Specialist Criminal Defence Firm | London | Hybrid Working Available
NQ–5 PQE
Accuflex is working with a highly regarded specialist criminal defence firm to recruit a solicitor for its growing Business Crime and Financial Crime practice.
This is a strong opportunity for a criminal defence solicitor who has genuine technical experience in POCA, confiscation, account freezing orders and asset forfeiture, and who wants to work closely with experienced lawyers in a specialist financial crime team.
The successful candidate will handle a mix of mainstream criminal defence, financial crime and proceeds of crime matters, with a particular focus on technically detailed POCA work. This role will suit someone who is comfortable with police station and court work, but who also wants to build deeper expertise in business crime and asset recovery proceedings.
The work is expected to include:
POCA and confiscation proceedings
Account freezing orders and forfeiture matters
Cash seizure and civil recovery work
Fraud, money laundering and wider financial crime matters
Private paying criminal defence work
Some legal aid casework
Police station attendance
Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court work
Client care, case preparation and strategic input on active matters
Working closely with senior lawyers on complex financial crime and POCA matters
There may also be the opportunity to undertake additional police station work where desired.
Candidates must have a strong grounding in criminal defence and a demonstrable understanding of financial crime work. This is not a role for someone with only a broad or superficial interest in POCA; the successful candidate will need to understand the practical and technical issues involved in freezing orders, confiscation and proceeds of crime proceedings
We are particularly interested in speaking with candidates who have:
Qualification as a solicitor in England & Wales
c.NQ–5 PQE, although directly relevant experience will be more important than PQE alone
Duty solicitor status
Strong police station experience
A detailed working knowledge of POCA, confiscation and account freezing orders
Experience in criminal defence, including privately funded and/or legally aided matters
Experience advising clients at the investigation stage
Strong client care skills, particularly with individuals facing sensitive or high-stakes allegations
Good drafting, analytical and case preparation skills
The confidence to work closely with senior lawyers while also taking ownership of matters
A calm, practical and commercially aware approach
The following would be advantageous:
Police station accreditation
Experience with cash seizure, forfeiture or civil recovery matters
Exposure to SFO, FCA, NCA, HMRC or CPS investigations
Experience acting for professionals, company directors, HNW individuals or corporates
Advocacy experience in the Magistrates’ Court
Experience in regulatory or white-collar criminal investigations
This is an excellent opportunity to join a respected specialist criminal defence firm and work on high-quality financial crime and POCA matters from an early stage.
The role offers:
Exposure to complex account freezing, confiscation, forfeiture and financial crime work
Close working with experienced senior lawyers in a specialist team
A mix of private client and legally aided criminal defence matters
Strong technical development in a specialist practice area
Hybrid working
A supportive team environment with realistic expectations around workload and work-life balance
The opportunity to build a long-term career in business crime and financial crime defence
London - with some hybrid working.
Accutrainee and Accuflex, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We believe in equal opportunities for all and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, ages, genders, races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations and abilities. Our recruitment process is designed to be fair, transparent and free from discrimination.
Accutrainee provides a unique, flexible and efficient way for law firms and in-house legal teams to take on trainee solicitors and for graduates to benefit from bespoke training contracts designed around them.
Trainees can gain experience in more than one organisation during their training contract or stay at one firm for the whole two years. There is no typical training contract at Accutrainee. To date, all of our trainees have secured positions on qualification.
We employ trainees under training contracts and second them to law firms and in-house legal teams in accordance with our clients' requirements and business needs. The result is improved efficiency and flexibility for our clients and greater opportunities for our trainees.
We work with organisations who have their own trainee cohort as well as those who have wanted to take on trainees in the past but not yet done so. Our role is to ensure clients get access to quality assured trainees but without having to worry about anything else as it’s all taken care of by us!
We are continually talking to firms and in-house teams about their trainee requirements and therefore we have training contracts opportunities starting all year round.
During training contracts, we heavily monitor trainees ensuring that all training requirements are met and exceeded and to ensure each trainee is day one competent. We also deliver additional mentoring to each trainee so that they get the support and guidance they need during this crucial time in their career development.
Our extremely robust selection process takes place all year round enabling us to meet far greater numbers of candidates to understand their strengths and competencies. This method is crucial to supporting our passion and focus on improving diversity within the legal profession.
If you would like more information about Accutrainee, please call us: 020 7871 2822, email us: info@accutrainee.com or visit our website: www.accutrainee.com.
