Pictured above: New law team in Loughborough - Challinors criminal lawyers (l-r) Ghulam Sohail (Partner), Chris Wall (Assistant Solicitor) and Jeremy Bouch (head of Challinors, Loughborough)

Law firm Challinors has opened a new office in Loughborough in the first phase of its 2011 expansion plans in the East Midlands.

The firm has added to its network of offices in the region with the new city centre location that will focus on crime and fraud work and add to its 20-strong specialist team across the Midlands, headed by Partner Ghulam Sohail who is based in Challinors' West Bromwich offices.

Challinors' Loughborough office is headed by Jeremy Bouch, an Associate at the firm and a specialist in defending serious and organised crime. This includes proceeds of crime and related confiscation, firearms incidents, drugs supply and trafficking, international terrorism and homicide.

He represents private clients and businesses in a variety of matters including driving matters and in relation to regulatory investigations/prosecutions, and holds Higher Rights of Audience and appears regularly in the Crown Court. 

Jeremy is joined in Loughborough by Assistant Solicitor Christopher Wall who has a specialist focus on high value fraud cases, and both are Duty Solicitors and Police-accredited and operate in the Magistrates Courts.

Challinors already has an office in Colwick, Nottingham, in the East Midlands, with further regional offices in Birmingham, West Bromwich, Halesowen and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands.

Of the latest stage in the firm's expansion, Ghulam Sohail says: "Challinors' crime and fraud team is amongst the largest in the Midlands and the only specialist business crime team in the Black Country in the West Midlands. It has the highest rankings for its work and expertise in both of the legal professions' most respected directories, Chambers & Partners and Legal 500.

"The overall strategy for Challinors is to continue to build its Midlands network of offices with specialist teams in key locations, and the new office in Loughborough is the first phase of this expansion in the East of the region.

"Jeremy and Christopher have formidable reputations for defending serious and organised crime cases locally, regionally, and nationally, and represent an excellent start to this next stage of growth for our crime specialism.

"We will shortly be opening another office in the East Midlands and aim to continue developing strategic alliances for the firm and specifically the crime team, along the M1 corridor, including key city locations in London, Rotherham, Leicester, Leeds and Newcastle. We consider there to be some high grade work in these areas, and it is important to provide consumer choice and access to legal specialists in key, strategic locations throughout the UK."

Criminal law specialist Bernard Porter last month joined Challinors top-ranking team as a senior solicitor and is heading its new crime department at its Halesowen practice in the West Midlands.

Challinors new office in Loughborough is located at 44 Church Gate. For more information, Tel: 01509 861145.

Challinors has offices in Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Halesowen, Nottingham and Loughborough. The firm has 22 partners and over 100 fee earners, and is ranked as one of the top legal firms in the West Midlands, being Number 1 in the Chambers UK Directory in a number of categories, including Clinical Negligence.