At Court
Magistrates' / Youth Court
If it's not bad enough having the degrading experience of being investigated you may find yourself charged or summonsed for criminal offences. Whether you have been to court before or not it is still a scary place to go if you are the accused. We are not scared because we appear in court every day. That is what we do. We have a vast experience of defending in the courtroom. Our advocates have a broad range of experience ranging from general crime to specialist fraud cases, from simple motoring to murder cases. Our lawyers have successfully represented thousands of people. We can help you too.
Courts can be old fashioned places filled with rules and practices that are not easy to understand. Those rules and practices are based on hundreds of years of cases, precedents, statutes, guidelines and interpretations going all the way back to the Magna Carta signed by King John at Runnymede in 1215.
The language of the court has evolved over many years and you will hear English, French or Latin terms with meanings peculiar to the legal system. What is a recognizance; a Voire Dire; or a prima facie case? Members of the public attending courts may as well be in a different country speaking a different language.
You will need help to understand these surroundings. We pride ourselves on being the best. We will make sense of what is happening to you. We can guide you; we can tell you what it all means. We can even tell you where to sit, when to stand, how you should refer to people and anything else you need to know. We aim to remove the fear and uncertainty of these unfamiliar surroundings and best of all, at the same time we will be doing our utmost to make sure that you have the best outcome in you case.
Our vast courtroom experience is at your service. We will protect and defend you.
We do not just represent the guilty. We protect the innocent. Either way we will champion your Rights. We ensure that there are no miscarriages of justice.
Crown Court
If your case has ended up in the Crown Court then you are in a serious situation. The Crown Court primarily deals with all indictable cases, which are grave offences triable before a judge and jury. These include murder, rape, assault causing grievous bodily harm, conspiracy, fraud, robbery, and many others. It may also deal with cases that can be dealt with in the magistrates' court but which in the particular circumstances of your case are considered to be too serious for their sentencing powers. In some cases magistrates' courts can send the case to the Crown Court where the Judge could pass a more severe sentence than the magistrates could have passed.
As you will appreciate in a situation where the stakes are high and the where the consequences could be dire, the best representation is needed. That is what we provide.
We have specialist Higher Court Advocates and engage hand selected Barristers to appear in Crown Court cases for our clients.
In many respects it could be said that cases are won because of the preparation prior to the start of the case. This is where we are second to none. We have dedicated Crown Court case workers, all of whom are specialists who tirelessly manage the case and support the advocate up to the conclusion of the proceedings.
Our lawyers have successfully represented thousands of people. We can help you too.
We do not just represent the guilty. We protect the innocent. Either way we will champion your Rights. We ensure that there are no miscarriages of justice.
Crown Court Advocacy
Our firm has a number of Higher Court Advocates who can and do appear in the Crown Court. These are specialist advocate solicitors of significant experience and reputation.
Our size and reputation means that we have first choice of the very best barristers. These men and women along with our own Higher Court Advocates are available to provide the best representation for you.
Appeal Court
Sometimes things do go wrong. Sometimes people are convicted when they should not be. Sometimes people receive longer sentences than they should do. Sometimes we need to appeal decisions. This is a highly technical area because in the highest courts you can only appeal where a Judge has misapplied the law. It is an area in which most solicitors rarely become involved because it is sometimes difficult to get legal aid to pursue the appeal.
We do not shy away from this work, we have experts who have taken cases which have been lost by other firms of solicitors and we have successfully won them in the Court of Appeal. We regularly instruct barristers who appear before the Law Lords on points which need to be reconsidered and who are not afraid to say that the previous Judge simply got it wrong.
Our lawyers have successfully represented thousands of people. We can help you too. We do not just represent the guilty. We protect the innocent. Either way we will champion your Rights. We ensure that there are no miscarriages of justice.