Levy & McRae

Civil and criminal litigation experts
Levy & McRae is a highly regarded firm that deals with the most complex and difficult cases in Scottish law courts. As civil and criminal litigation experts, the firm represents individual and corporate clients in all courts, including the High Court and the Court of Session. The firm is often the solicitors of choice for clients seeking a discreet, confidential, and high-quality service, with the aim of protecting their reputation.

A trusted referral practice – the lawyer’s criminal lawyer: For decades the firm has been the specialist criminal law firm of choice for leading law firms from across Scotland and the rest of the UK, who refer clients for criminal law advice and court representation. The firm has a strong independent referral practice in all areas of legal expertise in Scotland. In circumstances where legal firms and individual lawyers require independent legal advice, Levy & McRae is often the first port of call; a strong indication of how the firm is perceived and trusted by leading law firms and their clients. The firm is referred cases by Scottish and UK legal firms (including magic circle firms).

Expertise and experience: We have expertise in all areas of investigations and litigation, including:

• Criminal law
• Regulatory cases
• Fraud and financial crime
• Road Traffic cases
•  Inquiries

A strengthened private criminal law team: The Levy & McRae private crime team is renowned as the foremost private criminal law team in Scotland. The team has been further strengthened this year by the incorporation of solicitor-advocate Neil Hay who joined Levy & McRae, along with his team. Neil Hay is a partner within Levy & McRae, is highly regarded as a leading private crime lawyer in Scotland. Neil is also recognised by The Legal 500 as a Leading Individual in defending criminal cases in Scotland.

Our clients: As Scotland’s foremost private crime legal firm, Levy & McRae represents and protects the interests of high-net-worth individuals and professional people such as sports men and women, media personalities and high-profile people operating in public life, politics, business, and government. Professionals who instruct the firm to represent them include doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers, dentists and those working in business and finance.

The firm represents high-profile companies, world-wide organisations, and other leading law firms, as well as professional organisations who retain us to advise on criminal and regulatory matters. It also acts for major corporations facing serious threats to their reputation such as regulatory investigations and prosecutions.

The firm is seen as the ‘go-to’ law firm for white-collar crime. With offices across the UK (Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London) and well-established international partnerships across the world, Levy & McRae has a truly global Scottish criminal law reach.

The firm regularly represents people who are answerable to professional bodies at disciplinary tribunals for accountants, doctors and other professionals who are facing the consequences of criminal allegations. Levy & McRae is particularly highly regarded for representing members of the legal profession. The Scottish Police Federation have selected the firm to defend officers in relation to criminal allegations made against them. As a boutique ligation practice, the firm is strong in all areas of litigation: criminal, civil and all related areas including tribunals.

Many of our clients have high-profile reputations and international interests. This calls for the ability to manage not just the legal aspects of such work but also to manage the media to ensure that matters are kept away as far as possible from public scrutiny. To that end, Levy & McRae works behind the scenes to try to avoid matters coming to court in the first place. If court action is inevitable, the firm has expertise in reputation management, include media handling, to minimise the effects of such action and any attendant publicity.

Private crime: At Levy & McRae we are specialists in dealing with all statutory and common law offences. We have expertise in dealing with cases that present some real and imminent professional and personal challenges for clients (such as financial, domestic, or sexual cases). At all stages, we work to defend and support clients throughout the process by managing the case on their behalf. The firm is aware how stressful these allegations can be and is on your side, often when no one else is.

• Domestic cases (eg domestic assault, domestic abuse, section 38 - breach of the peace, section 39 – stalking)
• Sexual offences (including internet offences)
• Breach of the peace
• Perjury and  wasting police time
• Cases involving violence (assault and police assault)
• Theft
• Drugs offences

Fraud and financial crime: Levy & McRae has a long-standing reputation for its work in this area. The firm deals with high value commercial and corporate fraud cases as well as cases involving private individuals in matters such as:

• Fraud
• Tax and VAT offences
• Bribery
• Embezzlement
• Money-laundering
• Theft
• Charity offences
• Directors’ offences
• Counterfeiting and forgery

The firm is assisted by a team of specialist forensic experts, including forensic accountants, when required.

Regulatory crime: The firm has experience and expertise in dealing with all areas of regulatory crime (including cases involving multiple fatalities) relating to:

• Health and safety
• Environmental protection
• Transport
• Animals and wildlife
• Property and housing
• Charities
• Fishing, maritime and coastguard
• Intellectual property
• Education
• Forestry
• Trading standards

Companies, organisations, and individuals regularly instruct Levy & McRae to provide specialist advice and representation in complex regulatory matters.

Road traffic cases: Road traffic cases contain the potential to derail careers and relationships, as well as undermining reputations. In the most serious cases, such as causing death by dangerous driving, the courts can impose a significant period of imprisonment. The firm can provide you with strategic advice and specialist advocacy in relation to all road traffic cases, including:

• Causing death by dangerous or careless driving
• Dangerous driving
• Careless driving
• Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Driving while using a mobile phone
• Speeding
• Driving while disqualified
• Driving without insurance

Inquiries: Inquiries can represent a real and immediate challenge to individual and corporate reputations, with all the attendant financial and personal consequences. At Levy & McRae, we are experts at managing the complex issues around Inquiries and we have an in-depth knowledge of all procedural matters. Our in-house team is skilled at dealing with complex and voluminous evidence and we have access to first-rate technical and forensic experts from across the UK. The firm represents clients in some of the most high-profile fatal accident inquiries, acting for ‘household-name’ clients in industries that include utilities, transport infrastructure, public authorities, and government bodies. The firm is often the first-choice solicitors for organisations and individuals seeking advice and representation in:

• Public Inquiries
• Fatal accident inquiries