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 who is also a partner.  They are supported by a variety of experienced staff trained to a level of competence and supervised by Mark Pritchard.

On 31st March 2013 Mr Ake retired from the practice.

On 31st March 2015 Jayne Dodson retired as a partner and became a Consultant with this firm 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 franchise contract & the Legal Services Commission Standard Quality Mark.

Our core business is dealing with all types of Criminal Defence work & we have extensive experience in handling cases ranging from murder & 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.

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 aggrieved by their contact with the Police we can also offer advice & assistance and where appropriate referral.

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.

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 Crown Court business is at Leeds – but we also appear at York & Bradford Crown Courts & from time to time at other Court Centres in the region & elsewhere.

We also specialise in Mental Health and you may wish to follow the links to those pages for more information.

If you have any enquiry about our Criminal Defence Service in the first instance please contact us by either telephone or e-mail us via our Contact us.