Lawyers 44
Turnover Not disclosed
Offices 4
This south London criminal defence firm hit the headlines last year representing Prince Andrew, who agreed a multimillion-pound settlement with Virginia Giuffre after she sued him in America for sexual abuse — claims that he denied.
This year things have reverted more to business as usual and closer to home. Gary Rubin and Trevor Francis, who are partners at the firm, secured the acquittal at the Old Bailey in central London of Alfred Dorris, the driver of the tram that crashed in Croydon in 2016, killing seven passengers. Dorris had been prosecuted for failing to take reasonable care at work. Transport for London pleaded guilty to the health and safety offences and was fined £10 million. The firm also represented Dorris at the three-month coroner’s inquest.
Gary Bloxsome, a partner, and Jennifer Richardson, a senior associate, represented two senior staff members at Sandhurst military academy in the inquest into the death of Olivia Perks, a cadet. Both clients gave evidence as interested persons and cited systemic failings in the academy and a lack of support for staff and officers as the key contributory factor in Perks’s death. The coroner recorded a conclusion of suicide and found that the army had missed opportunities to prevent the cadet’s death and that there had been a “complete breakdown in welfare support”.
For the past decade Blackfords and Daniel Cundy, a partner, represented a key individual suspect in Operation Quest, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into the Kazakhstan mining giant Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC). In August the SFO dropped its investigation, saying that it did not have enough evidence to prosecute.
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★ Commended for crime; financial crime & fraud & regulatory
To browse the Best Law Firms 2024, go to thetimes.co.uk/bestlawfirms