Denisa is a qualified solicitor, European Roma woman originally from the Czech Republic. She is the first qualified solicitor of European Roma origins in the UK, she qualified in 2018.
She worked for the Central England Law Centre (CELC) from 2016 to 2023, training as a solicitor at CELC through the Justice First Fellowship (JFF) scheme funded by the Legal Education Foundation. At CELC, Denisa worked with victims of domestic violence and children, helping to save them from abuse. Denisa has experience in housing; defending possession orders and protecting tenants facing evictions at the courts. She also has experience helping people with debt issues.
Since 2019, Denisa has worked in immigration, working on complex EU Settlement Scheme cases helping vulnerable EU citizens to gain legal status in the UK. She has experience working with homeless people, children in care, elderly people, people with various mental and physical disabilities, Roma people, victims of domestic violence, and victims of human trafficking. She also has experience of giving legal advice to non-EU family members of EU nationals.
Before joining the JFF, Denisa worked for the AIRE Centre in London as their Roma Legal Officer, working on a project which aims to help tackle discrimination against Roma migrants in the UK by identifying and eliminating barriers faced by them when accessing their rights as European citizens. Also, identifying strategic litigation which might lead to positive changes in legislation that effects EU migrants.
Denisa joined PILC in September 2023 to strengthen the position of vulnerable tenants that face housing issues by pursuing litigation, and to educate vulnerable communities about their rights as tenants. This work includes the education of other non-profit and charity workers and advocates, giving them useful tools and training that enable them to support their service users with housing issues.
