Ben Williams

Expert Counsel

Ben Williams is highly-rated in the guides to the legal profession. He is ranked in Tier 1 of the Legal 500 as a leading barrister and in Chambers UK as “an expert in a wide range of criminal and regulatory matters”. The guides describe him as working “tremendously hard” and being  “super-efficient”. “He builds strong trust with clients by quickly understanding their case and helping them develop it in a positive direction."

He has been practising in Crime since 2007 with extensive experience defending in homicide; firearms & organised crime; serious sexual offences; and complex financial crime.

Some of his recent work includes multi-million pound investment and tax frauds, leading more junior barristers; gang-related shootings; high-profile conspiracy trials; major historic sexual abuse cases; and sensitive cases of murder and gross negligence manslaughter involving numerous medical experts.

Notable examples are:

• R v Burdett - defending 93-year-old man charged alongside adult son with manslaughter by gross negligence of adult daughter, who was vulnerable due to chronic medical conditions. Hugely sensitive with distressing detail and complex legal issues. Found not guilty of manslaughter.
• R v C - defending businessman based overseas in relation to an alleged conspiracy to commit fraud by duping high-net worth individuals into investing money (totalling £10m) into a scheme to leverage institutional finance which would, in turn, be applied to a program of trade in bank assets. Ongoing.
• R v A - defending in gang murder by stabbing, in revenge for arson and gun attack. Complex legal framework re participation of defendants in the dock assisting principal offender who had managed to flee the jurisdiction. Found not guilty.
• R v Onions - leading for first defendant in a tax fraud valued at over £5m. Defendant was MD of a business which went through a string of ‘pre-pack’ insolvencies to transfer assets to ‘phoenix’ companies, leaving behind debts to HMRC and suppliers, with a convoluted corporate history.

Ben is ranked as a Level 4 CPS prosecutor, the highest grade, and is on the specialist CPS lists for Serious Crime, Rape, Fraud and Confiscation. He practises from St Philips Chambers, a leading barristers’ set - https://st-philips.com/barristers/ben-williams/ 

As trusted counsel to the firm, he is on hand to advise and represent our clients at short notice, with strategic guidance and robust case presentation.'