Our Legal Services
Criminal Defence
We have over 30 years of representing people charged with a range of offences and regularly appear in courts throughout Scotland appearing in the Justice of the Peace Court, Sheriff Court and High Court of Justiciary. We represent people charged with the full range of offences, including assault, public disorder, murder, rape, theft, robbery, drugs offences, bail offences and breaching of other court orders.
We will represent your interests from the commencement of the police investigation until the conclusion of proceedings. We will also offer a professional service and ensure that you understand what is taking place throughout your case.
We would strongly advise you to contact our office as soon as you have been suspected of an offence. We regularly discuss cases with the Procurator Fiscal’s Office at an early stage to achieve the best outcome. Depending upon the circumstances of your case and your own circumstances it may be that we are able to persuade the Procurator Fiscal’s Office that proceedings are not in the public interest resulting in the case being discontinued.
Road Traffic Law
Our services also include assisting and representing people who have been charged with different types of road traffic offences. This is a complex and technical area of Scots law and it is important that you instruct a solicitor who has experience and understanding of this area of law.
It is very often the case that the police issue fixed penalties and other paperwork including a notice of intended prosecution or a citation to appear at court. It is important that you meet with a solicitor as a matter of urgency and obtain appropriate advice in respect of what options are available to you in order to decide upon the best course of action.
There are also a range of penalties in respect of these types of offences including fines, endorsement of your driving licence or disqualification from driving. These penalties can have significant consequences and may result in the loss of your employment or liberty and again it is important that advice is obtained swiftly.
Police Interviews
Legislation was passed in the Scottish Parliament in 2016 setting out a number of rights for someone who is in police custody. You are now entitled to have a solicitor informed of your arrest, a private consultation with a solicitor at any time whilst you are in police custody and also to have a solicitor present at your police interview.
We offer a 24-hour service where we will consult with you at any time to provide advice and to ensure that you have been made aware of your rights and also to ensure that you have been given advice about what options are available to you. You are also entitled to a consultation at any time whilst you are in police custody and accordingly you may seek further advice after the police interview has commenced. We will also attend the police interview at any time to ensure that the interview is conducted fairly.
If you are in police custody and seeking a consultation or an attendance from a solicitor you will qualify for legal aid for this work to be undertaken on your behalf.
Children's Panel & Referral Proceedings
A child may be referred to the Children’s Reporter by the police or social work department until they are 16 years of age. Depending upon the information provided the Children’s Reporter may convene a Children’s Hearing. This may be due to a number of different reasons including a child failing to attend school, a child becoming involved in offending behaviour, a child being outwith parental control or due to other concerns which have been raised by the social work department.
A decision of the Children’s Hearing will always have the interests of the child as its paramount consideration and these decisions are likely to have a significant impact upon your life. A child may be made subject to a compulsory supervision order and as part of that order the Children’s Panel can decide matters such as where the child should reside and also what contact a parent may have with that child.
Should it be the case that the grounds of referral are disputed by the child or parents the matter may be referred to the sheriff court for proof of these grounds.
In urgent cases the social work department may also refer a matter directly to the sheriff court seeking a child protection order, they may remove a child immediately to keep that child safe.
We appear before the Children’s Panel on a regular basis and will represent the interests of a child or a relevant person. We also appear in respect of Children’s Referral proceedings and applications for Child Protection Orders in different courts throughout Scotland. It is important that you seek the services of a solicitor at an early stage so that social work reports can be considered as soon as possible and the appropriate advice and representation provided. A child and any relevant person including the parents of that child will be entitled to have a solicitor present at these hearings and legal aid will often be made available.
Mental Health
We regularly appear before the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland on behalf of patients and relatives. This may be in relation to applications made following criminal proceedings or in relation to civil provisions. We will meet with you at your home address or within hospital. Both the patient and a named person are entitled to be represented at a tribunal and funding is granted automatically by the Scottish Legal Aid Board for proceedings before the Mental Health Tribunal.
We are also regularly instructed by patients who are subject to emergency detention or short term detention orders. We can provide advice in terms of what options are available including any appeal against the imposition of these orders.
In addition one of our solicitors has been appointed as a curator ad litem by the Mental Health Tribunal Service.
Proceeds of Crime
There are two main mechanisms under Proceeds of Crime legislation which allows for the recovery of property. Following a conviction at court of a criminal offence, an application may be made for confiscation of a sum of money reflecting the alleged benefit someone has obtained from their criminal conduct or their criminal lifestyle. In this situation you should contact a solicitor as a matter of urgency. We will be able to properly investigate the matter on your behalf including, if required, instructing a forensic accountant to properly consider the terms of any application made.
The second main mechanism is an application for the recovery of assets under civil procedure which is dealt with by the civil recovery unit on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. This is different to confiscation after criminal conviction and deals with applications to recover assets and forfeit cash under civil procedure.
Should you have had money seized by the police without having been arrested in respect of any offence you should contact our office to obtain advice as a matter of urgency as this property can only be retained for a short period before an application requires to be made to the court. We can provide advice and representation to you in respect of this.
Parole
Any prisoner sentenced to more than four years imprisonment or detention is eligible for parole from the halfway point of that sentence. Accordingly, it is important that advice is provided at an early stage of your sentence as that may have an impact upon how your sentence is managed increasing your prospects of parole.
If you are a life sentence prisoner or OLR prisoner or a recalled extended sentence prisoner you are automatically entitled to a hearing before a parole tribunal. We provide representation at these hearings. In advance of your hearing you will be provided with two copies of your parole dossier and you will also be entitled to make self representations to the Parole Board. It is important that you contact a solicitor as early as possible as we will be able to assist you in making these representations. We travel to all prisons throughout Scotland and further should your case require to be considered by the Parole Board for Scotland. We will also consider the terms of your parole dossier and ensure that you are properly prepared and have the best opportunity of being granted parole.
In the event that your case is not considered before a parole tribunal hearing your case will be considered at a meeting of the Parole Board and you will be able to submit written representations. We will also be able to assist you in making these representations and again legal aid is likely to be available to you.
Legal Aid
We offer legal aid in respect of all of our services. It may often be the case that if you are in full time employment you will still be eligible for legal aid depending on your financial circumstances. In the event that you are not eligible we will offer our services at a competitive rate and this can be discussed at our initial meeting.