St Philips Chambers

Crime & Regulatory

Denise Breen-Lawton KC is an experienced terrorism, homicide, fraud and organised crime Barrister, and acts both for the Defence and Prosecution in cases of the most complex and serious nature.

Coming from a humble background and state school educated, she was the first in her family to attend university and can therefore easily communicate with, and relate to, people from all backgrounds. She was the only person on her Business Management degree to achieve a First Class Honours and was made a Master of the Bench at Gray’s Inn before taking silk. She is on the management, elections, and equality and diversity committees in her role as a Bencher.

Denise has all the skills required to take large amounts of documents and distil the relevant evidence to present hugely complex and cumbersome cases to the jury in a simple manner. She provides legal advice on, and representation in, all areas of the most serious crime.

Denise has an exceptional ability to get to grips with large volumes of material very quickly. She has excellent organisational skills, which combined with her intellectual ability, legal knowledge and tactical dexterity, means she has always had a heavyweight serious crime practice.

The fact that she defends and prosecutes makes her a tactically astute barrister with a balanced approach. She understands the importance of a case strategy and can manage large teams, including experts, with ease.

Excellent advocacy and client care skills mean she can deal with all types of clients, from the extremely vulnerable to the very robust, in the most serious and difficult cases. She has an ability to present or challenge all types of expert evidence in a clear and effective manner.

Experience in the Business Crime Department at Irwin Mitchell and a First-Class Degree in Business Management before coming to the Bar, makes her particularly strong in large and complex paper-heavy cases.

Called to the Bar in 2000.

Took Silk in 2024