriages. Therefore, the Tribunal concluded that it was not possible to say that prosecution of gay men were rare in that country. This led to accepting that our client’s fear of return to the country was well-founded.
Furthermore, as our client had well-funded fear that his family could also suffer by association with him, the Tribunal granted him anonymity. This means that no report of the proceedings will directly or indirectly identify our client or members of his family. This is an important protection measure for many people fearing prosecution in their countries extending to their families, as well as being shunned by the community in the UK- fear, that keeps them from applying for Asylum on grounds of sexuality.
Your Questions & Our Answers about Litigation, Courts and Tribunals
Thank you for your question. Your case raises certain complex matters which our specialist immigration solicitors, who are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority would be confident to advise you on. We would be able to offer you assistance as part of a one-off consultation or otherwise as part of our full representation service for immigration appeals. Your Tribunal Appeal query has been forwarded to the relevant department and our immigration appeal lawyers will be in touch with you today to explain how to proceed for the best outcome in your immigration case.
