Set Profile > Chambers of P Mendelle QC, G Carter-Stephenson QC & J Dein QC > London, England
Chambers of P Mendelle QC, G Carter-Stephenson QC & J Dein QC Offices
25 Bedford Row
LONDON
WC1R 4HD
England
Chambers of P Mendelle QC, G Carter-Stephenson QC & J Dein QC > The Legal 500 Rankings
Proceeds of Crime Act and asset forfeiture
2018 Silks
Leading Juniors
Crime Tier 1
'An excellent set with high-calibre barristers', 25 Bedford Row is a defence-only set that handles, alongside privately funded work, some of the most difficult publicly funded work, often including multi-defendant violent crime cases. Tyrone Smith QC represented a teenage drug dealer who, having been arrested and found with a 30cm knife four days before, stabbed a youth worker who asked him to stop selling drugs outside his home; the defendant was found not guilty of murder and convicted of wounding with intent. Turning to criminal appeals, Jeremy Dein QC represented far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon in a successful appeal against his initial committal to prison for contempt of court in May 2018 for interfering with sexual offence trials subject to reporting restrictions in Canterbury and Leeds. Among the juniors, Melanie Simpson represented a Hungarian woman who, along with her special constable husband, was convicted of trafficking women to a brothel they ran in an apartment block in Chelsea.
Leading Silks
2018 Silks
2019 Silks
Leading Juniors
Fraud: crime Tier 1
'Excellent set' 25 Bedford Row houses a team of 'robust defence practitioners'. The group has been handling, among other areas, high-profile VAT frauds, boiler room scams, and carbon credit cases. Recent highlights include George Carter-Stephenson QC acting in the Operation Treacle £10m fraud case, concerning the resale of tickets for gigs and events.
Leading Silks
2018 Silks
2019 Silks
Leading Juniors
Environment Tier 2
Leading Juniors
Business and regulatory crime (including global investigations) Tier 3
25 Bedford Row's members have been kept busy handling a range of financial crime cases; for example, new silk Nicola Howard QC acted in a bribery case concerning inducements to obtain contacts via a public official in Korea. She is appearing in a case spanning over 20 jurisdictions, including Moscow, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Madrid, and Amsterdam, concerning alleged defrauding of $180m from a Russian banking group via fraudulent trades in emerging markets warrants.
Leading Silks
2018 Silks
2019 Silks
Leading Juniors
International crime and extradition Tier 3
At 25 Bedford Row, 'hugely talented advocate' Sam Blom-Cooper is instructed by the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), as co-counsel, to represent Augustin Ngirabatware (the former Minister of Planning in Rwanda) in an appeal concerning the client's convictions for involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide; the defendant was originally sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment by the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2012, which was reduced in 2014 to 30 years by the MICT Appeals Chamber.
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Civil liberties and human rights (including actions against the police) Tier 3
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Professional disciplinary and regulatory law Tier 3
Leading Juniors
Set overviews: England and Wales
The ‘reliable’ and ‘well-run’ 25 Bedford Row has ‘all the advantages of a bigger, traditional set’ with ‘a good number of robust defence practitioners, well versed in POCA, at all levels of call’ and is an ‘excellent, top-notch choice for white collar work’. ‘The client care and service provided to lay clients and instructing solicitors exceeds expectations.’ Chambers has been strengthened following Nicola Howard and Simon Pentol taking silk in 2019, and Mark Stevens and Lisa Wilson-Taylor, formerly of 2 King's Bench Walk and Furnival Chambers respectively, joining chambers. Director of clerking Guy Williams ‘offers a great service’ and leads the ‘extremely responsive’ clerks’ room which is ‘always on hand to help and are sensible in their choice of counsel’. Deputy director of clerking Emma Makepeace is ‘a standout clerk’ who is ‘personable, honest, gets to know the solicitor and, therefore, has a unique ability to match the solicitor with the appropriate barrister for a particular case’. Senior practice clerk Alfie Lee ‘constantly raises the standard of clerking’; ‘he is contactable 24/7 and nothing is too much trouble. He is able to find sensible representation for a client regardless of the short notice of instructions or the location of court’. Offices in: London
Chambers of P Mendelle QC, G Carter-Stephenson QC & J Dein QC > Firm Profile
Awarded Client Services Set of the Year 2018 by Chambers UK, 25 Bedford Row is an innovative set which specialises in every aspect of modern defence advocacy, acting in the very highest profile cases. Chambers is consistently assessed as a centre of excellence.
