Foundry Chambers, London
Associate Member of Chambers 9 Park Place, Cardiff
Prosecution and defence.
William Hughes is a criminal law specialist with a mixed Prosecution and Defence practice.
In Silk, William is consistently instructed to Prosecute and Defend in high-profile cases of complexity, notoriety and sensitivity, including Homicide, Organised Crime Groups, Serious Sexual Offences and Historic Child Abuse Investigations, Serious Fraud and Financial Crime. William is also regularly instructed to advise Companies, as well as Company Directors and Officers with regard to Criminal and Regulatory matters.
William appears regularity in Appellate Courts, including historic matters referred by the CCRC for both Appellants and the Respondents.
William was regularly instructed in respect of Regulatory and Disciplinary Tribunals, Coroner’s Inquests and by Local Government Departments whilst a junior. He continues to be instructed in similar matters in Silk.
Additionally, William has appeared in a number of television documentaries, including ‘My Killer, My lover’ (S1 Ep2) (R v Morgan) which reached number 2 on Netflix trending in late 2021. William has also been interviewed by LRN (Formerly CNN2) in the USA with regard to another documentary (‘Murderous Millionaire’) about the same case.
In 2022, William was one of the subjects of an in-depth analysis of the ‘Colston Four’ trial by the New Statesman magazine.
Reviews
William is recommended as a leading individual of the newly published edition of the Legal 500 UK 2023, describing him as
“Very good in terms of strategy and oversight, and someone who shows great attention to detail.”
William has previously been described in the Legal 500 as
“a gentleman of great talents, and never fails to impress his instructing solicitor or client. He slowly, but calmly chips away at the case with impressive results. He is a very safe pair of hands, and has a wealth of experience. Since taking Silk his advocacy has continued to galvanise all parties involved in a case. He defends and prosecutes with equal prowess and is a pleasure to work with.”
William is ranked as a leading individual in the Crime section of Chambers & Partners UK Bar since 2014. In the 2023 edition he is described as
‘William is considered by those at the top of the profession as an absolute Rolls Royce in the rank of Silk.’
And in previous editions
‘He handles a wide range of serious criminal offences, particularly drugs-related cases, and is noted for his excellent client manner.
“He gets superb results”.’
“Very Impressive”
English (native), Conversational French, Limited Welsh
Member of South Eastern Circuit
Member of Wales and Chester Circuit
Vice-Chair of Association of London Welsh Lawyers
Previous Chair of the Kent Bar Mess
Former Recorder of the South Eastern Circuit (2004-2006) (Elected)
Former South Eastern Circuit Executive Committee (2004-2009) & (2016 to 2020)
Former Director of Education South Eastern Circuit
Committee Member of the Criminal Bar Association (Elected Committee Member 2007-2010)
Former Trustee, Ex-Secretary and Ex-Treasurer of the Criminal Bar Association’s Kalisher Scholarship Trust
Former Committee Member Fraud Lawyers Association
Gray’s Inn Advocacy Trainer
BSc (Hons) Law and Chemistry – Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montford University) BVC (Inns of Court School of Law)