Donal Lawler

Practice Areas

Donal defends in the most serious of cases. His current caseload includes historic sexual offences, multi-million pound frauds and several drug importation conspiracies. He is known for his tenacity, creative thinking, attention to detail and the thoroughness of his preparation. In addition to his defence work, he has a developing private prosecution practice. He is a contributing editor of Criminal Law Weekly and a Chapter Editor of Archbold Criminal Practice. He appears regularly in the media commenting on current legal issues. He is the former Recorder of the South Eastern Circuit and a former Secretary of the Criminal Bar Association.

Cases include:

R v G. Multi-handed gang-related attempted murder. Complex legal arguments relating to gang association and alleged confession evidence

R v D Complex Fraud involving the use of cryptocurrency, Telegram channels and bots.

R v R and others Forced compulsory Labour. Described as one of the longest and most complex cases of its kind.

R v G and others Conspiracy to import firearms Instructed alone for the first Defendant, accused of importing and converting firearms to the West Midlands. Much of the defence relied on detailed analysis of cell-site evidence.

R v W – Murder – Defendant accused of murder having defended himself against a murderous assault. Case involved complex legal arguments and expert evidence relating to loss of control.

R v C – Defendant accused of defrauding a number of elderly and vulnerable complainants.

Professional Memberships

Criminal Bar Association

South Eastern Circuit