Mr. Hadi Hakimi was admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 2010. As a licensed lawyer specializing in immigration and refugee law, he has successfully represented more than 600 immigration applicants and refugee claimants before the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC); Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB); and Federal Court of Canada.
Mr. Hakimi obtained his Juris Doctor (Doctor of Law) from the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa. He holds an LL.L. (bachelor’s degree) in Civil Law & Islamic Law from the Faculty of Law at Shiraz University in Iran—where he graduated first in his class. He also holds an LL.M. (master’s degree) in Private Law from the Faculty of Law at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, Iran. Mr. Hakimi defended his master’s dissertation with perfect marks—the first such distinction in the law school’s history.
Mr. Hakimi has worked with various organizations on immigration and refugee matters including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He has also developed and taught law courses at international universities. Mr. Hakimi has been a member of the Afghanistan Independent Bar Association since 2008.
Born in Afghanistan, Mr. Hakimi has lived in several countries and is familiar with different cultures. He speaks English, Farsi and Dari (all dialects), Pashto and Urdu. Mr. Hakimi has been involved in numerous community service initiatives for more than three decades.
In addition to his experience and command of Canadian immigration and refugee law, Mr. Hakimi is an expert on Afghan and Iranian law. He has spoken on legal issues and written legal op-eds for media including the Persian service of the BBC.