Twenty years on Albany Road in Roath. Founded and run by Neil Evans, with Stephanie Evans as Solicitor and Practice Manager. We answer the phone at three in the morning because most arrests happen at three in the morning, and the first interview decides almost everything that follows. Higher Rights of Audience, qualified Duty Solicitor, Law Society Criminal Litigation accreditation, Lexcel 2025.
A criminal-only practice covering everything from a 2 a.m. arrest through to a Court of Appeal hearing. Where most generalist firms refer the harder files out, this is the firm they refer them to.
A free, 24-hour, 365-day call-out service to any police station within reach. The number 07813 091001 answers in the middle of the night because most arrests happen between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. Police-station work is the foundation of the practice: how a case is handled in the first interview decides almost everything that follows.
Neil Evans holds Higher Rights of Audience, which means he conducts his own advocacy in both courts rather than handing the file to a separate barrister. Sentencing, trial, breach proceedings, bail applications. The client deals with the same solicitor from the first interview to the courtroom, with no handover at the door of the Crown Court.
White-collar fraud and money laundering. Historic abuse allegations. Sexual offences. Serious motoring (death by dangerous driving, drink driving, disqualification appeals). Drug supply and possession. Theft and burglary. Trading-standards and DWP prosecutions. Proceeds of Crime confiscation work. The kind of file most generalist firms refer on.
Appeals against conviction or sentence, including Court of Appeal work. Criminal Injuries Compensation claims for victims, handled on a basis that lets clients keep 100 per cent of the compensation awarded by the CICA. The same firm that defends accused clients also acts for the wrongly hurt.
Neil qualified as a solicitor in 1993 and spent his early career at one of Cardiff's largest law firms, working across civil litigation, personal injury and criminal defence. By 2005 he wanted to do the work he wanted to do himself, not alongside other workloads, so he opened Evans & Co on Albany Road. The firm has taken only criminal work from the first day.
In 2007, Stephanie Evans joined as Solicitor and Practice Manager, qualified seven years earlier. The firm has stayed deliberately small. Two named solicitors, one focus, one office, twenty years. The same number answers the police-station phone now that answered it in 2005.
You are the voice for no voices. From a client testimonial, /client-testimonials
Neil Evans holds the senior advocacy ticket that lets a solicitor conduct trials in the Crown Court. Most high-street criminal firms instruct a barrister at this point. Holding Higher Rights means the same solicitor who took your first interview at the police station stands up at your trial. Continuity, and a different fee structure.
Neil is a qualified Duty Solicitor, the formal Legal Aid Agency role that lets him cover the rota at Cardiff's police stations and the Magistrates' Court. This is the scheme one client describes in his testimonial as "outstandingly reassuring given the very traumatic experience". The duty role is what makes the free 24-hour call-out possible at no cost to the client.
Two Law Society standards held simultaneously. Lexcel is a practice-management standard covering file management, supervision and complaints handling. The Criminal Litigation accreditation is a senior competency standard for criminal-defence solicitors. Few two-solicitor firms in Cardiff currently hold both.
These are not website decorations. Lexcel is an audited practice-management standard and the Criminal Litigation accreditation is a senior-grade competency standard. Both have to be renewed.
The firm has been deliberately kept to two solicitors so the person who answers your first call at the police station is the person who stands up for you in court. No team of paralegals, no rotating face on the file.
You genuinely believed I was innocent and fought my cause. Anonymous client, on a case proved at trial
1st and 2nd Floors
64 Albany Road
Roath, Cardiff
CF24 3RR
Office 02920 480054
Email info@evansandco.org.uk
Parking on-street, Albany Road and side-streets
Bus the Albany Road stops are immediately outside, two minutes from the City Road junction
The 24-hour line is the working number. If you have been told you are going to be interviewed, or you are with someone who has been arrested, that is the line that picks up. There is no charge for police-station advice on this number.
Tap to call the 24-hour lineIf the matter is urgent, ring the 24-hour number rather than waiting on email. For everything that is not time-critical, this form goes straight to Stephanie in the office, who will route it.
Phone the 24-hour number on 07813 091001 before you agree to interview. A solicitor from the firm attends the police station at no charge to you under the duty solicitor scheme, sits in on the interview, and advises before, during and after. If you cannot get hold of us, ask the custody sergeant to ring Evans & Co; they have the number.
Police-station advice is free. For court work, Legal Aid is means-tested and depends on income, dependants and the seriousness of the offence; the firm holds a Criminal Legal Aid contract with the Legal Aid Agency. We tell you on day one whether you are likely to qualify, and if you are not, we quote the work privately at fixed stages. No hourly billing surprises.
The firm is criminal only. Motoring offences from speeding through to death by dangerous driving. Theft, burglary, violence. White-collar fraud and money laundering. Historic abuse, sexual offences, drug supply, POCA confiscation. Trading-standards and DWP prosecutions. Appeals from Magistrates' through to the Court of Appeal. If your case is criminal, we have probably done one shaped like it.
Yes, in the great majority of cases. Neil holds Higher Rights of Audience and conducts his own Crown Court advocacy, so the solicitor at your first interview is the solicitor in your trial. Where a hearing clashes, the firm covers internally so the file does not move to a separate barrister you have never met.
Albany Road is in Roath, ten minutes by car from Cardiff Crown Court and a short walk from the City Road junction. There is on-street parking and a Cardiff Bus stop on the corner. The office answers on 02920 480054 during the working day; the 24-hour police-station number 07813 091001 answers any time, every day of the year.