Ivon Sampson CEO, Principal Solicitor and Head of Immigration

Ivon is a specialist Business and Private Client Immigration partner. He has almost 20 years’ experience in advising clients. His clients are primarily UK companies and individuals from sports, music, theatre, films and entertainment industry.

In addition, he advises UK Universities to assist their students to obtain student visas, obtain extensions and advise on reviews.

Ivon also advises UK companies who wish to obtain a sponsorship license, manage the obligations the companies have to the Home Office, and UK companies that wish to transfer workers from a branch office to the UK.

Ivon’s reputation in immigration law is such that he is regularly referred by other law firms.

Ivon is a true expert and regularly appears on the news and radio to advise on immigration law.

Jean Paul-De-Costa

Jean-Paul da Costa heads up our Corporate & Commercial practice. A qualified solicitor, barrister, notary public and commercial mediator, with more than 33 years’ experience, Jean-Paul acts as legal counsel and business advisor to a wide range of both UK and international clients.

Jean-Paul specialises in: mergers and acquisitions, asset sales and purchases, and corporate restructuring; MBOs/MBIs; corporate finance; all aspects of general company law work, including the formation and administration of UK and offshore corporate structures, shareholders agreements and advising directors and shareholders; commercial law covering domestic and international business agreements, particularly in relation to JVs, international trade and exploitation of intellectual property; partnerships and LLPs; all non-contentious areas of employment law, executive remuneration and incentives; franchising; all nareas of IP law, including IP licenses, registrations and protection; charity law, including formations, mergers and restructuring; notarial work and commercial mediation.

A tough and pragmatic negotiator, he is also a qualified commercial mediator, and is regularly involved in resolving commercial, shareholder and board disputes.

Amgad Amgad

Amgad is a qualified Egyptian lawyer who graduated from the Faculty of Law in Cairo University in 2005. He started his career with Weil, Gotshal and Manages LLP in affiliation with Sarwat Abdel Shaid law firm. He then moved to work for Chase Manhattan, a commercial international bank.

Amgad achieved a Masters in International Business Law from Queen Mary University of London in 2010. He then worked with leading law firms in Turkey and Dubai before he moved to the UK and started his banking experience with major firms and banks specialising in Derivatives, Islamic Finance, Financial Crimes, and Money Laundering..

Cyprian Amgbah Head of Immigration

Cyprian is an experienced Immigration Specialist/Consultant/Adviser who is in charge of our immigration department at PRIVATUS. He is also qualified as a Level 3 OISC accredited Immigration Consultant with over 20 years’ experience providing advice and representation in all areas of Immigration, Asylum, Human Rights Law and European Union law. He is also a qualified Barrister and Solicitor of the Nigerian Supreme Court. His appointment in March 2022 at Privatus brings a strength and depth to the firm which both compliments and enhances the firm’s service offering in the field of Immigration Law. Cyprian regularly appears at the First Tier Tribunal, undertaking advocacy and litigation on behalf of clients in person on cases ranging from business immigration, entry clearance and deportation appeals. He has a particular expertise in appeals beyond first instance level at the Upper Tribunal, successfully representing clients on complex matters of evidential admissibility and leading case law. Read more

Cyprian’s unrelenting determination to win every case is backed up by an enviable work ethic, attention to detail and rich legal knowledge.

Cyprian is a well-known speaker at immigration seminars in churches and community organisations. He runs training for people interested in qualifying as immigration advisers, and is regularly invited to speak domestically and abroad on immigration, refugee and human rights law issues.

Cyprian initially qualified as a solicitor in 2001. He re-trained and qualified as a specialist immigration adviser in 2010. Cyprian’s former posts include Solicitor at O’Keefe Solicitors, Managing Partner at Christchurch Solicitors, a post he held for five years, Senior Immigration Adviser at Miller and Co Solicitors. He is also a Consultant Immigration Adviser to UK Law Associates Ltd (OISC) and various other firms that requires his expertise knowledge in Immigration Law.

Andre Taylor-Morris Consultant Solicitor

Andre is a Commercial & IP lawyer. Andre trained as a Barrister before requalifying as a Solicitor in 2017. He was called to the Bar at Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. Andre holds Master's Degrees from the University of Oxford and City, University of London, and recently contributed to the Chapter on Contracting for Cloud Services in a Fintech Law Book to be published by the Oxford University Press. He is well versed in contract law, including those related to technology (SaaS, Cloud, Outsourcing, etc.), general commercial negotiations, technology-related M&A, and IP law. Andre was most recently a Senior Counsel at JP Morgan Chase & Co, where he spent three years, and an Associate Director at Deloitte Legal (Deloitte’s law firm arm). Additionally, he has experience consulting on GDPR/UK GDPR compliance projects. Advising on international data transfer and privacy notices, negotiated and drafted data processor agreements, and advised on marketing and e-Privacy issues, both from in-house and private practice backgrounds. Read more

As a commercial lawyer, Andre is entrepreneurial, innovative, and commercially savvy in his approach to serving his clients; he prides himself on providing innovative and creative solutions specific to the issues at hand.

Areas Of Expertise

Commercial Agreements

IT/Technology related agreements (outsourcing, procurement, licensing, development, and maintenance);

Franchising and Distribution Agreements

FinTech

Joint Ventures

Shareholders Agreements

IP advice and agreements relating to the use and ownership of all types of content;

Sourcing of goods and services,

Outsourcing arrangements;

Business Immigration, including Home Office Sponsorship licences; and

Tech-related M&A and Joint Ventures.

Andre lives in Notting Hill with his mischievous and high-energy Labradoodle, Hendricks, and is a keen tennis player.

Harry Sherrard

Harry Sherrard heads our employment law department and has been a specialist employment lawyer for over 20 years.

Harry is a renowned true expert in employment law and is recognised as such in Chambers and the Legal 500.

Harry writes and lectures widely on employment law issues and has conducted numerous training programmes for clients throughout the UK. He is the author of two books on employment law and is a non-executive director of the Sussex Chamber of Commerce.

Harry has participated in motorsport for over 30 years, including racing in the Goodwood Revival.

Leen Al Najjab Trainee Solicitor

Leen recently graduated from University College London (UCL) after completing her masters in Law (LLM) with distinction. Her modules focused on Dispute Resolution and Commercial Law. During her time at UCL, Leen was involved in the internal Mooting Competition with the Faculty of Law, making it to the final round.

Leen received her LLB from the University of Reading and graduated with a strong 2:1 after achieving a first in her final year. Leen was awarded the College of Law Pro Bono Prize for achieving the highest grade in the Pro Bono Professional Placement module, writing about the impact of sanctions on the commercial world. During her time at the University of Reading, Leen was involved in the Lacrosse Society and was also the President of the Model United Nations (MUN) Society. During her presidency, she led the society to achieve the “Best Student Society” award.

Leen is a trainee solicitor at Privatus Law.