Specialists in Immigration and Asylum Law

The Team

	Mark Barron Mark qualified as a solicitor in 1993, and is accredited as a Level 2 Senior Caseworker. In addition to advising on a wide range of immigration, nationality and asylum matters, Mark has extensive experience in the High Court and County Court as a civil and commercial litigator, is an Accredited Mediator, and appears regularly in the First and Upper Tier Tribunals. Mark spent several years in Asia, mainly India and Thailand, and speaks conversational Hindi
	Olga Belov Olga holds a degree in Law from South Bank University. She joined Elder Rahimi in April 2009 in an administrative role. Since October 2010 she has been a full-time caseworker. She works primarily with Annette Elder. Olga is an accredited Level 1 Senior Caseworker under the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme and works on a general immigration caseload. She is dealing with applications for entry clearance, extensions of stay and settlement and nationality applications. Olga is also fluent in Russian.
	Jo Bezzano Jo Bezzano is a solicitor and a senior immigration caseworker who is accredited to Level 2. She has lived and worked overseas including 3 years working as a legal adviser in the Solomon Islands and a year working in Zambia with the UK government Department of International Development on financial corruption. She is especially interested in asylum cases and particularly those with a gender element. Jo is mainly based in the office but is also often to be seen at the various Immigration Tribunals, prisons in London and Kent and detention centres.
	Rebecca Flint Rebecca is a caseworker at the firm, currently working towards her Level 2 accreditation and due to finish the LPC this June. She has a strong background in therapeutic intervention with refugees, with specialist knowledge of trafficking both in the UK and abroad. She is trained in cross cultural counselling techniques, working with gender - specific sexual violence issues. Previous to converting to law in 2009, Rebecca managed the Outreach Team at the Poppy Project and has given expert evidence in many reported asylum and criminal cases.
	Keith Gayle Keith is one of our freelance advocates and accredited as a Level 2 Senior Caseworker. He read Politics at Warwick University and then worked in the private sector. After deciding on a career change, Keith was called to the Bar in 2000. Initially, he worked in Criminal, Family and Housing Law, before settling on Immigration and Asylum as his specialism. Keith was admitted to the Solicitors Roll in 2005
	Farah Greig Farah has over 7 years experience in dealing with immigration and asylum work, usually with a focus on cases involving minors, disabled people and detainees. She studied Law at the University of Westminster and is accedited as a Senior Level 2 Asylum and Immigration caseworker. Farah is fluent in Azeri, Russian and Turkish. She has a special fondness for good restaurants and classical music.
	Tod Hodson As Director of Hodson Advocates Ltd, Tod provides a full range of advocacy services in the First-Tier and Upper Tribunals. Now an accredited Level 2 (Senior) Caseworker, he was called to the Bar in 2002. He previously taught at the University of Southern California, Birkbeck College and Kings College London.
	Aleksandra Kowalczyk Aleksandra is the firm's receptionist and has been with Elder Rahimi since 2008. She deals with telephone calls and visitors and helps other staff with various administrative duties. She is in the third year of her studies for a BA in Business Management Studies and hopes to graduate next year. She is interested in music, dance, books and photography.She speaks English, Polish, Russian and German.
	Ali Radfar Ali is the firm’s Billing Accountant. He has been working with Elder Rahimi since 2004. Ali is an exam-qualified Chartered Certified Accountant and holds a Masters degree in Business Administration (Edinburgh Business School). He is also the acting treasurer for a charity that helps immigrants play active and positive roles as individuals and as a community in life in the UK.
	Amir Rahimi Amir primarily assists Ali Rahimi with various aspects of the management and administration of his caseload. He has been working for Elder Rahimi since October 2004 and has gained considerable experience in the fields of immigration and asylum during this period. Amir holds a PhD degree from Essex University, a Masters degree from Oxford University and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of London.
	Philippa Roffey Philippa was admitted as a Solicitor in April 2007 and has 10 years’ experience in the field of asylum, immigration and Human Rights. She is accredited to Level 2 and as a supervisor. She now deals mostly with the firm’s higher courts matters, in particular applications for Judicial Review and unlawful detention claims. She speaks Spanish, Swahili and French as well as English.
	Elizabeth Ruddick Elizabeth is an experienced solicitor and advocate who has been working in the field of immigration and asylum law since 1998. She is qualified to practice law in both the UK and the United States and is an accredited Level 2 (Senior) Caseworker under the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme. She holds degrees from Harvard University, Boston University and the London School of Economics. She speaks German, French and Italian.
	Mehran Taghvaipour Mehran is the firm's Practice Manager. He is responsible for business development and strategic planning as well as all administrative and support services at our London and Folkestone offices. He has been with the firm since its inception in 2001 and has since been co-ordinating and supervising all financial, IT, and personnel matters. He holds a PhD in Computational Linguistics (Essex) and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists. He enjoys reading World Literature and trying his hand at literary translation and criticism.
	Saud Ulhassan Saud is the firm's Account Manager and has been with Elder Rahimi since 2005. He holds a BSc in Science and is a qualified Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA). Saud also works as a Senior Accountant independently and provides consultancy and advice on Accounting and Tax issues.
	Joanna van Molendorff Joanna is a Senior Immigration Caseworker and is accredited to Level 2. She has been working for Elder Rahimi since December 2006. She specialises in providing advice and assistance in lodging Immigration, Nationality, EEA and Entry Clearance applications. She has vast expertise in the preparation of appeals to the IAC. She speaks Polish and basic French. In her spare time she enjoys cycling and outdoor activities.
	Richard Warren Richard is a Level 2 Caseworker based in the Folkestone office. He has worked with refugees and migrants since 2004 in a variety of capacities. He was formerly a caseworker with Refugee and Migrant Justice and has experience of a range of asylum and immigration cases. He is currently undertaking an MSc Research degree in Migration Studies.