Autumn Evening Talks from the Criminal Law Week and the CBA

Calling all junior members of the Bar:

Criminal Law Week and the Criminal Bar Association will be holding an online series of evening talks in Autumn 2024, given by leading experts on topics relevant to the everyday practice of junior barristers.

All talks take place at 18.00hrs on Zoom.

Please email the administrator to book.

Confirmed dates, speakers and topics include:

Monday 16th September 2024 – Matthew Hardcastle & Bartholomew Dalton

‘You do not have to say anything, but … a whistlestop tour of the police station’

Matthew Hardcastle is a partner at Kingsley Napley, and Bartholomew Dalton, Associate at Hickman and Rose.

Matthew’s specialty is in pre-charge investigations and litigation. Matthew has particular experience acting in high-profiles matters, including cases involving members of the media, the entertainment industry, professional athletes, politicians, and regulated individuals.

Criminal defence and police investigations

Matthew has acted in a number of the most significant investigations of the past five years and has established himself as one of the country’s leading specialists in Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace investigations providing advice to both companies and individuals.

He’s also specialised in police station representation and acts for young people accused of serious criminal offences.

White collar crime

Matthew regularly acts for regulated individuals and company officers facing a criminal investigation, including in a number of significant SFO investigators and prosecutions.

Matthew combines his practice with academic work and he is the author of the leading practitioners’ texts on providing advice during a criminal investigation. He is the co-author of three books on police station law and procedure:

• Defending Suspects at Police Station;
• Police Station Adviser’s Handbook;
• Blackstone’s Police Station Handbook

He’s also the co-author of Legal Action Group’s Police Station: Update; on the editorial review board of The Criminal Law Review; and is the chair of Criminal Law Week: Live.

Bartholomew Dalton is an accomplished criminal defence solicitor who provides expert advice in relation to all stages of criminal cases, from investigation through to trial and appeal.

He has represented clients accused of a wide range of offences including murder, firearms offences, robbery, rape, people trafficking, large scale drugs supply, driving offences, regulatory offences, and multi-million pound frauds. He is an experienced representative at the police station, advocate in the Magistrates’ Court and litigator in both the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts.

Bartholomew understands the severe impact that a criminal investigation and case can have on his clients’ lives, regardless of the seriousness of the allegations. He takes pride in his diligent case preparation and is acknowledged as a persuasive and tenacious advocate who achieves the best possible results. He is experienced at guiding professionals and high profile individuals through the criminal process and has an excellent record of persuading prosecuting authorities to discontinue cases at an early stage. He was recently commended in a High Court judgment for his “energetic pursuit of [his client’s] release right through the night and early hours” and for his “dedicated professional representation”.

Bartholomew is the co-author of the two most recent editions of the leading practitioners’ handbook Blackstone’s Magistrates’ Court Handbook, published by Oxford University Press, and is currently working on the 2025 edition. He is also a member of Criminal Law Week’s commentary board and a committee member and the law reform officer for the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association.

Bartholomew completed an LLM at UCL where he was awarded the Leonard Sainer Scholarship. He went on to achieve a distinction in his LPC at Nottingham Law School. He qualified as a solicitor in a highly regarded East London criminal defence department in 2017 before joining Hickman & Rose in 2021.