Profile: Philip Barth

He has more than 20 years' experience of immigration and nationality law and practice and has been consistently recommended by the Legal 500 and Chambers directories as a leading practitioner in this field.

He advises national, multinational and foreign corporates, SMEs and 'start-ups' from all business sectors on work permits, sole representative visas and related issues. He also advises individuals, particularly investors, businesspersons, innovators and entertainers, and has also assisted many clients from all over the world in securing visas under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. He has particular expertise in obtaining approvals in all types of cases that do not meet the criteria of the relevant legislation and has handled many cases at the cutting edge of UK and European immigration and human rights law.

He has also successfully helped many clients naturalise as British citizens in circumstances where they did not meet the statutory requirements and needed discretionary treatment and has successfully fought on behalf of clients numerous immigration and human rights appeals before the Asylum & Immigration Tribunal and in Judicial Review proceedings before the High Court.

Philip lectures and contributes to publications regularly. He is a member of the Law Society. He is the immediate past treasurer of the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association and is co-chairman of its business and employment sub-committee. He was involved in consultations with government departments in the development of the Innovator and the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme categories and was the only non-political member of the Immigration Commission set up in 2004 by Timothy Kirkhope MEP (a former minister for immigration at the Home Office) to review the UK immigration system.

Born in 1956, Philip attended Magdalene College, Cambridge University (MA degree) 1974-78, was admitted as a solicitor in 1982, was a partner in Fladgate Fielder from 1987-1998, was a partner at Mishcon de Reya from 1998-2004 and joined Penningtons as a partner in October 2004 to head up its immigration and nationality practice.

Penningtons is a commercial law firm based with offices in the City of London, Basingstoke, Godalming and Newbury, and also in Paris. Penningtons' legal services cover a range of specialist areas including corporate and commercial, banking and finance, litigation, property, private client, intellectual property, employment, immigration, personal injury and family.

Penningtons is the founder member of the European Law Group, an association of 12 law firms in most member states of the European Union, Norway and Switzerland. The firm is also a member of Multilaw, an association of 56 independent firms in 44 countries worldwide.