William Tate founded the Practice that was to become Tates Criminal Defence Solicitors in 1986. He had the innovative idea, unique in the City of Leeds at that time, to establish a Solicitors’ Practice focusing exclusively upon Criminal Law and road traffic investigations and prosecutions. His philosophy when he set up that Practice was to provide a highly professional and specialist service to clients facing criminal and road traffic allegations. This philosophy is maintained by the current Partners of the Practice and forms the basis of all forward planning decisions at Tates. All staff recruitment policies and training continue to be geared towards maintaining the high standards of the Practice’s Advocates and support staff.

Whilst William Tate determined to join the local Bar in 1991, by then the bedrock of the Practice was firmly laid and those Partners who have survived him work within the very principles which enable such a successful Practice to be established.

Tates Solicitors do not advertise in any way. The Practice relies on its existing client base and word of mouth recommendation for its workload. The strength of our Practice lies in the high quality service provided and the abilities of the Solicitor Advocates who work on a daily basis in Leeds Magistrates’ Court. In addition to attracting new clients by virtue of attendances at Court and representation of existing clients at all Courts, the Practice also receives instructions from the Rota Duty Solicitor work undertaken by five of the Advocates, all of whom are both Court Duty Solicitor and 24 hour Rota Duty Solicitor appointees. In addition to these referrals, it is often the case that Police Officers and other Professional Agencies recommend the Practice to those who are not currently instructing a Solicitor and this work is always welcomed.

By virtue of the very nature of criminal offenders, the work undertaken by the Practice inevitably now involves travelling to outer Courts and it is not unusual for matters to be listed outside the West Yorkshire area. The Practice recognises that with its current size and resources, it is not possible to provide the high quality service to those detained substantial distance away from the Practice office and only in the most serious of cases does representation extend out of the Yorkshire area.

The offices on The Headrow are well appointed on the main thoroughfare between Leeds City Centre and both the Magistrates and Crown Court buildings and are in close walking distance to both. Jubilee Chambers has a street-level entrance and the office accommodation is based on two floors, the first primarily being that of the office administration and secretarial staff, together with the two conference rooms and reception area, the second floor containing eight individual fee earners’ rooms for both Magistrates and Crown Court staff.

Tates acknowledge that criminal work has become increasingly competitive, in the mid-1980’s when William Tate founded the original Practice, he was the only purely specialist Criminal Practitioner in Leeds. There are now half a dozen Practices who target purely criminal work, all of whom are located within a short distance of the Magistrates Court. Tates aim to expand their client base by attracting new clients from other Practices by virtue of the service offered and quality of representation. The Practice feels that its ongoing success is largely achieved by virtue of the abilities of those within the Practice and the Practice fully intends to continue building its reputation and expanding its client base as it had done over the past years.

It is recognised that representation in the criminal field involves personalities and attempts are made to ensure that wherever a personal preference is expressed, the Advocate of choice is available to undertake the client’s case. This policy involves a degree of flexibility in terms of arrangements within the working day. By virtue of the very demanding nature of criminal work, delegation is also necessary but is always done under the close supervision of the fee earner with ultimate responsibility for the client’s file.