Meet the Team
Our Legal Team at Amnesty Solicitors
Neveen Galal - Principal Solicitor
Neveen is the founder of Amnesty Solicitors. She has over 20 years experiences in immigration law and human rights. Neveen qualified as a solicitor in July 2005 shortly after completing her her legal studies. She is recognised in Who’s Who of Britains Business Elite. Prior to setting up Amnesty Solicitors, Neveen held a senior managerial position as Director and Head of Department at one of the countries largest law firms, where she specialised in immigration law. Neveen was one of the first solicitors to successfully challenge the detained fast-track scheme against the UK government in 2005.
In October 2015 she founded Amnesty Solicitors, a boutique law firm in the heart of the city of London. The firm focussing on all aspects of personal and business immigration, family law and wills and probate. She has an impressive success rate of winning immigration appeals, particularly in unusual and complex cases. She has successfully challenged the UK Home Office on cases including victims of trafficking and refugees, delays, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, procedural irregularity by the Home Office, investors and statelessness. As an appeal court advocate, Neveen has considerable experience of conducting advocacy before the Courts and Tribunals and at Judicial Review, including successfully judicially reviewing the Ministry of Justice.
Neveen is passionate about supporting minority groups in communities, particularly those who are vulnerable and may have suffered gender-based violence, domestic violence or people trafficking, to make sure their voice is heard and their rights are respected.
Neveen provides bespoke residence and citizenship solutions to High Net Worth clients across the Globe.
Her immigration advisory services are predominantly geared towards highly skilled workers and companies wishing to relocate to the UK.
Neveen also won the Outstanding Achievement Award as part of the Westminster Alumni Awards in 2021.
Manjit Kaur Gill - Partner and Head of Family Law
Manjit is a Partner and Head of the Family Department at Amnesty Solicitors. Manjit has a wealth of experience in all aspects of Family Law and is recognised as a well-rounded lawyer being able to show compassion and empathy to her clients, whilst remaining robust in her approach with opponents, to obtain the best possible outcome for her clients.
Manjit was the first Turban (Dastaar) Sikh lady to qualify as a Solicitor in England in 1995. Manjit was the founder of the successful Law Firm, MK Gill Solicitors in 2002 and over nearly a 30-year career, has earned a national reputation in her community as an expert Family Solicitor and Family Mediator. Manjit has maintained a very high standard of service throughout her career, hence, her clients are mostly recommended to her by previous clients who have been pleased with the way that she has dealt with their case.
Her growing reputation allowed her to build up not only a nationwide client base but also a global one as she advised clients from all walks of life, including homemakers, businessmen/women, and clients from different professional backgrounds. She has expertise in advising clients with complex and substantial assets including offshore trusts, properties, company shareholdings and other business assets as well as finding undisclosed assets in the UK and abroad.
Manjit has also acted for parents, grandparents and other family members in cases regarding child arrangements and contact issues, including complex child arrangements matters involving safeguarding issues, allegations of sexual assault, abuse, child’s religion and abduction.
As a highly passionate and self-motivated individual, Manjit not only has a progressive attitude to succeed, but also to exceed clients’ expectations by going the “extra mile”. Manjit attends court regularly to advocate as she is a confident and astute advocate, who is instructed to represent her clients at court in relation to both Child Arrangements and Financial remedy matters.
With a successful track record and a professional manner, Manjit prides herself in delivering a bespoke service to each of her clients, focusing on their individual needs and the specific dynamics of their situation whether that be by negotiating a settlement outside of the court process or robustly and influentially litigating whilst at court.
As Manjit is also a Family Mediator and a Child Inclusive Mediator, she believes having a pragmatic, balanced Solicitor who sees the advantage of taking a non-adversarial approach can greatly increase the chances of obtaining a resolution without the need to revert the matter to court and will ensure any referral to mediation to assist in the process is seen by the client as natural progression of the case. It is through her years of rigorous analysis and preparation which has enabled her to hone these skills, much to the benefit of her clients.
Memberships
She has been recognised for her talents as Family Lawyer and has been a member of the Law Society’s Family Law Panel since 2000, which is an accreditation scheme for Lawyers who have demonstrated special knowledge and experience in handling the complexities of divorce and separation. In addition, Manjit is a member of Resolution which is an organisation of Solicitors who provide a constructive and a non-confrontational approach to family law matters who believe that family law disputes should be dealt with in a way designed to preserve people’s dignity and encourage agreement between the parties. Manjit is also an Accredited Family Mediator and an Accredited Child Inclusive Mediator with the Family Mediation Council.
Expertise
Manjit’s expertise is wide ranging and covers:
- Divorce.
- Financial Settlements.
- Complex Family & Matrimonial Matters including those with an international element.
- Full range of Financial Remedy cases involving both “big money” and “small money” cases.
- Freezing Orders.
- Domestic violence and Injunctions.
- Children Issues.
- Grandparents’ rights.
- Long and/or short marriages.
