Time for a quick one
I WAS surprised today to see a post on LinkedIn from a good friend of mine, immigration lawyer Usman Aslam, which showed him smiling from Page 23 of Friday’s The National, announcing that he is going solo.
I knew had had been actively considering the move, so I wrote the story a couple of weeks back. The surprising thing though was that he described me on LinkedIn as a ‘legend’, which I found quite flattering.
I know one doesn’t have to be dead to be described as a legend, but most of those I recall from my younger days were indeed deceased, or at least most of the way there.
Anyway, I thought it was very kind of Usman, who is now trading under his own name – Usman Solicitors Ltd – from an office in the middle of Glasgow City in West Regent Street.
He is among the best immigration lawyers Scotland has. Demand has soared over the past decade with the UK Home Office’s ‘hostile environment’ (and the shaven-headed knuckle draggers’ behaviour) neither of which are showing any sign of letting up.
In the dozen or so years Usman and I have known each other we have taken the odd tipple and entertained each other with some of the odd, exciting and quite sad tales from our respective careers.
Alas, many of these anecdotes refer to people who are still with us, so I fear they will have to remain hidden for the foreseeable future.
And I wish him all the best with his new enterprise.