REFERENCES AND SUCCESSES

I was very happy to receive the following surprise cards and letters and phone messages from clients a short time after I finished their cases.

"We are very thankful for all your help and gladly recommend you to others." Ingrid Kiezebrink and Marty Strickland, Oshawa (family class sponsorship) Jan. 2013

Below is a card from a successful refugee claimant from Costa Rica. To protect her identity I have erased most of her name. (It is almost impossible to win a claim against Costa Rica so this was a big achievement.)

Next is a letter from an Indian family who were appealing the refusal to allow them to sponsor their parents. (I won this case.)

Finally is a letter from a lady whose family lawyer hired me to help in a case involving a husband from Turkey

I have won other very difficult and complex cases for which the clients were very grateful. They did not send me cards or letters so all I can do is mention a few that come to mind of the many. To protect the identities I may alter some of the facts. One was a former official in an Iranian prison, another was a European who had been falsely accused of a serious crime by the US Secret Service, and over 30 years later when he applied for Canadian citizenship the Canada Immigration officials cruelly to remove his residency status. Other cases involved women from Iran who were here with their children, young female political refugees from Iran, lesbians and gay men from Arabic nations, a bunch of Turks who fled Turkey for various reasons, Pakistanis who had been illegally in the USA for several years, Jamaicans who were appealing deportation for crimes in Canada (I worked as the counsel for the Immigration Department there for 4 1/2 years so have a lot of experience). I was successful with several Ethiopian political refugees including one who had THREE previous claims rejected by the refugee board (back before the law was changed to outlaw repeat claims). I have been successful with the majority of Copts from Egypt whose refugee claims were rejected by succeeding in getting the Federal Court to order the refugee board to re-hear their cases, a Syrian-Turkish family whose case was rejected by both the board and the Federal Court (represented by other lawyers) I was successful in getting his case re-heard and won (with me as counsel). There was a lady from Africa who was appealing the denial or her sponsorship of her husband, and an Ethiopian with AIDS who had lost his Humanitarian application. (I got the Department of Justice to concede at the Federal Court). Across Canada only 10% of applications for judicial review filed at the Federal Court are granted "Leave" (permission to hold a hearing) whereas my success rate in 2005 has been 80%. Most of the judicial review applications I file are referred to me by other lawyers after a refugee, humanitarian or PRRA application they worked on failed. (This does not mean they were bad lawyers, most were very good, but they do not do Federal Court work.) I have had good success with the humanitarian and PRRA cases I filed myself. Across Canada only about 3% of PRRA (pre-removal risk assessments) succeed whereas none of those I have filed have been rejected, so far at least (they have been at the PRRA office for many months. Likewise of the Humanitarian applications I filed, none have been rejected and several have received preliminary approval and we expect final approval.

I cannot make any guarantees or promises. I have had very strong cases rejected and some very weak cases succeed. In the case of one Sudanese man, he was represented at the refugee board by another counsel. The claim was rejected, so was referred to me for judicial review. I was sucessful in getting "Leave" (permission for a hearing at the Federal Court). I won the hearing. The client then went back to his original lawyer for his new refugee case and they made the same mistakes and lost again. Again they asked me to go to Federal Court. I thought the case was hopeless (being the second time around) but I did my usual best effort and again Leave was granted. Again I won at the hearing and again the case has gone back to the refugee board with the original counsel, for the third time, but this time I told them what they had to change to win.

If I think your case is very weak I will tell you. Unless you insist I will not take your money to work for you. I have turned away several people, only to later find out that some were then victimized by unethical consultants or lawyers who made false promises and took the person's money, only to fail. Any lawyer or consultant who promises you success or offers guarantees is either inexperienced or a liar and should be avoided.