Where a matter calls for advocacy — representation before the courts, criminal-law defence, and the protection of individuals and their interests — we act together with Esquires Group, an associated advocates' practice.

For the client this is one team and one point of contact, with licensed advocates appearing wherever the law reserves that role for them.

The advocate joins a mandate the corporate team is already running: the file, the chronology and the position stay the same in both sets of hands. Nobody has to brief a second adviser from scratch, and no part of the matter is handed over mid-way.

There is one point of contact throughout. Who does what inside the team is our problem to solve, not a further thing for the client to manage.

Civil, commercial and administrative proceedings at first instance and on appeal — from the statement of claim through to enforcing what the court awarded, including interim measures and enforcement through the bailiff service.

In criminal matters defence runs from the first interview onward: during an inspection, at the investigative stage — attendance at questioning, searches and seizures, and challenges to procedural decisions — and in court.

Directors, shareholders and employees are often exposed personally by something that began with the company: travel restrictions, frozen assets, being called as a witness, or a regulatory question that turns into a criminal one.

That exposure is handled inside the same matter rather than as a separate engagement — in practice it rarely stays separate for long.