KANGS Solicitors

KANGS Solicitors: criminal defence and fraud law across England and Wales

KANGS Solicitors is a criminal law firm that describes itself as nationally recognised for strategic legal advice and robust, privately funded representation in complex criminal investigations, serious fraud cases, regulatory proceedings and financial crime matters. The firm states that it has provided partner-led, bespoke legal services since 1997 to individuals, company directors, professionals, business owners and corporate clients. Its offices are in London, Birmingham and Manchester, and it represents clients across all regions of England and Wales, attending police stations, courts and investigations in every English and Welsh county.

The firm operates on a private instruction model, which it says allows it to deploy experienced, partner-led defence teams quickly regardless of location. It presents itself as a Legal 500 Top-Tier firm and as Top-Ranked by Chambers UK. The testimonials reproduced on its site include descriptions from Legal 500 and Chambers UK, such as being called one of the best criminal specialist firms in the country and a well-run firm with a brilliant team of lawyers.

Criminal litigation and general crime

KANGS handles a broad spectrum of criminal matters, including fraud, money laundering, theft, drug offences, murder and general criminal charges. Its criminal litigation practice covers sexual offences, assault and violent crime, student sexual misconduct, youth crime, motoring and road traffic offences, and cybercrime and computer misuse. The firm also provides police station representation and pre-charge representations, and it handles extradition cases.

Tax and HMRC investigations

The firm acts for taxpayers in HMRC investigations, civil tax enquiries and HMRC criminal prosecutions. It states that it is nationally recognised for expertise in MTIC, tax fraud, Kittel and VAT fraud cases. Its tax-related services include HMRC civil tax investigations, HMRC COP9 investigations, HMRC contractual disclosure facility matters, HMRC discovery assessments, VAT and Kittel assessments, appeals to tax tribunals, tax avoidance scheme investigations, Covid-19 government scheme enquiries and personal liability notices.

Financial crime, POCA and asset recovery

KANGS's financial crime team offers representation to individuals facing financial investigations. The firm says it is top ranked nationally for POCA and asset forfeiture work and guides clients through restraint orders, confiscation orders and cash seizures. Its financial investigation services include account freezing orders, proceeds of crime (POCA) proceedings, money laundering, white collar crime, FCA investigations, serious fraud, dawn raids and rapid response, cryptocurrency investigations and disputes, and unexplained wealth orders. In civil fraud, the firm acts for both claimants and defendants, often in proceedings with a significant international dimension, and handles civil recovery and property freezing orders.

Regulatory and professional defence

The regulatory practice covers food safety, health and safety, trading standards, waste management, Environment Agency investigations, RSPCA investigations and prosecutions, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) matters, Traffic Commissioner cases, FCA regulatory investigations, director disqualification, professional disciplinary and regulatory defence, coroners' court inquests, CMA investigations and ICO and data protection investigations.

Insolvency, intellectual property and commercial disputes

On insolvency, the firm handles Insolvency Service investigations, insolvency interviews, director disqualification, wrongful and fraudulent trading, bankruptcy petitions, insolvency disputes, claims against company directors, winding up petitions, statutory demands and retention of title disputes. Its intellectual property work includes IP disputes, Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) cases, copyright infringement, trade mark matters, trade mark co-existence agreements, patent disputes and litigation, and registered designs. Commercial disputes cover business and commercial dispute resolution, contract disputes, director disputes, shareholder disputes, unfair prejudice petitions, ADR and mediation, and sports law.

National reach and private instruction

From its offices in London, Birmingham and Manchester, KANGS acts nationwide. The firm states that whether a matter sits with a local police force, a regional court or a central authority, distance is not a barrier to representation. Its private instruction model is presented as the basis for rapid deployment of partner-led defence teams.