Merseyside Police's custody suites feed the courts at Derby Square, where Liverpool Crown Court, one of the largest outside London, hears everything from a first-time burglary to the multi-defendant organised crime trials the building is known for. Criminal law solicitors in Liverpool work the whole of that range, and most of them began the same way: in a police station interview room in the small hours.
That is where cases are won or lost. Anyone arrested, or asked to attend a voluntary interview, is entitled to a solicitor free of charge, regardless of income, and a prepared interview is very different from an unprepared one. The duty solicitor scheme covers the city round the clock, and a person who already has a solicitor can ask for them by name.
Liverpool's caseload has its own character. Drug supply and importation cases linked to the port, firearms and violence connected to organised groups, and the long conspiracy trials that follow from encrypted phone evidence sit at the top end. Beneath them comes the daily volume of the magistrates' court: assaults and disorder from the bars around Concert Square and Seel Street, match-day offences and football banning orders, domestic abuse allegations, shoplifting, and driving matters from the Mersey tunnels and the M62, including speeding, drink driving and exceptional hardship arguments. Fraud, money laundering and regulatory prosecutions are a growing specialism.
Most criminal cases still qualify for legal aid, subject to a means test in the magistrates' court and possible contributions in the Crown Court; a good number of Liverpool firms hold a contract. Private clients should ask for a fixed fee or an estimate per stage.
Liverpool's criminal defence firms are ranked below, verified ones at the top. What criminal law covers explains the stages of a case, can you get legal help for free explains legal aid, and the general criminal law solicitors page covers choosing a firm; across the Mersey, criminal law solicitors in Chester serve the Castle courts.
