A specialist criminal-defence practice at 41 Splott Road. Declan McSorley and Jon Lewis founded the firm on a simple idea: the same solicitor who walks into the police station at three in the morning carries the case through the Magistrates and into the Crown Court. Lexcel and Cyber Essentials accredited. Over thirty years of criminal defence between the partners.
A specialist criminal-defence firm. Not a high-street generalist with a criminal department. The work splits cleanly between four lines: representation at the police station, advocacy in the Magistrates, full instruction in the Crown Court, and a small tribunal practice for clients facing professional consequences alongside a criminal matter.
Representation under the duty solicitor scheme and on private retainer at every Cardiff custody suite: Cardiff Bay, Fairwater, Rumney, and the central Cardiff suite. Jon Lewis and Sarah Driscoll are qualified duty solicitors; Simon Joseph has been duty-qualified since 1987.
Custody-suite advice is free under the duty scheme.Motoring offences (speeding, drink-driving, totting), theft, burglary, drug possession and supply, public-order matters, and either-way cases heard in Cardiff and Newport Magistrates. Daily presence at the listings each principal carries.
Fixed-fee work available for set magistrates matters.Crown Court advocacy at Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and Merthyr. Murder, serious sexual offences, organised crime and serious drug cases. Jon Lewis has acted in major cases with national media coverage and Court of Appeal representation.
Legal Aid means-tested for most Crown work.A small tribunal practice for clients facing Nursing and Midwifery Council, Mental Health Tribunal, or other regulatory proceedings alongside a criminal matter. Useful when a single matter has both a courtroom and a regulator in play. Jon Lewis covers the tribunal side personally.
Phone the office to discuss; not Legal Aid.McSorley Lewis was founded by two criminal solicitors: Declan McSorley and Jon Lewis. The firm name carries both, on purpose. The principle the practice was built on is that a defendant should not have to retell their story to a new solicitor at every stage of the case. The same lawyer who attends the police station carries the case through the Magistrates and into the Crown Court.
Splott was a deliberate choice, not a default. Plenty of Cardiff criminal practices sit on Westgate Street or in the city centre. Splott is East Cardiff. Working-class. The community most likely to find itself on the wrong side of a police interview. Putting the office at 41 Splott Road put the firm on the road its clients already walk.
“Service was awesome. Can't fault Declan. Straight to the point. And kept me out of jail. Best in the business.”
ReviewSolicitors, December 2024
The duty solicitor scheme is a statutory right. Anyone arrested and taken into police custody is entitled to free legal advice at the police station, regardless of income, regardless of the offence. The advice is paid for by the Legal Aid Agency, not by the client. There is no catch.
McSorley Lewis is on the duty rota at Cardiff custody suites. The same solicitor who attends the interview can then act for the client when the matter is charged and listed in the Magistrates, and onwards into the Crown Court if the matter goes that far. That continuity is the whole reason the firm was set up.
If you are at a police station now, ☎ Ask for McSorley Lewis · 07969 487978
For non-urgent enquiries, send a short note below. We read everything ourselves; replies during office hours, usually the same working day. For anything happening at a police station now, the 24-hour line is the right number.
For anything not here, phone 029 2066 2560 in office hours, or 07969 487978 at any time.
Yes. The 24-hour line at 07969 487978 is monitored every hour of every day, including weekends and bank holidays. Ask the custody sergeant for McSorley Lewis by name, or ask for the duty solicitor and request our firm if we are on the rota that night. Advice at the custody suite is free under the duty solicitor scheme.
Yes. The Legal Aid Agency pays for police-station representation through the duty solicitor scheme. The scheme is a statutory right, available to anyone in police custody regardless of income or the offence. There is no charge to the client for the custody-suite stage.
Yes, and that continuity is the reason the firm was set up. The same lawyer who attends the police station interview can carry the case into the Magistrates Court and into the Crown Court if the matter is indictable. You should not have to retell your story to a new face at each stage.
Yes. Speeding, drink-driving, totting up, careless and dangerous driving, and section 172 notices are part of the regular Magistrates Court work. Fixed-fee arrangements are available for some defined motoring matters. Phone the office on 029 2066 2560 to discuss.
Yes. Jon Lewis represents at the Nursing and Midwifery Council and at Mental Health Tribunal alongside the criminal practice. Acting on both sides of the same matter, from the same firm, is one of the smaller specialisms McSorley Lewis carries.
The office is at the heart of Splott, on the main road between Roath and Splott proper. Parking on the side streets off Splott Road is usually straightforward. The number 30 bus runs from Cardiff Central along Newport Road and stops on Clifton Street, a short walk away.
Cardiff Magistrates Court is in the city centre on Fitzalan Place; Cardiff Crown Court sits on Cathays Park alongside the Cardiff Civil Justice Centre. Both are within a fifteen-minute drive of the office.