We are delighted to welcome Nadia O'Mara, Georgie Rea and Will Hanson who have joined Garden Court Chambers as pupils.
Nadia O'Mara looks to develop a broad practice in public law, human rights, immigration and asylum, and community care under the supervision of Nicola Braganza, Mark Symes and Sam Robinson QC.
Georgie Rea is hoping to build a broad public law practice, specialising in human rights, immigration, and modern slavery. Her pupillage is supervised by Rebecca Chapman, Stephen Simblet QC and Sam Parham.
Will Hanson plans to build a broad practice in criminal defence, including related areas of public law and human rights and is supervised by Tom Wainwright and Emma Fenn.
Nadia O'Mara (2018)
Prior to pupillage, Nadia worked in Lesvos, Greece with the Legal Centre Lesvos (LCL) and Refugee Legal Support (RLS), providing legal assistance on asylum claims and family reunification applications. She worked on several successful applications for interim measures to the ECtHR regarding access to medical treatment and adequate living conditions. She has worked extensively with children and adults at risk, including victims of trafficking, torture and gender-based violence.
Before coming to the Bar, Nadia worked in policy and campaigns with leading human rights organisations including Liberty and JUSTICE. At Liberty, Nadia led work on Government plans to weaken the Human Rights Act 1998 and limit access to judicial review. She also worked on torture accountability, privacy and mass surveillance, migrants’ rights, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller rights.
Nadia taught public law at UCL, was the Assistant News Editor at Just Security, and is an IAAS qualified senior immigration caseworker. She has volunteered with organisations including the Hackney Community Law Centre, Akwaaba and the Free Representation Unit. Nadia was awarded the Laura Devine prize for best performance in human rights at LSE. She was also awarded scholarships from Inner Temple and City Law School to fund the BPTC. Her work in Greece was supported by an Internship Award from Inner Temple.
Georgie Rea (2019)
After completing her BPTC, Georgie assisted in the Cabinet of Judge Christopher Vajda at the European Court of Justice, summarising pleadings, conducting comparative law research, and editing academic publications.
She has legal experience in both the public and private sector, having worked as a paralegal for the Government Legal Department and for the Immigration Team at Payne Hicks Beach. As well as producing legal research and opinions, Georgie has assisted in drafting representations and grounds for claims in asylum, judicial review, and extradition.
Georgie is a passionate lawyer linguist and has undertaken human rights volunteering in various jurisdictions, including Togo, Morocco, India, and Greece. Most recently, she provided legal support to individuals claiming asylum in Athens.
Will Hanson
Prior to commencing pupillage, Will was a Solicitor Advocate at a city firm, where he developed a varied practice. Will’s experience includes cases involving fraud and asset tracing, money laundering, bribery and corruption, as well as litigation in the areas of asylum, extradition, and human rights.
Will is committed to pro bono work and promoting access to justice. He has volunteered for numerous advice centres and pro bono projects, through which he has assisted vulnerable clients with a range of issues, from bankruptcy and homelessness to child abuse and domestic violence.
Will recently led a project where he and a team of lawyers worked with the charity Kids in Need of Defense to prepare immigration applications for undocumented and vulnerable migrant children. He has on several occasions volunteered on death row in Louisiana, USA, where he assisted defence attorneys with their clients’ capital appeals. Will continues to provide training to prospective death row volunteers.
