Blake Lapthorn helps launch Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association

The Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association (POCLA) was officially launched on Tuesday 29 April with Blake Lapthorn as a main sponsor. This new association is aimed at bringing together practitioners who specialise in the law relating to the proceeds of crime and asset forfeiture.

POCLA will attract membership from defence and in-house government lawyers, legal executives, as well as barristers who both prosecute and defend. Associate membership is open to academics, other professionals, such as insolvency practitioners and money laundering reporting officers, members of the judiciary and trainees. The Association has already formulated a Constitution and will provide a series of informative lectures and events to its members throughout the legal year. Membership is priced at £30 per annum and details can be obtained either online or through Warren Foot, who is POCLA's Secretary and also head of the Proceeds of Crime team at Blake Lapthorn.

Comments Warren Foot: "Since the passing of the 2002 Act proceeds of crime law has rarely been out of the law reports or for that matter the spotlight. The aim of this new organisation is to bring together practitioners in the field in order to share both information and their experiences in this growing area. Consequently, we have founded an association and a steering committee that we hope will generate not only an interest from barristers and solicitors but also other professionals who practice in this area including receivers, insolvency practitioners and judges."

steering committee

Warren Foot is joined on the steering committee by a number of heavyweights in the proceeds of crime legal world, including Andrew Mitchell QC, who has been invited to become the first Chairman of the new Association. Andrew is particularly well known in this area, having appeared in many of the leading restraint and asset forfeiture cases in the last 20 years. He is joined on the committee by fellow member of Furnival Chambers, Kennedy Talbot, who is his co-author on the Sweet and Maxwell loose-leaf work ‘Confiscation and the Proceeds of Crime’.

The Treasurer of the new organisation is Mark Sutherland Williams. Mark is the co-author of ‘The Proceeds of Crime’ published by OUP and is another well known specialist in proceeds of crime and confiscation law, heading up the 3 Paper Buildings Proceeds of Crime Team. His co-author, Trevor Millington, has also joined the new committee. Trevor, who is a senior lawyer on the Asset Forfeiture Division of the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, has been involved in criminal asset recovery since its inception, and is recognised by both prosecuting and defence lawyers as a leading authority in the field.

Trevor is joined on the Committee by CPS lawyer Gary Balch. Gary is the present head of the Confiscation Branch of the Organised Crime Division in London, a role he has enjoyed for a number of years and one which has allowed him to oversee the introduction of the 2002 legislation within the CPS. The final member of the steering committee is another leading barrister in this field, Ian Smith of 9 Stone Buildings, who has a particular interest in civil fraud and advisory work. Ian brings to the committee extensive international knowledge and will fulfil the role of international officer. Ian is co-author of the loose-leaf text “Asset Recovery” published by OUP.

Lord Justice Laws

The Association’s President will be Lord Justice Laws, who has sat on several of the leading cases now reported in the proceeds of crime field, both in the High Court and the Court of Appeal. He regularly undertook asset forfeiture work when a member of the Bar and as John Laws coined the phrase ‘the legislative steer’ when considering the way in which courts should approach interpreting confiscation legislation in the light of the Acts.

The Association has launched its own dedicated website, which is now available at http://www.pocla.com. Details of forthcoming events and a membership application can be obtained online, together with further information about the new organisation. Martin Evans of Furnival Chambers will, along with others, be regularly updating the website with new case law and recent developments.