October 2024 London Criminal Defence Annual 7CPD Training Conference

On 11th October 2024, we presented an impressive spread of CPD training at the Criminal Law Friends Society Annual 7 CPD London Crime Conference in our beautiful new home, The Mary Ward Centre.

We covered essential procedural, sentencing and legislative updates, developments in the handling of evidence and considerations to be made about the mental capacity of our clients. We also shared important information regarding the context in which our legal work is embedded, reminding us of the ongoing importance of the good work being done in this sector while highlighting areas in need of reform and improvement.

We were proud to present the leading silk and “The king of human rights" (Legal 500) Michael Mansfield KC, who collaborated with Lorna Hackett, a barrister and representative of Inside Justice. This powerful duo presented their inspiring talk 'Miscarriages of Justice and The People Who Drive Change,' demonstrating a need for both legislative reform and cultural transitions to prevent miscarriages of justice. Michael presented his book and carried out a book signing session for his must-read publication: "The Power in the People." 

We were also most delighted to welcome the highly accoladed 36 Crime, who stepped into the event arena to host our essential updates for police station lawyers, Magistrates' Court solicitors and those who brief or attend the Crown Court. Our thorough PACE code updates guarantee all you need before our practice-driven sessions on Magistrates' and Crown Court sentencing, law and procedure.

The co-author of the current "Blackstone's Magistrates' Court Handbook 2024" and the country’s lead Youth Court Specialist, Caroline Liggins YPA, delivered your youth justice update. This was followed by her colleague at Hodge Jones & Allen, Laura O’ Brien, who covered protest law and the national wave of recent riots, key cases and the severe sentences being served by those convicted under new protest laws. Both are partners and heads of department at London’s most progressive and best all-round humanitarian law firm specialising in Criminal Defence.

Colin Wells from defence specialists 25 Bedford Row provided essential skills on how to increase profit when billing your files before Keith Borer Consultants' forensic expert Ross Donnelly walked us through artificial intelligence-related cases, which are becoming more prominent in the practitioner caseload.

Andrew Neilson, Director of Campaigns at Law Friends' favourite charity, the Howard League for Penal Reform, discussed the state of our prisons, IPP sentences and "the Australia option." A charitable donation was given to the Howard League on the day in recognition of their truly fantastic work in the prison system.

Dr Emily Turton offered insights into your clients’ mental health in police custody, detailing what behaviours they might display and how this can be relevant to your best practice. Following last year’s introduction, we revisited The Kindness Initiative for an update on research carried out this year by Valerie Charbit, Professor Robin Banerjee and their team.

It was Steve Kennedy’s birthday on conference day and Michael Mansfield’s birthday the day after, so we also attended Callaghan’s Irish Bar, where we welcomed a well-deserved wind down with our Law Friends community.

These conferences took place in October 2024, therefore tickets are no longer available for in person attendance. However, you can access all of the content from our conferences via our online CPD training packs. If you want access to our Online Video CPD package, you can subscribe as an individual or a firm.

Training Seminar	Speaker		Organisation
Welcome and course introduction	Steve Kennedy, Solicitor, Law Friends Society
The full update. All essential criminal defence updates with PACE codes, CPR, sentencing and all Magistrates Court and Crown Court Updates	Tom Parker, Emma Fielding and James Ball
Youth courts update	Caroline Liggins, Youth Practitioners’ Association, Partner, Hodge Jones Allen
Protest law update	Laura O’Brien, Partner and Head of Protest Team, Hodge Jones Allen
How to maximise your legal aid billing	Colin Wells, Barrister, 25 Bedford Row
The state of our prisons and IPP sentences	Andrew Nielsen, Director of Campaigns, Howard League for Penal Reform
Miscarriages of justice and people who drive change	Lorna Hackett, Barrister, Inside Justice and Michael Mansfield KC, Nexus Chambers
AI-generated imagery "Can you believe your eyes"	Ross Donnelly, forensic expert at Keith Borer Consultants
Picking up on mental health conditions in clients who are detained in police custody	Dr Emily Turton, Emily Turton Psychological Services
The Kindness Initiative	Valerie Charbit, Barrister, Red Lion Chambers and Professor Robin Banerjee, Head of Psychology, University of Sussex
17.00 Course code, charitable donation and close	Steve Kennedy, Solicitor, Law Friends Society