The Set: 25 Bedford Row is widely recognised as the leading defence chambers in its core practice areas, due to its client-focused, high-quality service. Its reputation for excellence is best demonstrated by involvement in almost every recent major criminal trial, whether in fraud, organised crime or murder. Chambers are renowned heavy-weight defenders in all aspects of financial and white-collar crime. Members frequently defend large-scale prosecutions brought by the FCA, SFO and NCA. Advice is provided at every stage including pre-charge, post-charge and investigation. Chambers’ criminal expertise includes quasi civil-crime such as POCA proceedings, high-value restraint proceedings, data protection law, the legality of search warrants, costs law, civil actions and civil liberties (including actions against the police) and all aspects of regulatory law (including professional disciplinary and environmental law). The excellence extends to the high quality of its Clerks’ room and staff team who have a justified reputation for their knowledge, efficiency and integrity.
Areas of Expertise:
Criminal: Experts in defending serious crime, including homicide, organised crime, drug trafficking, money laundering, terrorism and extreme sexual violence. Several Members of Chambers act for UK nationals facing criminal prosecutions in other jurisdictions. Chambers’ private client specialists are renowned for their success in ‘reputational management’ and their ability to mitigate the impact of criminal charges on clients’ careers and personal lives.
Fraud and Financial Litigation: Specialists in defending individuals and corporations against allegations of business crime and fraud, including cross-jurisdictional proceedings. Representation is provided at every stage in both the criminal and civil aspects of this discipline from the preliminary stages, including restraint, right through to appeal, confiscation and civil recovery/injunction. Chambers offers specific advice on regulatory compliance, risk management and corporate governance/training.
Professional Disciplinary and Regulatory: Members regularly defend individuals appearing before professional bodies, disciplinary tribunals and regulatory authorities. Our clients include healthcare professionals, solicitors, police officers, accountants, sports players and sports organisations. Chambers practice in all aspects of contentious regulatory work acting for employees, directors and companies.
Environmental Law and Health & Safety: Experienced in health and safety investigations and prosecutions, acting in respect of allegations of corporate manslaughter and other prosecutions where serious injury has been caused. Experts advise and appear in relation to the full spectrum of environmental law, including waste management offences.
Civil Liberties and Human Rights: As a ‘defence only’ set, protecting civil liberties is a fundamental cornerstone of Chambers’ ethos. Members have extensive experience acting for persons facing human rights infringements including actions against the police and public authorities, extradition law, international law, mental health, prisoners’ rights, inquests, public inquiries and public and administrative law. Chambers is routinely instructed in significant public inquiries, judicial review and appellate cases and challenges to public body decisions.
