25 Bedford Row is noted as an ‘a versatile chambers offering exceptional counsel across all practice areas’ and is frequently retained by clients for its considerable defence expertise, often in cases involving organised crime and EncroChat evidence. The set fields notable individuals such as George Carter-Stephenson KC, whose ‘mastery of his brief and attention to detail are second to none’ , and the ’highly intelligent and articulate’ Paul Hynes KC , whose recent workloads including representing high-profile Islamist Anjem Choudary, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for controlling the proscribed group al-Muhajiroun. Arlette Piercy, represented one of four defendants in a Modern Slavery Act case, which involved twelve victims, some of whom are alleged to have been trafficked to work at a McDonald’s. Clare Wade KC joined the team in April 2025.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Profile
Position
Arlette's practice consists of criminal defence work, trial and appellate, with particular emphasis on fraud and crimes of serious violence, armed robbery and firearms offences, drugs related offences and representing young offenders and gang members.
She has been instructed in numerous high-profile cases, including terrorism-related matters and cases arising from tabloid newspaper investigations.
Career
Called 1990.
Before coming to the Bar, Arlette worked for a number of years in the House of Commons as a researcher and campaigns officer for a member of the Shadow Cabinet.
Memberships
- Criminal Bar Association
- Board member of ‘Rights International’, a small public interest pressure group which litigates individual human rights cases in international forums.
Education
- LLB Law First Class Hons
- Visiting Scholar University of California Berkeley.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Very strong defence set doing serious work.'
- '25 Bedford Row is a highly regarded Chambers with quality counsel from top to bottom . '
- 'Excellent strength in depth. '
- '25 Bedford Row remain one of the go to criminal sets, able to deal with the most complex and serious of matters. The culture at the chambers, from what we can see, is supportive and inclusive.'
- 'A versatile chambers offering exceptional counsel across all practice areas.'
- 'The set as a whole is outstanding. There is quality from top to bottom. The chambers is unusual in that it offers excellent general crime coverage whilst also being able to offer counsel with expertise in every area of criminal law.'
- 'The set is highly professional and always responsive when it comes to counsel availability. If the requested counsel is unavailable, they are proactive in providing a list of alternative barristers who have relevant experience in handling similar matters. This flexibility and commitment to ensuring clients are well-supported is a notable strength of the chambers.'
- 'An excellent set, who I know I can rely upon to provide the best counsel in any case that I need. Of note is also the level of pupil barristers - there is clearly a lot of talent. '