Giles Bark-Jones > Bark&co > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Bark&co deploys a boutique-style approach to cover the full range of general crime work, from murder and manslaughter, to drug offences, sexual offences, and immigration crimes. The department has a track record of work on high profile crimes, and strives to create robust public relations defences for clients, including tailored media plans. Giles Bark-Jones is the firm’s principal and founder, and ‘remains the backbone of the firm‘, with a practice which includes anti-terrorism legislation. Also key are senior solicitor Ria Kudrati, who is the lead crime supervisor for the firm, and solicitor Vanessa Wiggins, who is active on prominent violent crime and drugs cases.

Bark&co has standout involvements on behalf of high-profile sportspeople, politicians, and business executives, handling cross-border white-collar proceedings including insider dealing, tax fraud, bribery, and money laundering cases. Most notably, the firm represented Boris Becker in his ongoing tax fraud prosecution, reflecting its regular involvement in major trials, as well as complex SFO and FCA investigations, combining litigation and compliance expertise with in-house reputation management capabilities. Giles Bark-Jones heads up the team, a ‘powerhouse‘ in complex international fraud and corruption cases, while senior consultant David Byrne is noted for his work on regulatory investigations, and the ‘tireless‘ Maria Stalbow plays a leading role in FCA insider dealing cases and corruption cases brought against former police officers.

Bark&co has expertise in civil tax and criminal tax fraud with an increasing focus on litigation in areas of VAT and excise duty. Giles Bark-Jones leads the practice with expertise extending to several areas of civil litigation including fraud and contentious tax. Peter Finbow specialises in white-collar crime including VAT fraud and money laundering.

London criminal defence firm Bark&co deals with high-value, cross-border work in relation to business crime and VAT tax litigation. The firm’s work covers tribunal appeals, HMRC interventions and seizures, tax investigations and enquiries, while the criminal tax fraud practice advises on a wide range of tax evasion and tax fraud matters. The team is led by founder Giles Bark-Jones, who specialises in VAT fraud cases and challenges to HMRC assessments. He is supported by Peter Finbow, with a focus on fraud and white-collar crime, such as insider trading, bribery and fraudulent trading. Maria Stalbow is another key member of the team.