Criminal lawyers at Bath law firm Mowbray Woodwards are celebrating their team’s first appearance in the respected sector reference guide The Legal 500.
The publication, which came out last week, ranks the top lawyers and firms from the UK’s regions. This year Mowbray Woodwards’ criminal law team makes its debut alongside established South West criminal practices such as Ashfords, Kelcey & Hall and Reeds Solicitors in Bristol and Bath’s Stone King. 
The Legal 500 says the team “provides the full range of specialist criminal defence services, with a particular focus on regulatory crime and motoring law”.
It says cases involving mental health issues, such as acting for clients with autism spectrum disorder diagnoses, are a particular area of strength, and that the practice handles serious sexual offences for clients with mental health issues.
The firm’s ‘committed and hard-working’ lawyers attract praise for having ‘a wealth of experience in the area of criminal defence law’, the guide says.
Team head Matthew Graham has ‘an enviable knowledge of the law’, is ‘considered a very safe pair of hands’ and is noted for his experience as a Magistrates Court advocate. 
The group has experience in handling high-profile cases such as the Tara Hudson case from 2015 which dealt with the treatment of transgender offenders in prison. It recently advised a client on a proceeds of crime litigation case subsequent to a conviction for cannabis production. Another highlight was defending a client who was prosecuted for bank robbery, successfully reducing the sentence to a relatively short prison sentence with regard to the client’s personal circumstances.
Matthew Graham said: “I am proud that the quality and dedication of our Criminal Team has been recognised by the Legal 500 and that the excellence and depth of service to individuals and businesses in criminal defence, regulatory and motoring law can continue to grow and develop.”
