David Sleight > Kingsley Napley LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Kingsley Napley LLP Offices

Kingsley Napley LLP
20 Bonhill Street
London
EC2A 4DN
England
Visit website 020 7814 1200 020 7490 2288

David Sleight

David Sleight photo
020 7369 3840 dsleight@kingsleynapley.co.uk View profile

Work Department

Criminal litigation.

Position

David has an extensive criminal litigation background. Regularly acting for individuals and companies in high profile cases, he specialises in providing advice at the crucial early stages of an investigation. Astute and practical in his approach, David’s early involvement in the case can make the difference between being charged with an offence or not. This includes representing clients who are arrested and interviewed under caution, challenging search warrants and other investigatory powers and making pre-charge representations to the police and prosecuting authorities. Should matters progress to court he is meticulous in his preparation and has a high acquittal rate. Case highlights include representing Cambridge Analytica’s CEO in the Facebook data breach scandal and other high profile matters.

David’s white collar crime practice includes acting for companies and individuals accused of complex financial investigations involving fraud, overseas corruption and Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA). He specialises in defending tax evasion/fraud allegations brought by HMRC and has developed a specialist expertise in advising in cross border tax litigation involving MLA requests between Member States. He is currently representing two separate companies in the on-going “cum ex” trading scandal in Denmark and Germany.

Career

Joined Kingsley Napley 2009, Partner 2014.

Publications of note: The law regarding entrapment (Law Society Gazette); HMRC increasingly takes criminal prosecution route (Wealthbriefing.com).

Memberships

Law Society; Fraud Lawyers Association.

Lawyer Rankings

London > Crime, fraud and licensing > Crime: general

(Leading individuals)

David Sleight –Kingsley Napley LLP

Kingsley Napley LLP is lauded by clients as ‘arguably the best firm of criminal solicitors in the country‘, with the ‘extraordinary‘ team headed by Louise Hodges, Sandra Paul, and David Sleight. Hodges leads in criminal litigation, while Paul and Sleight co-lead on general crime. The practice is experienced in advising both UK and international clients on the full spectrum of general crime matters, with recent work including advice on sexual misconduct allegations within the workplace, attempted murder, driving offences, and fraud. Other key team members include Rebecca Niblock, who is highly experienced in extradition matters, pre-charge advice specialist Edmund Smyth, and Matthew Hardcastle, who was promoted to partner in May 2023. Associates Edward Jones, Rebecca Smart, Emily Elliott, and Maeve Keenan are also names to note within the team.

London > Dispute resolution > Tax litigation and investigations

Kingsley Napley LLP fields a team of ‘top-of the-range criminal lawyers’, highly experienced in high profile tax fraud cases, with a record of advising both individuals and corporates. The group has made a significant expansion to its civil tax litigation offering with the recruitment of new team lead Waqar Shah. Shah, who joined from Mishcon de Reya LLP in February 2023, is an ‘outstanding advisor and tactician’ with experience in judicial reviews and litigation from the Tax Tribunal to the Supreme Court. David Sleight is a financial crime expert with expertise in tax investigations.

Lawyer Rankings

Top Tier Firm Rankings

Firm Rankings