Solicitor advocate Victoria Welsh has joined Laytons ETL as a
partner to establish a new immigration law practice at the City of London-based
international commercial law firm.
The immigration offering will sit within the firm’s
international human resources department. It will work with corporate clients
seeking to bring in talent from overseas, start-up businesses and organisations
that wish to expand into the UK, and private clients, including high net worth
individuals and investors, who require personal immigration support.
The practice will help clients with all aspects of the
points-based immigration system and sponsor licensing regime, including
compliance and the implications of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures,
restructurings and joint ventures.
Other services will include strategic immigration workforce
planning, including process development, managing business changes and global
events, advice on right to work checks and illegal working, and preparation
for, and assistance with, Home Office compliance audits. The Immigration Law
practice will also advise clients on eligibility and applications for
individual UK work, family and visit visas, as well as settlement and British
nationality.
Mrs Welsh, who has specialised in advising companies and high
net worth individuals on immigration matters for more than a decade, joins
Laytons ETL from the London office of the immigration firm Fragomen LLP, where
she was a senior associate. She joined Fragomen in 2020, prior to which she
worked for Magrath Sheldrick, where she qualified as a solicitor advocate.
Laytons ETL has a particularly high-profile practice advising
on multi-jurisdiction matters, and has an active client base in Europe, the US,
and the Middle and Far East. It has since 2021 been part of the ETL GLOBAL
network, an international professional services network which employs 20,000
people across 50 countries.
The firm is also a member of the International Practice
Group, which includes members of a wide range of professions, and the
international lawyers’ network Libralex. It has a number of “best friend”
relationships with overseas law firms across a wide range of jurisdictions, and
many of Laytons ETL’s partners and solicitors are fully bilingual in a range of
languages.
Mrs Welsh said, 'I am excited to be joining Laytons ETL and
bringing an immigration practice area to the already full range of services the
firm offers. Strong synergies and a widely varied client base form the ideal
platform for me to build a complete immigration service.
'Following the numerous changes in government immigration
policy in recent years, the timing is ideal for me to be adding to Laytons
ETL’s offerings, as well as laying the foundations for the next stage of my
career. The culture and growth strategy at Laytons ETL aligns with my own, and
the ETL Global network offers exciting opportunities for further growth.'
Michael Kashis, who himself joined Laytons ETL as managing
partner this April, explained that establishing an immigration offering, and
tightly integrating it within the firm’s existing international employment
practice, was the next logical step in cementing Laytons ETL’s role as a
leading London firm serving international mid-market companies and their senior
management.
Welcoming Mrs Welsh to the firm, he said, 'As part of our full-service offering, Laytons ETL has consistently sought to remain ahead of our national and international clients’ needs. Given the growing talent management demands our clients are facing, we are pleased to be able offer them our new Immigration Law service to help them meet these challenges and allow them to focus on building their businesses, taking full advantage of all the commercial opportunities they might wish to explore.'
