Who? Martin Howe, 48-year-old senior partner of west London immigration and human rights practice Howe & Co.


Why is he in the news? He helped win the right to settle in the UK for Tul Bahadur Pun, an 84-year-old former Gurkha rifleman and holder of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in the Second World War.



Mr Pun had applied to move from Nepal to the UK so as to have access to better medical services. The Home Office rejected his application on the grounds that, although decorated for military services to this country while serving in the British army, he could not demonstrate strong ties with the UK.



More than 21,000 people have so far protested this decision by signing a petition on the Downing Street website calling on the prime minister to give British citizenship not only to Mr Pun, but to all Gurkha servicemen and their immediate families. The public pressure was sufficient to persuade immigration minister Liam Byrne to reverse the decision.



Background: Mr Howe read law at Sheffield University before moving on to the College of Law in Chester for Law Society finals. He completed articles with Keeble Hawson in Sheffield and returned to London in 1986. Five years later he founded Howe & Co.



Route to the case: Referrral from another solicitor.



Thoughts on the case: 'It was an outrageous decision to refuse him permission to settle here after the commitment and sacrifices he and his fellow Gurkhas had shown in the jungles of Burma.



'We decided to appeal the decision but, warned by the embassy in Kathmandu that he was likely to be refused again, we launched a public campaign via the Internet as well. We sent emails to our contacts, asking them to pass on the message to their contacts. We made sure that the newspapers, TV and radio knew the story. And we set up our own website: www.vchero.co.uk, which has attracted support from the public and the armed services. As a result, MPs were bombarded by thousands of emails from their constituents.



'As lawyers, we are proud to have turned around a situation where the law itself may have been unable to help. The campaign now continues on behalf of the 2,000 outstanding cases concerning other Gurkhas who have also served this country so well.'



Dealing with the media: 'The media was very supportive in bringing our campaign to the attention of the public and reporting its success. The public has shown more affection and gratitude to the Gurkhas than to any other ethnic group in my experience.'



Jonathan Rayner