Prison Avoided for Illegaly Providing Legal Advice

Case study summary

Our client was charged with providing legal advice and services whilst unqualified. We reviewed the case thoroughly with him and he decided to plead guilty. Following mitigation we presented to the court, our client avoiding custody and received a 12 month suspended sentence.

Case study

Our client instructed us ahead of his first appearance in the Magistrates' Court. He was charged with eleven counts of carrying out regulated legal activities relating to providing immigration advice and services whilst not being a qualified person.

Our client had been providing advice and submitting applications on behalf of others. He had no knowledge that this was a criminal offence to do this whilst unqualified and therefore facing these charges was extremely distressing for him. We reviewed the case fully and advised our client on the law, including relevant case law. The offence is one of strict liability, meaning our client did not have to be aware that he was committing an offence to be found guilty. This was hard for our client to accept, however, through numerous conversations regarding the law and the strength of the case against him, he decided to plead guilty to receive full credit and give him the best chance of avoiding a prison sentence.

One of our expert solicitors represented our client in the Magistrates' Court, and we ensured that we instructed an experienced barrister to represent him once the case was sent to the Crown Court. We worked with our client to take detailed background information from him in order to gather as much mitigation material as possible. We also arranged for a psychological report to be completed to assist the court when considering sentence. The psychologist explored our client's troubled upbringing and the traumatic events he had experienced throughout his life and provided a helpful report for the court.

Although the offence did pass the custody threshold, the judge felt that immediate custody was not necessary due to the strong mitigation material which we had advanced. Therefore, our client received a 12-month suspended sentence. This allowed our client to continue with his education and supporting his family.