GT Stewart Limited — England

About

GT Stewart Solicitors & Advocates is a leading multi-service UK firm specialising in Criminal Defence, Family and Civil Rights Law. It has a national presence across fifteen offices – Ashford, Barnet, Birmingham, Bromley, Canterbury, City of London, Croydon, Dartford, East Dulwich, Hammersmith, Leeds, Margate, Oldbury, St Albans and Woolwich. It provides 24 hour emergency advice to anyone who has been arrested. GT Stewart has earned a reputation in the courts for fighting tenaciously and fairly for all clients. We keep to our strapline ‘every client matters’. The recent addition of the crime and family teams at FMW Law in Hammersmith has enhanced that reputation. GT Stewart is on the approved and recommended list of solicitors for the National Autistic Society (NAS) and we have contributed to the Rook Working Group for Advocacy Training which produced the Advocacy and Vulnerable Training Programme. The founder and driving force behind the success of the firm, Greg Stewart, has been involved in many high profile and sensitive cases in the Crown Courts and Court of Appeal. He is the co-author of the Criminal Appeals Handbook (Bloomsbury Professional 2nd edition). He regularly contributes to consultations and discussions of criminal justice and recently appeared on Unreliable Evidence on Radio 4 discussing anti-social behaviour. In May 2019 he and the head of our Youth Court team, Mel Stooks, were jointly awarded the Youth Champions Outstanding Achievement Award at the annual Youth Summit at Kings College London. The firm has a first class in-house advocacy team, consisting of in-house barristers and solicitor advocates. They can be found on the firm’s website www.gtstewart.co.uk GT Stewart Solicitors & Advocates provide a wide range of legal services to both individuals and businesses on a private or legal aid basis. Types of work undertaken include: Criminal defence: Our Criminal Defence team represent clients who are arrested and/or charged with a variety of serious criminal offences from the police station through to the Court of Appeal. Our team comprises barristers and solicitor advocates. Our speclialists defend actions by the prosecuting agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS), SFO, FCA, HMRC, HSE and the Office of Fair Trading. GT Stewart is a member of the LAA Very High Cost Cases panel. Our team represents professionals facing prosecution and/or regulatory complaints and we have successfully challenged many decisions to prosecute by the CPS. We regularly challenge refusals of the police to vary or discharge ancillary criminal orders and DBS certificates. Our team has experience opposing and appealing Criminal Behaviour Orders and Gang Injunction applications. Family: The Family and Childcare Department deals with all aspects of Family Law, representing parents, children, other family members and interveners who are based in the UK and worldwide, in proceedings across England & Wales in all levels of Court from Magistrates right the way up to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Our representation includes neurodivergent clients, vulnerable clients, those with learning difficulties, ethnic minority backgrounds and foreign nationals. We have particular strength and specialities in Complex Care proceedings involving non-accidental injuries (NAI), sexual abuse, Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII), and cases where there are concurrent criminal proceedings. We are also regularly instructed in complex Private Law children proceedings where the child or children are separately represented through a Cafcass Children’s Guardian. We offer services to both private paying and legal aid clients in the following areas of law: Public Law Children (involvement with Social Services), Private Law Children Advice, Matrimonial & Relationship Advice and Domestic Abuse & Personal Protection. Civil liberties, human rights and actions against the state: Our Civil Liberties team has exceptional experience pursuing remedies for clients or their families when they have suffered wrongs at the hands of the State or their agents including: the police, prison officers, local authorities and public bodies who need access to justice. These include article 2 and 8 HRA cases involving suspicious deaths in custody. Housing Law: Our dedicated Housing Law team is led by Joint Heads, Claire Wiles and Susan Gronbach. Our team frequently acts for vulnerable clients striving to remedy discrimination and inequality, and challenge unlawful actions wherever they arise, in homelessness, possession claims, and in private sector housing. We represent clients across a wide range of housing and public law issues including, possession proceedings, antisocial behaviour injunctions, unlawful eviction, disrepair and fitness for human habitation, homelessness and judicial review in housing matters. Our solicitors believe that having a safe and secure home is a fundamental basic right which, if threatened, can negatively impact on all other aspects of a person’s life, such as their health, relationships, education and livelihood. Our team will passionately fight for their clients’ and have a reputation for working relentlessly in the pursuit of justice. Our team frequently receives instructions from the Official Solicitor to act on behalf of clients lacking litigation capacity and who are protected parties in complex antisocial behaviour possession and injunction cases, involving disability discrimination defences and counterclaims. Prison law: GT Stewart Solicitors has a team of legal representatives specialising in all areas of Prison Law. We hold a LAA contract to accept publicly funded Prison Law work. Our team can provide representation for clients in relation to adjudications in front of the independent adjudicator, recall reviews (both determinate and indeterminate prisoners) and Parole Board Hearings. We advise across the full range of prison law related matters including IPPs, life sentence reviews, Category A reviews and where necessary, challenging decisions by way of Judicial Review. If public funding is not available, we can also provide competitively priced cost estimates on a private paying basis. Mental Health: Our Mental Health Law Department is a leading provider of specialist advice and representation for individuals detained or treated under the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2007. We act for patients across civil and forensic settings, including adults, children, and elderly clients, and provide a seamless service from initial detention challenges to complex appellate work. All fee earners in the team hold the Law Society Mental Health Accreditation, ensuring the highest standards of expertise and advocacy. We maintain Legal Aid contracts in London and Birmingham and accept instructions nationwide where justified under Legal Aid Agency criteria. We also offer private funding options and bespoke arrangements for clients who do not qualify for public funding. Community Care: Our Community Care department was established at GT Stewart in August 2014. Since this time, our team has quickly grown and established a reputation in the field. We regularly work with charities and the not for profit sector and we are frequently instructed by the Official Solicitor. We are well-known for acting for the most vulnerable and traumatised clients including clients with mental health difficulties, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who are age-disputed, victims of trafficking and destitute families with no recourse to public funds. Our team is often approached to take on urgent and complex cases where clients are destitute, street-homeless and vulnerable. Motoring offences: GT Stewart Solicitors & Advocates has skilled and experienced solicitors able to defend clients facing allegations such as causing death by dangerous or careless driving, driving whilst unfit or under the influence of drugs, driving without a licence or speeding. ### Staffing Figures - 2 Directors - 175 Fee Earners

Office locations

Practice areas

Lawyers in this office

Claire Wiles

Supervising Solicitor · Housing

Ed Youlton

Solicitor-Advocate · Criminal Defence

Elizabeth Rowley

Crime & Regulatory Solicitor · Criminal Defence

GC

Geoffrey Castello

Supervising Solicitor · Family

Graham Whittingham

Assistant Solicitor · Criminal Defence

Greg Stewart

Head of Criminal Appeals and Senior Solicitor/Advocate · Criminal Appeals

Julie Anne Boyle

Supervising Solicitor · Criminal Appeals

Leigh Nisbet

Solicitor · Criminal Defence

Mel Stooks

Partner & Supervising Solicitor

Melanie Krudy

Partner & Higher Court Advocate · Criminal Defence

MS

Michelle Stewart

Assistant Solicitor · Criminal Defence

Patricia Walker

Consultant Solicitor · Criminal Defence

Philip Mahoney

Assistant Solicitor and Higher Court Advocate · Criminal Defence

Rebecca Hill

Supervising Solicitor · Social Welfare

RM

Ronnie Manek

Partner & Head of Crown Court Advocacy · Criminal Defence

Sophie Smith

Supervising Solicitor · Criminal Defence

Will Russell

Partner & Supervising Solicitor · Criminal Defence