About

This is a site on which you can feel free to discuss any and every legal issue, whether or not you are a lawyer.  I am primarily a criminal barrister, so much of what I write about is related to the criminal law; but that is a subject on which – unlike the finer points of landlord and tenant law – almost everyone has their opinion.

If you are a lawyer, I’m afraid this is probably not the place to come for learned updates on recent Supreme Court judgements,  or controversial points about Commercial Court practice.   I’ll certainly talk about such things if they’re interesting or controversial, but there are usually more interesting things to read about.

I am a barrister with 30 years experience of criminal law, at Pump Court Chambers, which has centres in London, Winchester and Swindon.  I am what is known in the trade as a criminal hack. No crime is too serious or, more relevantly, too trivial for my attention.  One of the most satisfying cases of last year was winning a case in the Magistrates Court for a taxi driver wrongly accused of swearing at a passsenger. Some examples of some of the more serious cases in which I have been involved, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, are listed here.  For many years I used to prosecute as well as defend but temperamentally I would rather keep someone out of gaol than put them there, and these days, in practice, I only defend. Sometimes I do appeals against conviction or sentence as well.

I’m really not trying to drum up work: indeed this website originally started because for various reasons I was unable to work full time. But if for some reason you really would like to instruct an ordinary criminal hack like me (and there are plenty of genuinely brilliant barristers you could choose, many of them at Pump Court Chambers), the best thing is to contact one of the criminal clerks at Pump Court Chambers.

I am usually instructed through a solicitor although I do accept “direct access” which means you can come to me direct. Generally speaking I charge an agreed fee for particular work rather than charging an hourly rate. That way at least you know what you’re letting yourself in for, and you won’t be surprised by a huge bill after the work is done.

Obviously I hope you won’t, but should you want to complain about me, it’s not difficult:

First, my chambers has a complaints procedure.

If you’re still not happy, or if you don’t trust my chambers to deal with your complaint, then I am regulated, like all barristers, by the Bar Standards Board, and by the Legal Services Ombudsman. If you are complaining to the Ombudsman you have to get your complaint in within 6 years.