International Work: Chambers works at the forefront of international criminal law. Its work includes defending war crimes (often in international war tribunals) and other human rights abuses, defending the extradition of high-profile individuals, defending offences against states including espionage and terrorism and defending overseas freezing and forfeiture orders. Chambers acts and advises in all aspects of international criminal law (including human rights breaches) and regularly acts for individuals, governmental organisations and NGOs in a wide range of jurisdictions.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director of Clerking | Guy Williams | ||
| Deputy Director of Clerking | Emma Makepeace | ||
| Senior Practice Clerk | Alfie Lee | ||
| Fees Clerk | David Kirton | ||
| Administration Manager | Varuna Askoolum | ||
| Members of Chambers | CARTER-STEPHENSON QC, George (1975) (QC 1998) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MENDELLE QC, Paul (1981) (QC 2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DEIN QC, Jeremy (1982) (QC 2003) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SANGSTER QC, Nigel (1976) (QC 1998) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GRIFFITHS QC, Courtenay (1980) (QC 1998) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ELLIS QC, Diana (1978) (QC 2001) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DOYLE QC, Peter (1975) (QC 2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | KELEHER QC, Paul (1980) (QC 2009) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HOOPER QC, David (1971) (QC 2010) | ||
| Members of Chambers | FORTSON QC, Rudi (1976) (QC 2010) | ||
| Members of Chambers | COOPER QC, John (1983) (QC 2010) | ||
| Members of Chambers | PRICE QC, Tom (1985) (QC 2010) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HYNES QC, Paul (1987) (QC 2010) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SIDHU QC, Jo (1993) (QC 2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SMITH QC, Tyrone (1994) (QC 2014) | ||
| Members of Chambers | EISSA QC, Adrian (1988) (QC 2018) | ||
| Members of Chambers | PENTOL QC, Simon (1982) (QC 2019) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HOWARD QC, Nicola (1995) (QC 2019) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SIMPSON QC, Melanie (1998) (QC 2020) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MITCHELL, Jonathan (1974) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BEYTS, Chester (1978) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WELLS, Colin (1987) | ||
| Members of Chambers | VALLEY, Helen (1990) | ||
| Members of Chambers | PIERCY, Arlette (1990) | ||
| Members of Chambers | AKUWUDIKE, Emma (1992) | ||
| Members of Chambers | POTTER, Harry (1993) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ALEESON, Warwick (1994) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BYRNES, Aisling (1994) | ||
| Members of Chambers | OSMAN, Osman (1995) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GUILOFF, Carolina (1996) | ||
| Members of Chambers | RIGGS, Samantha (1996) | ||
| Members of Chambers | RUDOLF, Nathaniel (1996) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MURRAY, Daniel (1996) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GARDINER, Sebastian (1997) | ||
| Members of Chambers | KEATING, Dermot (1997) | ||
| Members of Chambers | THOMAS, Dominic (1998) | ||
| Members of Chambers | STEVENS, Mark (1998) | ||
| Members of Chambers | NEOFYTOU, Michael (1999) | ||
| Members of Chambers | O'REILLY, Beth (1999) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SMITTEN, Ben (1999) | ||
| Members of Chambers | POWER, Laurie-Anne (2000) | ||
| Members of Chambers | NWOSU, Sheryl (2000) | ||
| Members of Chambers | PAYNE, Geoffrey (2000) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GOMULKA, Michael (2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DASHANI, Sonal (2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | STEVENSON, Monica (2004) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LAZARUS, Paul (2017) Higher Rights (2005) | ||
| Members of Chambers | RADSTONE, Matthew (2005) | ||
| Members of Chambers | RANDALL, Rebecca (2005) | ||
| Member of Chambers | BLOM-COOPER, Sam (2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CHADWICK, Daniel (2006) | ||
| Member of Chambers | WILSON, Lisa (2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | JAMIESON, Alex (2007) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MALHOTRA, Priya (2007) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WOOD, David (2007) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DI FRANCESCO, Alex (2008) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SHAW, Robert (2008) | ||
| Members of Chambers | KUMAR, Sushil (2009) | ||
| Members of Chambers | STUART-SMITH, Emma (2009) | ||
| Members of Chambers | JOHNSON, Abimbola (2011) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DICKSON, Henry (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | JONES, Duncan (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LYNCH, Leon (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | COLLIER, Laura (2013) | ||
| Members of Chambers | FLAVIN, Tom (2013) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ISLAM, Zeenat (2013) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LLOYD-OWEN, Natasha (2013) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LEWIS, Joy (2014) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SIMPEH, Vida (2014) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ROWAN, Kerrie-Ann (2015) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MURPHY, Nick (2015) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SMITH, Tobias (2016) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GABER, Chantel (2017) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MEZOUGHI, Leila-Zoe (2018) |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
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Emma Akuwudike | Emma has extensive experience in a wide range of criminal offences of… | View Profile |
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Warren Aleeson | Warwick Aleeson is a defence specialist with, a wide range of experience… | View Profile |
