Being accused of a crime, whatever the allegation, can be a distressing experience. The prospect of a criminal conviction is serious for any person but, for those who occupy positions of professional responsibility, the reputational and career consequences can be devastating.
At Brunskill we have in depth experience of representing clients in high stakes criminal litigation. Our clients have included doctors, solicitors, accountants, company directors and a range of people in the financial services industry. We specialise in delivering a bespoke service for any person who is accused of criminal wrongdoing. We are proactive, thorough and tenacious in our representation, regardless of the type of offence concerned.
We strongly advise that clients instruct us at the earliest possible stage so that we have the best chance of achieving a favourable outcome. This means that we should be present at the police station when a client is first interviewed or even at a home or place of business when a search warrant is executed. Under no circumstances should a client ever assume that to request a solicitor at a police station would be a sign of guilt or be counterproductive in any way.
During an investigation we are sometimes able to arrange for the police or other authorities to agree to a voluntary interview without arrest. This can have a number of significant benefits such as helping to preserve reputation, preventing any unnecessary complications when applying for foreign visas and avoiding the taking of fingerprints and DNA samples that can be subsequently kept on file.
Sometimes an investigation will inevitably result in criminal charges. If so, the case will progress to court proceedings which take place in an entirely different arena to that of the police station. The court process affords a defence team powers that are not available at a police station or during an investigation. It is during court proceedings that we can properly engage with prosecution lawyers, make them accountable to the court and open up their allegations to the closest scrutiny. Our list of previous cases is only a selection of examples where we have succeeded in doing this, resulting in either a complete acquittal or a substantial reduction of the allegations (leading to a lighter sentence, the avoidance of custody or the prevention of a professional disqualification).
Please see our previous cases for examples of the work that we have done.
