After many years experience working elsewhere in the criminal justice system the firm was founded in March 1993 by David Ake as a sole practitioner specialising in Criminal Defence work. David was later joined by Mark Pritchard in 1994 & then Theresa Clark in 1997 who both subsequently became partners. The partnership was then enhanced further by the very experienced Jayne Dodson.

On 31st March 2015 Jayne Dodson retired as a partner and became a Consultant with this practice on 1st April 2015. 

The firm was awarded a Legal Aid Franchise as soon as it was introduced & has maintained their franchise to the highest level. David Ake & Co currently holds a Criminal and Mental Health contract with the Legal Services Commission.

In addition to work from clients who approach us all our Solicitors are qualified & approved to take instructions from the Duty Solicitor Scheme.

As stated elsewhere David Ake & Co core business is dealing with all types of Criminal Defence work & we have extensive experience in handling cases ranging from homicides & large scale high value conspiracy allegations to everyday road traffic allegations. We regularly deal with cases of alleged Drug Trafficking and related allegations, Burglary & other Theft Act allegations, Sexual allegations, Assault allegations, Drink Driving and Speeding as well as Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO's) and Proceedings for alleged Breaches of Court Orders. The list goes on & includes many high profile cases over the years

In the unfortunate event the Police wish to interview a client as a firm we currently operate an emergency call out rota for Police Interviews 24 hours 7 days a week 365 days a year & frequently attend many local Police Stations to represent not only our own clients but also other firms clients as an agent.

For those sent to the Magistrates Court we operate principally at the Leeds Magistrates Courts - but we also regularly appear before the Wakefield, Selby, Pontefract & Bradford Courts. Where merited we also travel wider & our business takes us across not only West Yorkshire but also North & South Yorkshire. Indeed, historically we have had a regular client following from the North Yorkshire & Humberside areas.

Should a client require representation at Crown Court several of the partners have higher rights of audience so are qualified & permitted to also represent clients whose cases have been sent to the Crown Court by the Magistrates, thereby enabling where appropriate & possible potential for continuity of representation from the Police Station through the Magistrates to Crown Court. Again our principal daily business is before Leeds Crown Court - which we also directly face across Westgate - but we also appear York & Bradford Crown Courts & form time to time at the many other Court Centres in the region & elsewhere.

Alternatively, for those clients who find themselves before the Crown Court represented by Counsel we have close working relationships with a number of Barristers Chambers & as a standard we aim to operate only with specialist Criminal Defence Counsel who appear on our approved list of Counsel which we have developed over the years from our experience. In this way we hope to balance a clients needs to particular Counsel & try to ensure the best possible representation

We also specialise Mental Health

In respect of Mental Health Law our experience in this area has proved to be of significant use in a number of cases before the Criminal Courts & for those in Prison.