In these troubling and uncertain times, it is with mixed emotions that we announce the retirement of our Senior Partner and namesake, Wesley Gryk.
After 25 years at the helm, and in celebration of his 71st birthday on 12 May 2020, Wesley will be retiring as Senior Partner at Wesley Gryk Solicitors LLP. Fortunately, he will continue to share with us his wisdom on an ongoing basis as an unpaid Consultant.
12 May 2020 will, undoubtedly, be a bittersweet day for the firm as we celebrate the achievements of our founder, who built the firm from scratch into the leading law firm that we are today (see here for a memoir of the early days).
In the past 25 years, Wesley has assisted numerous individual migrant and refugee families from across the world to navigate the bureaucracy of the UK’s immigration system, while more widely championing and promoting the rights of migrants in the UK. His legacy lies not only in the clients he has advised, but also in the generations of immigration solicitors / barristers he has trained along the way and who continue to uphold his exceptional standards of legal advocacy across the field of immigration law. In this period of state overreach, it is more pertinent than ever that we uphold this legacy in striving to maintain the rule of law, civil liberties and human rights.
Wesley’s achievements have been well documented by the Law Society in its recent Minority Report. Wesley is known for his exceptional commitment to his clients, his formidable knowledge across the broad spectrum of immigration law, and for his compassion. In particular, Wesley should be proud of his achievement with respect to the rights of LGBT+ migrants and the role he played in achieving recognition of same-sex relationships in immigration law.
We are not just Wesley’s firm, but also his ‘family’. And like many families right now, we are separated – unable to mark this momentous occasion together with the grandeur it so demands. And with the same commitment that Wesley has shown over the last 25 years to ensure our clients can be together in safety with their families, we will keep battling on remotely as his legacy and in anticipation of coming together again later this year (or perhaps more realistically early next year!) to give Wesley the send off he so truly deserves.
Thank you, Wes.
