yanni@edelmann.ca

Mahdi Yanni Nicolidakis-Mustafa is a passionate advocate with broad litigation experience, including human rights, immigration, refugee, criminal, and constitutional law. He joined Edelmann and Co. in 2025 after clerking with the Court of Appeal for British Columbia. He previously completed his articles with the Community Legal Assistance Society, a public interest law firm serving British Columbia. Prior to joining Edelmann and Co., he represented clients in human rights, workers’ rights, housing, mental health law, and constitutional matters before various administrative tribunals and the B.C. Supreme Court.

Since joining the firm, he has represented clients in immigration detention and those facing imminent removal from Canada, those navigating the refugee claim process, along with complex immigration matters before multiple levels of the Immigration Refugee Board and before the Federal Court of Canada.

Coming from a diverse immigrant family with Palestinian and Greek roots, he is grateful for the opportunity to help people who are trying to create better life for themselves and their families in Canada. From the moment Yanni first began pursuing his Juris Doctor from the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, he acted for vulnerable groups, providing compassionate and trauma-informed legal services while working tirelessly to give a voice to the voiceless. You can read more about his time before being called to the bar here.

With his experience, Yanni’s practice is centered around challenging cases that intersect with various areas of law, with a special focus on migrants who are experiencing abuse or discrimination, and those who are facing imminent removal from Canada.

Yanni is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, the Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section, and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.