Notable Cases
Fraud:
Guinness,
Blue Arrow,
'Harrovian' series of fraud trials,
HM Customs VAT/excise fraud [London City Bond ( prosecution and defence) and MTIC/Diversion cases, including Operations Vitric, Venison, Carina and Devout],
Cheney pension fraud,
The Dome fraud,
Ikea fraud/corruption case,
SFO ‘pharmaceutical cartel’ case.
Serious crime:
Brinks Mat,
Knightsbridge Safety Deposit case,
Ireland (gay serial murder),
Evans(Joy Gardiner manslaughter),
Stuart Campbell (Danielle Jones murder),
Tovey (Oxford bomber),
Abrams (attempted murder of George Harrison),
Mainstone (UK's largest ever currency counterfeiting case),
Damilola Taylor,
The Stansted hijack case,
The Reading Schoolgirl Murder,
The Tonbridge Securitas robbery,
The fertiliser bomb plot trial (Operation Crevice)
The conspiracy to bomb Heathrow.
History of the Building
The original building on the site belonged to a family called Button for 40 years. Thereafter in 1750 it was known as the Haunch of Venison; and after that it was the Clifford's Inn Coffee House.
In 1834 John Shaw built the current structure, as the Law Life Assurance building. It is a very early example of Jacobean Revival.
In a law case in 1337 "Fletestrete" is mentioned "in the suburb of London". The present City boundary goes to Temple Bar, a great deal further West than in 1337 when it only reached the Roman Wall and Ludgate. The street was named after the river Fleet of Holbourn which ran in a North-South direction in the valley which is now Farringdon Street and New Bridge Street.
Previously the building was a bank. In 2001 the Chambers of Andrew Trollope undertook the complete refurbishment of the building. It has six floors. In the basement, there is a fully stocked library and the IT room. The whole of Chambers is networked. The ground floor accommodates the Clerks' room and the reception area. There are then four floors of office space for tenants and pupils.