- Marriages involving a spouse from abroad.
- Children Matters including Child Arrangement Orders under s.8 of the Children Act 1989 and emergency and enforcement applications.
- Prenuptial Agreements.
- Postnuptial Agreements.
- Separation Agreements.
- Cohabiting Couples and Civil Partnership matters.
- Fixed fee Family Services.
- Family Mediation including MIAMS (Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings).
- Child Inclusive Mediation to help the child through divorce/separation by giving “a voice” and an opportunity to share their worries and concerns.
Mrs Gill has a wealth of experience in all aspects of family law and has also obtained many positive outcomes for her clients involving International Divorces and Asian marriages, especially with regards to religious marriages, dowries and cultural issues. She has often been praised by the District Judges in the Kent County Courts, for her preparation and high-quality representation.
In addition to the above, Manjit has extensive experience in complex immigration cases interlinking Family issues, which has provided her with the requisite knowledge and experience needed to achieve all her clients’ objectives.
She has been instructed on a matter before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), which is the Superior Court of Record in the UK dealing with cases of National Security. The immigration conducted also involved Human Rights including respect for private and family life and matters relating to persons deprived of British Citizenship. As well as achieving a successful outcome for her client before SIAC, Mrs Gill has also been successful in many other high profile immigration cases involving family law issues, asylum matters, nationality decisions and policy matters, including human rights issues and applicability of EU Law.
This has included Judicial Reviews, Statutory Review, Appeals before the First-Tier and Upper Tribunals and appeals to the Court of Appeal.
Notable cases involving complex and novel issues, of high political sensitivity included the following:
- BB v SSHD: SC/26/2003 – Challenge to the decision of the Entry Clearance Officer to refuse re-entry to an Indian National resident in the UK on the basis of national security. The matter involved was conceded before it went to court on the basis of representations made.
- Challenge to the Secretary of Sates’ Domestic Violence Policy now part of the Immigration Rules. Matter was conceded on basis of representations made.
- Judicial Review challenge to the Secretary of State’s decision to remove Students and Spouses in breach with Immigration Policy.
- Challenge to the Secretary of Sates’ decision to refuse a client’s claim for asylum. The client was the victim of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone and faced the very real threat of FGM being re-performed on her and for the first time on her daughter. The matter went to appeal before the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-Tier Tribunal where the Secretary of States’ decision was successfully overturned on the basis of representations made.
- Representing clients in child matter cases involving abduction to a non-Hague convention country and cases where jurisdiction is an issue.
- Advising a wife in a limited asset cases where there were issues of domestic violence and sexual assault/rape.
- Representing various clients in short and long marriages in financial remedy proceedings involving high net worth assets including residential, commercial, and international properties involving company valuation and tax issues.
- Successfully representing parents as interveners in their son’s financial proceedings concerning disputes as to beneficial interest in high-net-worth assets including residential and commercial properties purchased as a family.
Outside of work
Manjit enjoys music and plays various musical instruments. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling abroad, countryside walks, art, poetry, reading and spending time with her family and friends.
Nino Cuffaro - Private Client Solicitor
Nino is a qualified private client solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, an Affiliate Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and an elected member of the Law Society Council for the Small Law Firms Division. With an earlier background in accountancy and financial services, Nino is able to draw on personal experiences in business when advising his clients. Nino advises individuals, families and trustees in private client matters, including inheritance tax, capital gains tax and succession planning, private wealth structuring for high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals, helping his clients to put in place effective strategies to manage the long term stability and integrity of their estates.
As well as life time planning, Nino advises executors and trustees on post death planning, probate matters and the administration of estates. Nino also advises trustees, settlors and beneficiaries on the creation, administration and the governance of trusts and their taxation, as well as acting for international clients with real estate holdings in the UK. Nino acts as a professional executor and trustee and, has been appointed as an independent solicitor where estate conflicts arise.
Nino advises both UK and international clients on capital taxes and exemptions, and reliefs such as business, agricultural and charity reliefs.
As well as non contentious matters, Nino advises on contentious probate disputes, including removal of recalcitrant executors and has advised on complex issues such as disputes over who has burial rights in relation to a deceased person.
With a wealth of prior experience in the care sector, assisting families and vulnerable adults with their social care needs mental capacity challenges, Nino advises on matters concerning cognitive function, ranging from aggressive dementia to minor cerebral challenges, and general mental capacity issues, and offers advice on professional drafting and registration of lasting powers of attorney
Nino acts for families, advising on the protection of vulnerable persons and their decisions regarding both property and financial affairs and, health and welfare matters, and offers legal advice on Court of Protection deputyship applications. Nino has also advised clients who have been awarded large personal injury claims, the creation on personal injury and disabled trusts, and can act as a professional deputy.
Many of Nino’s clients have complex needs and he collaborates with colleagues across the firm, and his extensive network of financial advisers and accountants, to ensure his clients receive tailored solutions according to their needs.
