The call comes from the custody suite at two in the morning: a son arrested after a night out in the city centre, a husband held after a complaint at home, a driver stopped on the M1 with something in the boot. Whoever it is, the advice is the same. Ask for a solicitor at the police station. It is free for everyone, whatever they earn, and a Leicester criminal solicitor who attends the interview, sees the disclosure and advises whether to answer questions has more influence on the outcome than anything that happens later.
What happens later is concentrated on two streets. Leicester Magistrates' Court on Pocklingtons Walk deals with the bulk of cases, from drink driving and shoplifting to the first hearing of every serious charge, and Leicester Crown Court on Wellington Street tries the cases that are sent on, from the city and from the whole of Leicestershire and Rutland. The caseload has a local flavour: drugs moved along the M1 and M69, violence and public order on match days and around the clubs, county lines involving teenagers from the estates, fraud, domestic abuse and a steady flow of motoring offences from the A46 and the city's cameras.
A criminal law solicitor in Leicester takes a case through all of it, challenging the evidence, negotiating with the Crown Prosecution Service, instructing counsel for a Crown Court trial and preparing mitigation for sentence. Many also handle disciplinary and regulatory matters for professionals, and interviews under caution by HMRC, the DWP or trading standards.
Legal aid in the magistrates' court depends on means, and in the Crown Court on means and possible contributions; most Leicester criminal firms hold a contract. Private fees are often fixed for motoring cases and estimated by stage for the rest.
Criminal defence firms serving Leicester appear below, verified firms first. See our guides to criminal law, criminal law solicitors and free legal help, or return to Best Solicitors in Leicester.
