After many years experience working elsewhere in the criminal justice system the firm was founded in March 1993 by David Ake as a sole practitioner specialising in Criminal Defence work. David was later joined by Mark Pritchard in 1994 & then Theresa Clark in 1997 who both subsequently became partners. The partnership was then enhanced further by the very experienced Jayne Dodson & most recently by Gail Guest who had been with the firm for several years & who along with Theresa also specialises in Mental Health. They are supported by a variety of experienced staff trained to a level of competence and supervised by Mr Ake.

The firm was awarded a Legal Aid Franchise as soon as it was introduced & has maintained their franchise to the highest level. David Ake & Co currently holds a category 1 franchise & the Legal Services Commission Standard Quality Mark.

In addition to work from clients who approach us all our Solicitors are qualified & approved to take instructions from the Duty Solicitor Scheme.

As stated elsewhere our core business is dealing with all types of Criminal Defence work & we have extensive experience in handling cases ranging from homicides & large scale high value conspiracy allegations to everyday road traffic allegations. We regularly deal with cases of alleged Drug Trafficking and related allegations, Burglary & other Theft Act allegations, Sexual allegations, Assault allegations, Drink Driving and Speeding as well as Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO's) and Proceedings for alleged Breaches of Court Orders. The list goes on & includes many high profile cases over the years.

In addition to conventional Police enquiries we also have experience of investigations & Prosecutions involving the new Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), NCIS, Regional Crime Squad (as it was), Homicide & Major Enquiry Team (HMET), HM Customs, Inland Revenue, the Special Investigation Branch of the Army & the Military Police, the Department for Work & Pensions & local Councils. The list goes on & has included many high profile cases subject to media attention both regionally and nationally.

As a firm we currently operate an emergency call out rota for Police Interviews 24 hours 7 days a week 365 days a year & frequently attend many local Police Stations to represent not only our own clients but also other firms clients as an agent.

For those aggrieved by their contact with the Police we can also offer advice & assistance and where appropriate referral.

We have experience of a number of successful abuse arguments & have been engaged in a variety of cases involving formal complaints about the Police including to Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) level.

For those sent to the Magistrates Court we operate principally at the Leeds Magistrates Courts – which we face directly onto across Westgate – but we also regularly appear before the Wakefield, Selby, Pontefract & Bradford Courts. Where merited we also travel wider & our business takes us across not only West Yorkshire but also North & South Yorkshire.

Should a client require representation at Crown Court several of the partners have higher rights of audience so are qualified & permitted to also represent clients whose cases have been sent to the Crown Court by the Magistrates, thereby enabling where appropriate & possible potential for continuity of representation from the Police Station through the Magistrates to Crown Court. Again our principal daily Crown Court business is at Leeds – which we also directly face across Westgate – but we also appear York & Bradford Crown Courts & form time to time at the many other Court Centres in the region & elsewhere.

Alternatively, for those clients who find themselves before the Crown Court represented by Counsel we have close working relationships with a number of Barristers Chambers, Leeds being the home of a large proportion of the North Eastern Bar. As a standard we aim to operate only with specialist Criminal Defence Counsel who appear on our approved list of Counsel which we have developed over the years from our experience. In this way we hope to balance a clients needs to particular Counsel & try to ensure the best possible representation

The nature of our core business also necessitates our service extends to other related areas of Law & we also specialise Mental Health, Prison Law & Courts-Martial & you may wish to follow the links to those pages for more information.

If you have any enquiry about our Criminal Defence Service any of the partners are able to deal but in the first instance you may wish to telephone us to discuss the matter or e-mail us via our Contact us.