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Chester Beyts | Exclusively criminal defence practice including the most serious offences. Leading in both… | View Profile |
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Sam Blom-Cooper | All areas of criminal defence including Serious Violence, Sex Offences, Dishonesty and… | View Profile |
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Aisling Byrnes | Highly experienced leading junior counsel with expertise in serious and complex criminal… | View Profile |
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George Carter-Stephenson QC | Highly sought after specialist defence silk with a varied and wide-ranging practice… | View Profile |
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Daniel Chadwick | A specialist criminal defence barrister with 14 years experience in high-value fraud… | View Profile |
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Laura Collier | Laura’s practice is exclusively in criminal defence work and associated areas; including… | View Profile |
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John Cooper QC | Specialist in serious criminal law, fraud and regulation. A significant practice in… | View Profile |
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Sonal Dashani | Sonal is regularly instructed in a wide range of criminal defence work.… | View Profile |
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Jeremy Dein QC | Huge experience in defending the gravest, most serious, complex and high-profile cases.… | View Profile |
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Alex Di Francesco | Alex is a leading criminal junior who has defended those accused… | View Profile |
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Henry Dickson | Henry practises in all areas of criminal defence and has extensive advocacy… | View Profile |
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Peter Doyle QC | An immensely experienced criminal defence practitioner instructed across a range of offences… | View Profile |
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Adrian Eissa QC | Adrian enjoys a diverse practice which consists principally of the following areas:… | View Profile |
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Diana Ellis QC | Hugely experienced and committed criminal defence barrister with a substantial criminal domestic… | View Profile |
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Tom Flavin | Tom’s practice involves work across all areas of criminal defence, in particular… | View Profile |
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Rudi Fortson QC | Rudi Fortson practices in cases relating to complex fraud, asset-recovery, money laundering,… | View Profile |
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Chantel Gaber | Chantel is a criminal defence specialist and a passionate, committed advocate, with… | View Profile |
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Sebastian Gardiner | Practises as both leading junior and junior counsel in all aspects of… | View Profile |
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Michael Gomulka | Criminal defence, including murder, manslaughter, organised crime, drug trafficking, sexual violence (including… | View Profile |
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Courtenay Griffiths QC | Courtenay Griffiths QC has been involved in some of the most high-profile… | View Profile |
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Carolina Guiloff | Criminal Defence specialist, instructed in serious and organised crime cases, including drugs… | View Profile |
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David Hooper QC | International Criminal/Humanitarian law before international criminal tribunals. Currently appearing as defence counsel… | View Profile |
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Nicola Howard QC | Counsel instructed on behalf of corporates and individuals to provide specialist strategic… | View Profile |
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Paul Hynes QC | Criminal, financial and regulatory defence and advice. Has a broad practice often… | View Profile |
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Zeenat Islam | Zeenat is currently instructed as junior counsel to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.… | View Profile |
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Alex Jamieson | Recognised as a leading junior barristers in three separate areas of specialism:… | View Profile |
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Abimbola Johnson | Winner of the 2018 Diversity Legal Awards Rising Star (Chambers) category and… | View Profile |
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Duncan Jones | Duncan Jones specialises in defence advice and advocacy in all areas of… | View Profile |
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Dermot Keating | Recognised in ‘The Legal 500’ for a number of years as a… | View Profile |
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Paul Keleher QC | Paul Keleher is regularly instructed in cases of murder and is also… | View Profile |
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Sushil Kumar | Sushil acts as a junior alone or as a led junior, with… | View Profile |
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Paul Lazarus | Paul is a well known and experienced jury trial advocate who practices… | View Profile |
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Joy Lewis | Joy practices in all areas of criminal defence work, including violent crime,… | View Profile |
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Natasha Lloyd-Owen | Natasha practises in all areas of criminal defence and associated areas of… | View Profile |
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Leon Lynch | Leon is a versatile and a dedicated criminal defence advocate whose client… | View Profile |
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Priya Malhotra | Priya is currently instructed as junior counsel on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry… | View Profile |
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Paul Mendelle QC | Called to Bar after successful career in city. Building on a mixed… | View Profile |
