Hardeep Dhaliwal

I am a Director in the Crime Department at Duncan Lewis. I am responsible for managing and supervising a team of solicitors, trainee solicitors and caseworkers. I joined Duncan Lewis as an assistant solicitor in January 1999. My initial years at the firm involved representing clients and preparing a wide variety of cases at police stations, magistrates courts and the crown courts, ranging from relatively minor offences right through to very serious indictable offences. As the years progressed and as the criminal department at Duncan Lewis has grown, my role at the firm has widened in that I have taken a further managerial function in additon to continuing to service clients. My present role has further evolved into marketing the department and ensuring that we are recognised as leaders in representing clients charged with very serious high profile offences which are only triable at the Crown Court. This includes high value complex fraud cases and large scale drug importation cases. Over the past eighteen and a half years I have established a substantially large client base in East London and Essex. Existing clients who find themselves continuously facing criminal charges contact me for assistance on a regular basis as well as recommending my services to new clients. I have further expanded my role within the department by working closely in partnership with a small consortium of other lawyers from other criminal law firms who refer clients to me and vice versa. This would happen in those cases where a particular firm would be acting for more than one client and a conflict of interest has arisen between the defendants. Equally, I have referred clients and continue to refer clients to the same law firms where a conflict of interest has arisen between two or more of my clients in a case. This practice ensures that in both scenarios, clients receive a high quality service by reputable criminal law practices at all times. Having been with Duncan Lewis Solicitors since 1999, I have shown the characteristics of dedication, commitment and loyalty. These same characteristics are a vital prerequisite that a criminal lawyer needs to display towards his/her clients. I have also been ranked by the independent legal directory, The Legal 500 UK, as a as a Recommended Individual, recognised in particular for my client care skills and high level of service to clients.