Laura also said she would like to wholeheartedly thank her family, clients, friends and sector colleagues for their unwavering support throughout her career in law.
Laura Smith Shortlisted for Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2025
JCWI is extremely delighted to announce that our Co-Legal Director and Supervising Solicitor, Laura Smith, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2025 (LALY 25) awards in the Asylum & Immigration category.
The Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) describe this award as “an unashamed celebration of the work of lawyers on the social justice frontline. It is the close links to the profession’s grassroots that make the LALYs so special, and unlike any other legal awards. The LALYs are unique and distinct because the lawyers we celebrate are unlike any others across the entire legal profession. Legal aid tends to attract those who are not just exceptional lawyers but exceptionally courageous and compassionate human beings.”
Laura joined the legal sector in 2009. For 16 years, she has been fighting for the rights of migrants and asylum seekers, focusing on cases others would often deem without merit, that are not factually or procedurally straightforward, and winning. She has been a vocal advocate for legal aid, without which access to justice cannot exist within our legal system.
Throughout this nomination process, people have come from every sphere to support Laura’s nomination – clients, Counsel, King’s Counsel, medico-legal experts, country experts, academics, journalists, and sector colleagues – all leaders in their fields, recognising Laura’s immense contribution to legal aid in immigration and asylum.
Laura represents clients at every stage of their claims without hesitation. She successfully secured entry clearance for clients who were stuck in limbo in Rwanda and Diego Garcia. She has won countless cases for asylum seekers from Iran, Syria, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Sudan, and beyond.
Laura works tirelessly to secure justice for her clients and advocates for the most vulnerable in society. She runs the legal department at JCWI with integrity, compassion, and professionalism. Her colleagues are extremely proud of her achievement.
Enny Choudhury, Co-Legal Director at JCWI said ‘Laura is an incredible lawyer, showing true solidarity with the people she represents. The deep care and patience with which she treats clients, recognising how other elements of their lives are intertwined with their immigration status, and never giving up until every avenue has been explored, and beyond, which were reflected in the client testimonials. This is a much-deserved recognition of our very own legal aid legend.’
Sandrina Dulapandan, the Legal Assistant at JCWI said ‘Laura is my supervisor at JCWI. Laura doesn’t just support us to be the next generation of legal aid lawyers; she trains us to be compassionate human beings at the same time to be courageous. Importantly, she leads us by example’
Laura Smith, Co-Legal Director & Supervising Solicitor, JCWII'm delighted to have been nominated by my colleagues and clients and shortlisted by LAPG. It's such a privilege to be a legal aid lawyer and always so gratifying to work with our clients and help them secure stability against the wishes of a hostile state. The awards are a chance to celebrate the work of our sector and highlight all the amazing, low-profile work that goes on, and I am extremely proud to be a part of it.