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Leila-Zoe Mezoughi | Leila’s practice involves work across all areas of criminal defence. She has… | View Profile |
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Jonathan Mitchell | Leading work in heavy criminal defence trials. Also advises in civil cases,… | View Profile |
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Nick Murphy | Nick is a highly-regarded junior practicing in all areas of criminal defence.… | View Profile |
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Daniel Murray | Daniel practises in all areas of Serious Crime. He has acted as… | View Profile |
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Michael Neofytou | Michael is a leading specialist criminal defence advocate and adviser with over… | View Profile |
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Sheryl Nwosu | Sheryl is routinely instructed in a broad spectrum of complex and serious… | View Profile |
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Osman Osman | Osman is a highly sought after leading junior. He has developed an… | View Profile |
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Ms Beth O’Reilly | Beth is an established advocate with 20 years’ experience of defending in… | View Profile |
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Geoffrey Payne | Geoff Payne specialises in defending heavy fraud cases. He has acted in… | View Profile |
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Simon Pentol QC | Simon has been a much sought-after leader for many years in all… | View Profile |
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Arlette Piercy | Exclusively criminal defence work, trial and appellate, particular emphasis on fraud and… | View Profile |
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Harry Potter | Leading Junior and junior for the defence in all areas of crime,… | View Profile |
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Laurie-Anne Power | Laurie-Anne is an experienced leading junior and junior. She has acted on… | View Profile |
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Tom Price QC | Tom Price continues to defend in all areas of serious crime. He… | View Profile |
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Matthew Radstone | Matthew is instructed in all areas of crime from the most serious… | View Profile |
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Rebecca Randall | All areas of criminal defence including murder, violence, sexual offences, robbery, dishonesty… | View Profile |
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Samantha Riggs | Established leading junior advising and defending corporate and individual defendants in complex… | View Profile |
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Kerrie Ann Rowan | Kerrie practises in all areas of criminal defence including murder, violence, robbery,… | View Profile |
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Nathaniel Rudolf | Crime, especially defending in serious fraud matters and high value confiscation as… | View Profile |
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Nigel Sangster QC | One of the most senior QC’s at the criminal bar and practises… | View Profile |
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Robert Shaw | Robert is a specialist criminal and regulatory barrister with extensive advocacy experience.… | View Profile |
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Jo Sidhu QC | Widely regarded as a ‘superlative’ leading Counsel in serious criminal cases with… | View Profile |
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Vida Simpeh | Vida practices in all areas of criminal defence including drugs, violence and… | View Profile |
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Melanie Simpson | Melanie is an extremely successful criminal defence barrister who is sought after… | View Profile |
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Tobias Smith | Tobias is a defence specialist covering all aspects of criminal law in… | View Profile |
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Tyrone Smith QC | Highly sought-after specialist defence silk who consistently defends in very serious, substantial… | View Profile |
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Ben Smitten | Ben has 20 years’ experience at the highest level of criminal proceedings… | View Profile |
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Mark Stevens | Mark is a highly regarded criminal defence specialist. Mark is approachable ,… | View Profile |
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Monica Stevenson | An experienced barrister instructed in a wide range of serious and complex… | View Profile |
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Emma Stuart Smith | Emma’s practice encompasses all areas of criminal defence work, focusing particularly upon… | View Profile |
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Dominic Thomas | Dominic is a very highly regarded defence advocate who will roll up… | View Profile |
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Helen Valley | A Barrister with over 25 years experience defending serious and complex crime,including… | View Profile |
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Colin Wells | Fraud and regulatory defence work. Advising and representing individuals and companies on… | View Profile |
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Lisa Wilson | Lisa is a specialist defence practitioner, instructed in cases covering all aspects… | View Profile |
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David Wood | .David specialises in criminal and regulatory law and is recognised as a… | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Clerks : 8 Administration : 2Languages
Farsi French German Spanish Portuguese Italian Hindi PunjabiTop Tier Set Rankings
Set Rankings
- London Bar Environment
- London Bar Business and regulatory crime (including global investigations)
- London Bar International crime and extradition
- London Bar Civil liberties and human rights (including actions against the police)
- London Bar Professional disciplinary and regulatory law
- London Bar Set overviews: England and Wales