187 Chambers

Barrister

Greg Unwin is a highly regarded advocate operating at the highest levels of the criminal justice system. Winner of the Legal 500 Crime and Extradition Junior of the Year 2026 and consistently ranked in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 in Crime, Fraud and Proceeds of Crime, he is regularly instructed in the most complex and demanding cases. He appears unled against King’s Counsel, manages Very High Cost Cases and conducts significant appellate work alongside his core criminal practice.

His heavyweight crime practice spans homicide, modern slavery and organised crime, and includes several acquittals in gang-related murders achieved through forensic command of digital, cell-site and CCTV evidence in complex multi-defendant trials. He is equally sought after where cases turn on complex medical and scientific evidence, including contested medical causation and intricate psychiatric evidence in manslaughter, child murder and infanticide cases. In high-profile modern slavery proceedings attracting significant media coverage, he has conducted sensitive cross-examination of vulnerable witnesses by international live-link.

Greg brings rare experience to data-heavy fraud and asset forfeiture, drawing upon a previous six-year international consulting career advising organisations such as Shell, Barclays and the House of Commons. He led a landmark application to continue a complex fraud trial before a judge alone following jury tampering, upheld on interlocutory appeal before the Lady Chief Justice, resulting in full acquittals. His legal argument in the UK’s largest ever DWP fraud prosecution reduced a confiscation benefit figure by £50 million. His financial crime practice extends across cybercrime, pension fraud, trustee fraud and money laundering, including internationally – recently securing the discharge of a £44 million Restraint Order in the Isle of Man.

Appointed to Level 4 of the CPS General Crime, Specialist Fraud and Serious Crime panels and SFO Panel B, Greg is instructed by individuals, companies and government agencies alike. He combines meticulous legal strategy, forensic precision and calm, authoritative command of the courtroom with the empathy and client care that clients and directories consistently commend.

Level 4 CPS Panel Advocate

Level 4 Serious Crime specialist panel

Level 4 Fraud specialist panel

SFO Prosecution Panel B

Criminal Bar Association

Fraud Lawyers Association

South Eastern Circuit

JUSTICE

Middle Temple Advocacy Trainer

Pupil Supervisor

South Eastern Circuit Florida Advanced Advocacy Scholarship 2014.

Winner / Finalist: BPP, City and ELMC mooting competitions 2007-2008, judged by Longmore LJ, Lord Neuberger and ECJ judges.

Times Law Award 2007, presented by the Lord Chancellor.

Bar Vocational Course, BPP Law School, London (Middle Temple Queen Mother Major Scholarship 2007).

Graduate Diploma in Law, City Law School, London (Middle Temple Queen Mother Major Scholarship 2006).

MA (Hons) Philosophy, Queens’ College, Cambridge University (College Prize and Exhibition 1997).

Greg Unwin’s professional judgement and technical skills benefit from a previous six-year career with an international consulting and design services firm before he joined the Bar. His consulting clients included the Guardian, Shell, Barclays, HMRC and the House of Commons (where he gave evidence to a Select Committee).