Ella Jefferson

Consultant, Criminal Law. Ella has an outstanding record representing clients throughout the criminal justice process and has built a very strong reputation as a criminal defence practitioner since qualifying in September 2017. Ella’s diverse practice includes general crime, serious sexual offences, terrorism cases, youth crime and complex fraud and white-collar work, including insider dealing and bribery. In addition to her usual criminal practice, she also has experience in Inquest Law and International Law. Across these practice areas, Ella has represented a broad spectrum of individuals; ranging from a Chief Executive accused of a multi-million-pound fraud, political dissidents and climate change activists to youths and alleged gang members and celebrities involved in violent, drug-related and sexual offences. She has acted for corporations as well as individuals in criminal and quasi-civil matters such as breach of court orders, reporting restrictions and Tree Preservation Orders. Ella has particular interest representing vulnerable women in the criminal justice system and has represented women investigated and prosecuted for offences ranging from child neglect to terrorism. General Crime and representing high profile individuals Ella’s diverse general crime practice includes matters ranging in seriousness from historic sexual offences, violent offences (assault, ABH, GBH, manslaughter and murder), drug offences and terrorism offences all the way through to driving offences including speeding, excess alcohol and dangerous driving. She is often instructed in respect of criminal allegations faced by high profile individuals in the entertainment sector and is therefore well versed in managing the related reputational issues that can arise at the pre-charge, charge and latterly the court reporting stages of proceedings. Youth Crime Ella’s youth crime practice has a strong focus on avoiding criminal prosecutions by diverting young people away from the Courts. She has a long-standing record of persuading the CPS not to charge suspects or to drop charges already brought. She also has extensive experience successfully negotiating out of court disposals including community resolutions, youth cautions and fixed penalty notices. Linked to her youth crime practice, Ella acts for students in University Misconduct proceedings, where their misconduct also constitutes criminal offending. She acts for individuals accused of a range of offending including “revenge porn”, sexual offences where the accused and accuser are both young people, image based “sexting” offences, drugs offences and violent offences. Ella has also acted for young members of activist groups including Black Lives Matter, Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion, earning her a reputation as the “name to note” for Protest Work (Legal500) and for which she was recognised in “the Times 200 Best Law Firms” guide in 2019. Her knowledge is kept constantly up to date through engagement with various youth justice organisations and she is a legal content contributor with the Youth Justice Legal Centre. Ella has a particular interest in the use of criminal behavioural orders in censoring creative works within the music industry (see “Defending Digga D: Criminal Behaviour Orders, Rehabilitation and Cultural Censorship”.) Business Crime and Fraud Ella is experienced in a range of business crime matters including complex and serious fraud, insider dealing, bribery and corruption and money laundering. She acts in several high-profile matters and has experience defending private prosecutions. She represents individuals in multi-jurisdictional SFO investigations and FCA investigations. Ella’s clients have included a Chief Executive accused of a multi-million-pound fraud, a financial controller accused of multi-million-pound theft, retail managers and company directors. She has a particular interest in cryptoassets and artificial intelligence (AI) and the interface between crime and the tech industry. International Human Rights Law Ella works closely with Tayab Ali, Partner in the Political, Diplomatic and International Law Team. Alongside other human rights specialists Ella has drafted complaints to UN agencies including to Special Rapporteurs and the UN Human Rights Committee. She has acted for Syrian returnees and their family members on repatriation cases working closely with NGOs, human rights organisations, politicians and journalists. She has a particular interest in Middle East and North Africa region, and works on human rights complaints pertaining to jurisdictions including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria and Iraq. · Bindmans LLP