Leading Criminal Defence Law Firm

Specialist criminal defence lawyers, London and Manchester

Team members specialise in specific niche areas law meaning that we can provide specialist representation across the whole spectrum of criminal defence.

Clients can be seen at our Manchester or London offices, at barristers chambers in any major city or on a remote basis via Zoom/Teams or any other remote video conferencing platform. We cover prisons nationally.

The Legal 500 2025

The Legal 500 2025 comments:

‘Olliers excels at defending clients in criminal investigations and prosecutions relating to financial crime, business crime, serious criminal allegations including murder, manslaughter and drugs conspiracies as well as serious sexual offences. The group is well regarded for its work on pre-charge criminal investigations. Exemplifying this in particular is Manchester-based department head Matthew Claughton, who is a leading expert in this field nationally. Gareth Martin joined the firm in June 2023 from Markel Law LLP and Richard Cornthwaite arrived in April 2023 from Cartwright King. Other key members of the team are Matthew Corn, Zita Spencer, Laura Baumanis and Toby Wilbraham, as well as Alex Close-Claughton.’

Specific quotes include:

• ‘Matthew Claughton leads the practice. He seeks advice when it is appropriate and has a good knowledge base. Matt Corn deals with heavy crime. He is assiduous in keeping on top of his cases and clearly is 100% committed, with very good judgment. Zita Spencer has a very strong practice in defending sex crimes.’ 
• ‘Zita Spencer is the undisputed queen of sexual offence defence. Her acquittal after trial rate is off the scale. Her ability to explain every angle of the case to her clients in a way that they take on board, and be able to work with, is astounding. She is like a guardian angel to her clients and she never gives less than 110%.’
• ‘Matt Corn is an able practitioner – diligent, thorough and always committed to his client’s case. He is a pleasure to work with, not least because he is pro-active and sensible. I should add that his concern for client welfare shines through. Excellent.’
• ‘Toby Wilbraham has a unique ability to see through all the distractions and get straight to the heart of any case. Unbelievable success rate in pre charge representations. He simply sets out how he would destroy the prosecution case before it has even been contemplated and they take his word for it and call it a day there and then.’
• ‘This is a unique practice. Matthew Claughton is a visionary. Tactically superb, manages a legal team to perfection, top-class choice for complex financial crime matters. Highly respected nationally.’
• ‘Matthew Corn is sought out by hardened career criminals. Matt is a fighter and does not give up until he has got the very best deal available for his clients, one of the most experienced solicitors for gang related murders and absolutely the number 1 choice for juveniles facing the most serious criminal charges in the Crown Courts.’
• ‘Olliers is a long-established firm with expertise in all areas of criminal law. I have worked with members of the firm over many years and I am able to confirm their strength in depth.’
• ‘Olliers is a firm dedicated to criminal practice, and it shows. The depth of knowledge and experience in criminal law is unmatched, and they are easily the best firm in Manchester for criminal lawyers.’ 

Chambers Guide 2025 

Chambers Guide 2025 comments:

‘Olliers maintains a strong presence in Manchester, handling a variety of serious criminal law work. The team is well placed to act for clients on the full range of serious crime matters such as murder and manslaughter, terrorism, firearms offences and drug supply cases. The firm is also praised for its expertise in sexual offence cases and fraud. ‘

Specific quotes include:

• ‘Kathryn Lloyd is very good at clearly and frequently communicating with clients. This means that the clients know what developments are occurring, however minor, and are made aware that matters are potentially changing in a way that will affect the tactical decisions that must be made. She is also excellent at identifying when a client needs a different communication style, such as a face-to-face conference that is then reinforced in simple written language, rather than a simple phone call. In relation to evidential complexity, I have found her to have encyclopaedic knowledge of the evidence from the outset. She rapidly digests unused material and will identify the pros and cons of potential disclosure issues within days of material being served. This maximises the time that a client can be given to make difficult choices in their cases.’
• ‘In financial crime, Matthew Corn is extremely astute and always contactable. He works extremely hard for his clients and is very sensible. He is a real star.’ 
• ‘Matthew Corn is really excellent and I frequently recommend him. Clients get good value for money from Matthew Corn. He is one of the best solicitors I have worked with. He is a real champion for his clients’ interests. He is very hardworking and determined. He was really important in ensuring we put the best defence forward, and we were only able to because he put in so many hours. Overall, he is a really good lawyer and a passionate advocate for his clients’ interest.’
• ‘Matthew Claughton is extremely organised and offers sensible, good advice. He prepares cases very well and shows good tactical and strategic awareness.’
• ‘Matthew Claughton’s client service, general level of service, level of sophistication and commercial vision are all very strong. His advocacy is very strong. Matthew has an incredibly fast mind; he’ll identify case strategies and tactics from the very first piece of police disclosure. His ability to anticipate developments is excellent and consistently benefits his clients.’
• ‘Olliers is a very good firm with a strong team and reputation.’ 
• ‘They always provide clear and useful instructions at an early point in the case, meaning that the key issues can be identified early and instructions taken from the client. This directly impacts on setting out appropriate disclosure requests, which in turn can change the nature of a case early in preparation. They deal with developments proactively and do not shy away from keeping pressure on the CPS to comply with their obligations. They also seek to work collaboratively with counsel, and this is aided by their lawyers always having a detailed forensic knowledge of the evidence in their cases. As a consequence even the most complex of cases is manageable, and important issues are not missed. Any difficulties I encounter are as a result of the wider issues in the CJS. Solicitors are being forced to work more reactively, with late services of documents. In addition, cases are often moved in the list, forcing the solicitors to move work around and thus move deadlines. None of that is attributable to the firms themselves. Their ability to handle complex and sophisticated matters is very strong. I have dealt with clients who have multiple ongoing cases, in which decisions in one will affect outcomes on another. Clients can struggle to understand this, particularly if they have learning difficulties. The depth and breadth of their team is strong. Having dealt with several members of the firm, I have never seen any weaknesses in their team.’