James Packer

Practice Areas

James Packer is a Director in the Public Law department at Duncan Lewis Solicitor. He regularly conducts test cases concerning issues that involve: access to the courts, unlawful detention, enforced removals from the UK, challenges to decisions to refuse legal aid and associated litigation. He also has a specialist practice in complex asylum cases, especially for high net worth and high profile individuals and is frequently involved in appealing costs decisions, often to the Court of Appeal.

James has extensive experience in cases which have been decided in the Administrative Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. He has also brought successful challenges to the European Court of Human Rights. He also handles tribunal advocacy work and has a significant practice in Upper Tribunal and Court of Appeal cases.

In a judicial review against the Lord Chancellor, James was part of the team at Duncan Lewis that successfully challenged the blanket refusal to provide legal aid funding for judicial reviews where permission was refused on the papers. The result will assist legal aid providers representing some of the most vulnerable in society and should in turn enhance access to justice.

James has experience in a wide variety of judicial review litigation including; a challenge to a decision to impose a planning levy on a development; challenges to decisions by the Secretary of State for Justice to recall prisoners released on licence; challenges to the continuation of police bail, and a successful challenge to a decision by the SRA to simply send a ‘letter of advice’ to his client’s former solicitor. James also handled a challenge to the removal of a parking place for a disabled self-employed person, a challenge to a refusal to amend a Statement of Special Educational Needs, and challenges to local authority assessments such as housing and social security entitlements of various types.

James provides accredited training for ILPA, HJT and AMT.

Career

Duncan Lewis Solicitors (2002-present)

Professional Memberships

Solicitor Advocate – Higher Rights of Audience (civil)

Level 3 (Advanced) Immigration & Asylum Scheme

Administrative Court User Group

ILPA

Publications

James writes articles for the leading immigration law blog, Free Movement. He also writes for other outlets including an article for the Solicitor’s Gazette. James has edited countless articles written by other solicitors, and he contributed the chapter on costs in the leading textbook ‘Criminal Judicial Review’ ed. Piers Von Berg. He assisted in editing the e-book Costs in Immigration Cases (Colin Yeo).