Appeals and SRA Warning Notice

When acting on any matter where there is an appeals process, you want to have the option to decide if you wish to help with an appeal. Accordingly, you should expressly exclude appeals from the scope of your engagements. It's important you have the choice as to taking on the appeal. Not only so you can manage your workload and provide a price, but also because there will be some appeals that you should be uncomfortable in running. The SRA addressed this in their Warning Notice. You should not take on an appeal if it has no realistic prospect of success, is bound to fail, or is totally without merit. You should also decline where the appeal would simply waste the court's time or amount to an abuse of the court system.

The SRA Warning Notice is something all immigration lawyers will already know, but it is worth periodically rereading. For example, it gives a reminder that our role is not just to run the immigration process, but we must give merits advice on the proposed course of action first and before being instructed to pursue any given course of action.

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