OUR TEAM

Leah Sizova is both a qualified solicitor in England and Wales and a Registered Legal Practitioner and Notary Public in the Isle of Man. She works with Kinley Legal’s international clients on matters involving Isle of Man immigration and British nationality, international probate, estate administration and estate planning.

Leah is an Isle of Man notary public, concentrating on the certification of multilingual documents and complex and specialised acts, further supporting the firm’s international focus.

Leah is passionate about entrepreneurship, business concept development and business planning which is a great asset to our clients applying under the Isle of Man Start up and Innovator routes.

Clients

Leah works with clients all over the world, including those from Europe and the Commonwealth, the former Soviet Union and the Far East.

Work record

Matters on which Leah has advised include:

• working with clients from countries including the United States and South Africa to secure Business Migrant (Innovator) letters of endorsement and visas;
• complex entry clearance, extension and Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) applications for entrepreneur, worker migrant and family immigration permissions;
• preparing successful immigration appeals involving points of law, human rights and decision-making practice;
• advising the head of an Asian gaming company on his Isle of Man Tier 1 (Investor) application;
• advising the partners and family of British citizens and Isle of Man permanent residents from the United States, South Africa, China, Ghana, Nigeria, Thailand and the Philippines on immigration applications;
• working with clients from Australia, South Africa and other Commonwealth countries on Isle of Man British Ancestry applications;
• advising individuals and their families from countries including the United States, South Africa, Hong Kong, China, India, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Nigeria and Nepal, on relocation to the Isle of Man as entrepreneurs;
• assisting a person who overstayed her visitor visa due to personal circumstances to obtain full legal immigration status in the Isle of Man in a remarkably short period of time under exceptional provisions (paragraph EX.1); and
• advising international clients on complex Isle of Man probate and estate administration applications.

Previous experience

Prior to joining Kinley Legal, Leah worked in the commercial and group litigation department of Slater & Gordon Lawyers in London. Leah also has experience in financial regulation and white collar crime matters, having previously worked for the UK Financial Conduct Authority in the Enforcement and Financial Crime Division and on high profile cases in international law firms in London including Dechert, Quinn Emanuel and Freshfields.

Qualification

Solicitor (England and Wales) (2017)
Registered Legal Practitioner (Isle of Man) (2017)
Solicitor (Ireland) (2018)
Solicitor (Northern Ireland) (2019)
Notary Public (Isle of Man) (2020)

Education

BA in Commercial law (first class honours) (University of Westminster, 2010)
Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International commercial law (with scholarship) (University of Westminster, 2012)
Graduate Diploma in Law course (BPP Law School, London, 2013)
Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (University of Law, London, 2017)
FAA Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (2022)

Languages

English, Russian (native or bilingual proficiency)

Organisations

Law Society of England and Wales
Law Society of Ireland
Law Society of Northern Ireland
Chartered Institute of Linguists (MCIL, 2016)
Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Affiliate, 2019)
Eurasian Creative Guild