Olliers Solicitors is firmly established as one of the UK's leading criminal defence specialists. Our senior lawyers are all leaders in their field. Olliers is ranked as a top tier law firm by both the Legal 500 2026 and Chambers Guide 2026. We are the Manchester Legal Awards 2025 Crime Firm of the Year and have won Crime Team of the Year at the Manchester Legal Awards on eight occasions since 2011. We are a Times Best Law Firm 2025. 

We have a formidable reputation for our pro-active approach to the investigative stage of a criminal case focusing on crisis management, discretion and nipping an investigation in the bud. We are known for our creative and dynamic attitude to problem solving offering a tailored approach to every case. 

Matthew Claughton – Managing Director : “at Olliers the interests of the client are paramount … an ethos shared by every single member of the firm”. Olliers specialise in defending large scale and complex serious criminal cases. Nationally few firms can match our experience and expertise. 

Director Matthew Claughton has in excess of thirty years experience of defending serious criminal cases and is regularly singled out for mention by the Chambers Guide and Legal 500. Matthew is ranked as a top tier criminal practitioner by the 2026 edition of the Legal 500 and was the Northern Powerhouse Criminal Lawyer of the Year 2023. He was also the Manchester Legal Awards Partner of the Year 2021 as well as a previous winner of the Modern Law Awards Lawyer of the Year. Team members specialise in specific niche areas law meaning that we can provide specialist representation across the whole spectrum of criminal defence and regulatory law.

Olliers Solicitors

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