Harriet Parker has become a Partner of the firm and is our new Head of Crime.

Harriet began her career at Shentons 15 years ago as a Legal Assistant supporting our criminal lawyers. She says “I loved the fast pace of criminal work and particularly the idea that we give a voice to the most vulnerable in society.” She began therefore to train and move up the ranks from police station advisor to trainee solicitor to solicitor and now partner.

Working exclusively in criminal law over that period, Harriet has amassed a wealth of experience in representing clients upon arrest, charge and during their trial. Her career highlight so far was acting in a gang murder. She says: “The trial had involved murder with a firearm, drug supply and suspected bugging of defendant’s homes and cars, I was in the room during tactical discussions with numerous Queen’s Counsel and I knew it was a completely unique experience”. There were five defendants on trial and Harriet’s client was the only one to be found not guilty.

Criminal law can be far from glamourous, however. Harriet remembers the low point of “having a chair thrown at me by someone in a police station” and other comical situations where she had to convince someone to put their clothes back on and stop flooding their cell. She says “on a serious note, many of our clients have mental health issues or learning disabilities, making sure that the court are aware of their background is key.” Harriet is well known for instructing the right psychiatric or psychological expert to best assist the client’s case.

At Shentons we pride ourselves on promoting from within and building the careers of those who have shown loyalty and dedication to the firm. Harriet joins a number of partners past and present who have trained, qualified and been promoted at the firm. Harriet was promoted to partner whilst she was on maternity leave so has her work cut out at home and in business, but she relishes the challenge.

Harriet replaces Chloe Jay as Head of Crime with Chloe moving to a more central role within the firm and overseeing the contentious areas that we provide; Family, Special Education Needs, Civil Litigation and Crime.