Criminal law specialist rebrands

CLARION Advocates, the fraud crime and regulatory practice with offices in Leeds and Liverpool, has re-branded as ABR Solicitors.

The outfit is looking to open offices nationwide, initially focusing on the North, following the re-brand, initially in Harrogate and Huddersfield.

Clarion Advocates was formed in 2010 as a separate division of Leeds-based law firm Clarion. It then opened a second office in Liverpool.

Led by Rob Rode, who headed Clarion Advocates and was responsible for establishing Clarion’s successful Yorkshire based criminal practice, the expanded practice has a total of 18 criminal lawyers across its four offices. 

ABR Solicitors offers a full range of fraud crime and regulatory services, defending prosecutions and investigations of all kinds at any stage, and also advising businesses about regulatory compliance to avoid prosecutions. 

Mark Burns, managing partner of Clarion, said: “The opening of our Liverpool office two years ago marked the first part of our strategy to build on our criminal law expertise by establishing a network of  offices throughout the country. 

“Following the continuing success of the Leeds and Liverpool criminal practices, we have now been able to expand with the acquisition of these additional offices. 

“The change of name, recruitment of Andrew Duncan as managing director and the opening of these offices is the next stage of the development of the business.”

Senior partner of ABR Solicitors, Rob Rode, added: “We believe that we are very good at what we do – we are ranked in the top four practices nationwide, handling numerous high profile and complex cases all over the country and have established a strong reputation with regular acknowledgements in independent legal guides.”