Tim is listed as a Leading Silk in six practice areas by Chambers & Partners (2011): administrative and public law; crime; civil liberties; fraud (criminal); police law; confiscation and proceeds of crime and is described as “renowned for his focus on human rights and criminal justice where it overlaps with public law, an area in which "he's as good as it gets". With a unique blend of criminal, public law and human rights law experience, his practice embraces pre-litigation advice, trial and appellate work and he is valued as an advocate with specialist knowledge of the civil, regulatory and criminal law aspects of complex investigations who can provide strategic advice from the earliest stage through to trial and, if necessary, to appeal. He is currently instructed in two major FSA investigations, one involving allegations of market abuse by a Director of a FTSE 250 public company and the other alleging insider dealing by a number of prominent City figures.
He has appeared in more than 40 appeals to the House of Lords/Supreme Court as well as in numerous appeals to the Court of Appeal in both public and criminal law cases, particularly those which raise novel and important human rights issues. He also has extensive experience in miscarriage of justice appeals arising from references by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. He is valued for his team working ability, his approachability, his ability to absorb a mass of complex information, his skills in cross examination and his ability to present difficult arguments to jurors and Judges alike in plain, clear language. He has extensive experience of cases involving an international, cross border dimension and has appeared in the courts of Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands in both civil and criminal cases. He is an Advisory Editor of Blackstone's Criminal Practice 2010 (OUP, 2010) and the editor/author of numerous publications including Asset Recovery: Criminal Confiscation and Civil Recovery (OUP, 2009), Prison Law, 4th edition (OUP, 2008) and Blackstone's Guide to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (OUP, 2005).
Recent cases include JSC BTA Bank v Solodchenko & Ors in which concerned the court having jurisdiction to order a solicitor to disclose his client's contact details if satisfied it was just and convenient to do so to ensure the effectiveness of an earlier order; R(Adams) v. Secretary of State for Justice which was argued before the Supreme Court in February 2011 and concerns the true basis for awarding compensation for miscarriages of justice; Her Majesty’s Treasury v. Mohammed Jabar Ahmed and others [2010] UKSC 2, in which the Supreme Court reviewed and quashed the anti-terrorist asset freezing regime enacted by Order in Council pursuant to the UN Act 1946; R (Thompson and anr) v. Home Secretary, in which the Supreme Court held that the requirement of lifelong registration on the Sex Offender's Registry was unlawful; AF, AN and AE v. Home Secretary, in which the House of Lords quashed terrorist control orders on the basis that they were incompatible with the requirement of fair disclosure under article 6 ECHR; R v. Horncastle and Blackmore in which the House of Lords considered the compatibility of the hearsay provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 with Article 6 in the context of sole/decisive evidence; R (Lee and Wells) v. Secretary of State for Justice, in which the House of Lords considered whether prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection were being unlawfully detained as a result of the systemic failure to provide them with offending behaviour courses. His specialist practice in restraint, asset recovery, and criminal confiscation law has seen him appear in three major cases before the House of Lords and Court of Appeal in the past two years year (R v. Briggs-Price, R v. Paulet and R v. Casal/Symeou). In 2010 he acted for one of three defendants charged with laundering the proceeds of massive fraud/corruption allegedly committed by former Governor of Delta State, Nigeria, James Ibori.