When the Crown Court left Lancaster Castle, Preston became the place where almost every serious criminal trial in Lancashire is heard. Defendants from Blackpool, Blackburn, Lancaster and Morecambe are tried at the Combined Court Centre or at Sessions House, and the city's criminal law solicitors appear in those courts daily, alongside the magistrates' court where every case begins.
The work starts in custody. Lancashire Constabulary's custody suites are covered by a duty solicitor scheme around the clock, and advice at the police station is free to everyone regardless of income, for a voluntary interview as much as an arrest. What is said, or not said, in that interview decides many cases, and a solicitor who knows the local officers and prosecutors reads the situation faster.
Preston's caseload reflects the county. The motorway network, with the M6, M55, M61 and M65 meeting around the city, produces a stream of speeding, drink and drug driving, dangerous driving and totting-up cases, many of them from people whose jobs depend on their licence. Drug supply, organised crime and firearms cases from across Lancashire sit at the top of the Crown Court list; violence and public order from the city-centre bars, domestic abuse allegations, football disorder, fraud, benefit and tax prosecutions and sexual offences make up much of the rest. Several Preston firms specialise in serious fraud and regulatory cases.
Criminal legal aid is still granted for most cases, with a means test at the magistrates' court and contributions possible at the Crown Court; several Preston firms hold contracts. Privately paying clients should ask for fixed fees for motoring matters and a written estimate per stage for anything else.
Preston's defence firms are ranked below, verified practices first. What criminal law involves explains the route from arrest to sentence, can you get legal help for free covers legal aid, and the general criminal law solicitors page explains fees; the north of the county has its own page, criminal law solicitors in Lancaster.
