The firm is regularly asked to represent persons accused of committing offences in relation to animal rights protests and campaigns. Such offences can range from relatively minor public order cases tried in the Magistrates Court to serious criminal offences which can only be tried in the Crown Court and which attract very lengthy sentences. Tim Greene has been acting for animal rights demonstrators for many years and is one of the country's leading experts in this area of law.

In recent years the interest of the Government in those who actively object to the abuse of animals in research has increased significantly. In 2005 the Government created several new offences in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. Such offences include harassment in relation to such protests, intimidation of persons connected to animal research organisations and interference with the contractual relationships of animal research organisations.

We have been involved in the first prosecutions under the new Act. We recently represented a woman accused of a conspiracy to interfere with the contractual relationships of Sequani (an animal research organisation) before the Birmingham Crown Court. Our client was acquitted following an 18 week trial. This case fell under the VHCC regime. She was represented at trial by two of our solicitor advocates, Tim Greene and Paul Morgan, while Steven Bird undertook the case preparation.

We act for a number of defendants accused in two linked trials of conspiracy to blackmail companies trading with Huntingdon Life Sciences. The case attracted nationwide publicity. The first trial is now over and the second trial will follow in early 2010. Both cases fall under the VHCC regime.

In 2007 we successfully defended a number of people accused of harassment involving protests outside fur shops in central London. This was the first prosecution under the new harassment provisions brought in by SOCPA 2005. We are actively involved in defending numerous cases in the Magistrates' Court largely involving allegations under section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 and section 50 of the Police Reform Act 2002 and resulting from a current anti-fur campaign in East London and the West End of London.

We also represented a man accused of conspiracy to commit arson said to have been committed in relation to the campaign against the University of Oxford's new animal research facility. We challenged Low Template DNA in this case. Following a hung jury (and an acquittal on one charge), the matter was re-tried in early 2009. Our client is now appealing his conviction from the second trial.

Such prosecutions have political overtones and often involve large numbers of defendants which can make the trials lengthy and complex both in relation to the applicable law and the large amount of documentation produced by such lengthy police investigations.

The firm has acted and continues to for individuals allegedly connected to Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty ("SHAC"), Stop Sequani Animal Testing ("SSAT"), SPEAK and the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade ("CAFT").