The A27 runs along the southern edge of Chichester, and for the city's criminal defence solicitors it is a steady source of work: drink and drug driving after Goodwood and the summer festivals, speeding on the dual carriageway, careless driving at the Fishbourne and Portfield roundabouts, and the totting-up cases of commuters and tradesmen who would lose their livelihood with their licence. Motoring is the biggest category of criminal work here, and much of it is done on fixed fees for clients who have never been in trouble before.
Everything else begins at the police station. Anyone arrested by Sussex Police, or invited to attend an interview under caution, is entitled to free independent legal advice regardless of income, and the custody suite that serves the west of the county may be some distance from home, so a solicitor who will attend at night matters. Cases then go to the magistrates' court that serves the district, and the most serious to Chichester Crown Court in the Combined Court Centre at Southgate, which tries violence, drug supply, sexual offences and fraud from the coast and the Downs.
The district's crime has a rural and coastal flavour: hare coursing and poaching on the coastal plain, theft of machinery from farms and nurseries, firearms certificate disputes, and fisheries and harbour offences at Selsey and in the harbour. Chichester's older population also produces its own cases, from historic allegations to carers accused of theft, and professional clients whose registration is at stake.
A means test decides legal aid in the magistrates' court; the Crown Court is more generous. The number of Sussex firms with a criminal contract has fallen, so ask quickly, and private fees should be given stage by stage.
Chichester's criminal defence firms appear below, verified first. Background reading: what criminal law involves and whether legal help is free; the general criminal law solicitors page covers the basics, and criminal law solicitors in Portsmouth serve the Hampshire side.
