WORK DEPARTMENT

General Crime Department and Prison Law

POSITION

The Senior partner and head of the  crime department. Catherine has now reached 25 years of practice in her specialist field.

CAREER

Catherine qualified in 1992 and was part of the team that set up Clarke Kiernan in 1997 . Specialising in her chosen field  early on she has a wealth of experience in all aspects of the job. She has been authorised to take trainees for many years and she has enjoyed helping bring along the next generation of lawyers in this field.

She has acted for many professionals over the years, Doctors, teachers, lawyers, nursing staff, care home staff , but also for many very vulnerable clients with special needs with a gift of being able to talk to people at the appropriate  level and support them.

MEMBER

CLSA , APIL, BVFLA,  and Local law society .

EDUCATION

Law (LLB (Hons). Chester School of Law Solicitors final exams

Daniel is the managing partner and head of the fraud, regulatory and complex crime department, he is a Solicitor Advocate  and  specialist fraud supervisor dealing with many areas of practice including white-collar crime, business crime, bribery, regulatory and disciplinary proceedings and criminal litigation with a particular focus on money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking and complex confiscation.

He also acts in civil litigation, advising both individual and corporate clients where there are underlying criminal allegations or asset recovery issues.

 

Daniel is recognised by the Legal 500 as a leading criminal and fraud lawyer in the South East.

MEMBERSHIPS

Supervisor on Specialist Fraud Panel and member of VHCC Panel; CLSA committee member and Vice Chair; Law Society; Proceeds of Crime Lawyers’ Association, Fraud Lawyers Association, Institute of Legal Finance and Management; Criminal Procedure Rule Committee representative, Crime Contract Review Group, Criminal Legal Aid Review Steering Group, Means Test Review Stakeholder Advisory Group, Criminal Legal Aid Review Advisory Group, Law Society Practitioner Group, Criminal Contract Consultative Group, Law Society Access to Justice Committee Member.

EDUCATION

Law (LLB (Hons), Bar Vocational Course

 

Daniel was called to the Bar in 2001 and in 2007 was admitted to the Roll as a Solicitor. Joined Clarke Kiernan in 2013 from a leading London-based firm and made a Partner in 2015.

He has acted in many large and complex fraud and serious crime cases including matters prosecuted by HM Revenue & Customs, the Serious Fraud Office, The Department for Business Innovation & Skills, the National Crime Agency (formerly the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority,  the Maritime & Coastguard  Agency, the Criminal Assets Bureau (Ireland), the Food Standards Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the Crown Prosecution Service Complex Case Unit.

Daniel has a national profile and has advised in a number of high-profile cases ranging from murder allegations to cases of fraud against legal advisors and is experienced in dealing the cases in which there is considerable media interest. He has also been consulted by the BBC as a legal expert and has frequently appeared on BBC News in that capacity and is regularly contacted by the media for comment on cases of public interest.

He has acted in leading confiscation cases in the Supreme Court, Administrative Court and major criminal cases in the Supreme Court involving international law issues.

Other career highlights including acting in a case involving 2 members of the Brunei Royal family, acting for Premiership footballers, representing a international grocery supplier,, involvement in some of the leading confiscation and asset recovery cases including the leading case of using the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover tax from crime and representing anti-war protestors in the Supreme Court.

Daniel has been involved in a number of high-profile cases, and his work to influence the criminal justice system has been recognised by his recent election to the role of Vice Chair of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association. He has been actively involved with the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee with recent changes to disclosure rules aimed at improving prosecutor’s practices. He has been asked to attend specially convened group chaired by the Senior Presiding Judge Lady Justice Macur to discuss recent high profile disclosure failures, and has been asked to contribute to BBC and Channel 4 news items in relation to his practice. Daniel has twice been invited by the Justice Select Committee to give his opinion in relation to criminal law matters, and his evidence formed a large part of the recommendations in the reports prepared by that committee. Daniel is a member of a number of industry groups and meets regularly with ministers, MPs, the Senior Judiciary, and civil servants. He recently successfully campaigned for changes to the Criminal Procedure Rules, and has worked with the Law Society on their successful Judicial Review of the Ministry of Justice changes to Legal Aid. He was also able to recently lobby the Legal Aid Agency to change policies in relation to the operation of the current Legal Aid Crime Contract and is at the forefront of work on the newly announced government review into the Criminal Justice System. In recognition of his efforts over the last few years this year Daniel was invited to join the Law Society’s prestigious Access to Justice Committee. Daniel is also part of the work being done with the Attorney-General to deal with the shortcomings of disclosure in criminal cases. We believe this work gives him unparalleled influence within the criminal defence sector

In addition to the above he has been involved in large fraud cases and current work includes an ongoing high-profile fraud involving 9 individuals and over 20million in lost revenue, one of the largest VAT evasions in the South-East, murder cases including one involving a 16 year old, a drug supply class with international media coverage described as the ‘Deliveroo and Amazon of drug trafficking’, serious road traffic investigation cases including those involving a death, a case involving a well-known barrister accused of sexual offences, a complex drug and firearm conspiracy, a case involving the former advisor to Prince Jefri of Brunei and famous artwork, a father accused of murdering his son, and a tobacco importation case where he is co-defending (and indeed was recommended by, one of London’s premier fraud and complex crime firms) as well as a fraud on multiple financial institutions that attracted national media attention and a trading standards fraud. He is also acting for an individual with global notoriety facing extradition to Thailand to face questioning for what was described as a ‘gangland murder.’

Work Department

Fraud, business crime of all types, regulatory cases, any crime or regulatory cases that might be considered complex, contentious probate and professional negligence.

Position

A specialist fraud supervisor dealing with many areas of litigation including white-collar crime, business crime, bribery, confiscation, restraint or freezing cases, in fact if the problem is at all crime-related he can assist. He took a particular interest over the years of attacking unfairness in the procedures in criminal proceedings which led to his cases of ex parte Lee (the reintroduction of the common law rules for disclosure of helpful material by prosecutors), Edwards & Lewis v UK (secrecy in public interest immunity applications by prosecutors and the impact on a fair trial), ex parte Bentham (Habeas Corpus in s51 sendings to the Crown Court where procedures were wrongly dealt with), and O v Crown Court at Harrow (dealing with the withholding of bail for some defendants). He has many more in the Court of Appeal and House of Lords and is not afraid of sending cases for further consideration by the European Court of Human Rights. He has dealt with many fraud cases brought by a wide range of investigatory and prosecuting authorities. For many years he has been the only Kent based solicitor chosen by the Police Federation to look after its members if being investigated for criminal matters in the county.

Career

Qualified in 1976, a partner in 1982 and formed own firm in 1997 to concentrate even more on litigation.

Memberships

Supervisor on Specialist Fraud Panel and member of VHCC Panel; Chair of the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Courts Board throughout its life; CLSA committee member; Law Society; Proceeds of Crime Lawyers’ Association.

Education

Mathematics and Statistics BSc(hons) from Reading University.