Laura Walmsley Solicitor

This week, Farleys’ Associate Partner and criminal defence solicitor Laura Walmsley gave a lecture to some students at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) as part of their Policing degree course.

The topic of the lecture centred on the concept of the PACE framework for police interviews and Laura was asked to speak from the perspective of a defence solicitor attending a police interview. She has extensive experience of attending interviews at the police station with clients who are being questioned for matters ranging from assault and theft to much more serious ones such as murder and fraud.

She spoke about the role of a solicitor in the interview and explained how the solicitor’s role is not just a passive one; it is an extremely important element. They may need to interject during the interview should they feel any questions are inappropriate. A solicitor will also have certain steps to follow during the interview process and after, depending on the outcome.

For policing students it was vital for them to learn how to effectively manage an interview situation and to have an idea of what a solicitor may do during an interview in order to remember the correct procedures to manage the individual.

Laura’s lecture received lots of positive feedback from the students who found it especially useful as Laura herself graduated from UCLAN, showing the students the career possibilities available to UCLAN graduates as well as the excellent advice they received in relation to their course.

At Farleys, we are happy to pass our knowledge about the law on to those who are interested. Some of our solicitors regularly speak at events and seminars across the UK to students, business owners and individuals. If you would like one of our solicitors to speak about their specialist area of law at an event or seminar, please get in touch with us by email.