Hackney Community Law Centre

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Our team

Sean Canning - Manager

Sean started his career working in the social housing movement where he began work as a housing worker before becoming Director of An Teach Irish Housing Association, an organisation which specialises in working with young, single homeless people in Haringey. Sean has worked in the Law Centre movement for the last ten years as Director of the North Kensington Law Centre and now Hackney and Camden Law Centre’s. He has extensive experience of fundraising, managing legal aid contracts and developing volunteer programmes.

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Sean was instrumental in setting up the Advice Now project in Kensington and Chelsea – a collaborative £500,000 project funded by the Big Lottery Fund to offer a wider range of all types of advice services.

Sean has been Treasurer of the Law Centres Network for three years (2007-2010) and has served as a member of the Law Centres Network Executive Committee for several years. He is a school governor.

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Sean Canning

Beri Nwosu - Supervising Solicitor Immigration

Beri joined HCLC in October 2018 as supervising solicitor in the Immigration Department. Beri studied law at the University of Lagos and then went to the Nigerian Law School where obtained a 2:1. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1996. She cross qualified as a Solicitor in the UK in 2013.

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Before joining HCLC, Beri worked as a Caseworker at Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ) between 2001 and 2010. At RMJ, Beri was part of the pre-decision team dealing with asylum claims and other applications to the Home Office involving vulnerable minors, victims of trafficking and vulnerable adults.

From 2011, Beri worked at Duncan Lewis Solicitors. At Duncan Lewis, she represented asylum claimants under the Fast Track process and was successful in getting many of her clients off the process. Beri also successfully challenged Home Office decisions through Judicial Review and represented clients in the First Tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and the Court of Appeal. She also supervised a team of trainee solicitors and caseworkers.

Outside of work, Beri's interests include Formula 1 motor racing, football and dancing.

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Beri Nwosu

Kevin Long - Housing Solicitor

Kevin joined the Law Centre in November 2016. He started work in legal aid and social welfare law with Brent Private Tenants’ Rights Group (now Advice for Renters) before qualifying as a solicitor at Lambeth Law Centre. He has worked in immigration, employment and benefit law, but housing is his core area of expertise. He has extensive experience of representing tenants and homeless applicants in all areas of housing law including in the High Court and before the Court of Appeal.

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In 2012 he was nominated in the Guardian’s Lawyer to Watch series. Since 2013 he has been a contributing author for LexisNexis PSL on social housing, is a regular commentator for PSL News Analysis, and was a co-author of LexisNexis ’Social Housing Law in Practice (2015)’. He has written other articles for the Justice Gap, the Guardian, Advisor, and in 2017 appeared on C4’s Dispatches (‘The Great Housing Scandal’).

He has started, and finished, multiple marathons and ultramarathons, and is a Run Director at his local junior parkrun.

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Kevin Long

Beya Rivers - Immigration Solicitor

Beya Rivers

Alex Kidd - Housing Caseworker

Alex Kidd

Izzi Caplin - Social Welfare Paralegal

Izzi Caplin

Izzy Taylor - Social Welfare Paralegal

Izzy Taylor

Alex Kane - Welfare Benefits Caseworker

Alex Kane

 

The solicitors, caseworkers, interns and volunteers are assisted by administrator Kim Sin.