Sarah McCormack

Senior Criminal Solicitor

Sarah is a solicitor in the criminal department and has vast experience of all types of criminal cases. She has defended clients in all areas of criminal law such as murder, rape and other sexual offences, serious assaults and thefts and also prosecutions brought by local authorities, such as trading standards breaches, and other agencies.

Since qualifying as a solicitor in 1996, Sarah has practised in criminal defence work across the West Midlands and beyond. She has been a partner in her own firm and has worked at a large nationwide firm at their offices in Birmingham. Her exceptional client care skills are highly valued and she is widely respected by Magistrates, District Judges and peers for her excellent advocacy and no-nonsense approach. Sarah also has over twenty years’ experience in representing clients at police station interviews up and down the country. Her sound advice and approach to cases at this earliest stage very often results in a client walking away from the police station without any further action being taken against them.

Sarah is highly skilled and has particular expertise in dealing with Road Traffic cases including those involving fatalities such as causing death by dangerous driving or careless driving through to matters of drink and drug driving and speeding. She has been instructed by insurance companies and individuals to defend such cases and is experienced in obtaining independent expert evidence such as collision investigator’s reports and forensic scientist’s reports to challenge the prosecution’s evidence and support the client’s case. Her services are also invaluable to those seeking to preserve their driving licences and avoid disqualification particularly those facing disqualification under the totting up provisions. Sarah has considerable experience in presenting special reasons and exceptional hardship applications in the Magistrates Courts resulting in clients avoiding disqualification and retaining their driving licences. She has also regularly advised on taxi-licensing matters and appeals to the Magistrates Court with success.

Sarah has an empathetic approach which is particularly valued when looking after those who have mental health issues or are otherwise particularly vulnerable. Sarah has represented many clients with autism, ADHD and other mental health conditions at the police station and at court, ensuring that they are appropriately and sensitively dealt with and that where necessary expert reports are obtained to achieve the best possible outcome.

She prides herself on providing the highest quality service to all clients and in all types of cases and regularly receives impressive feedback from clients at the conclusion of their cases.

Away from the law she is a busy Mum who tries to relax at her regular Pilates class or by playing a game of squash – to which she is a recent and very late starter.

Tried and Trusted

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Excellent Law Firm. Handled our conveyancing excellently. We had a separate purchase and sale. These were both handled in an extremely professional and timely manner. Jane Ball and Gurpreet were very responsive and able keep the other side's solicitor on track.
Tim S.
Tim S.
14:18 01 May 24
My girlfriend and I are first time buyers so we’ve never had to deal with solicitors before, so when people tell us that buying a house is stressful and dealing with solicitors can be a pain, this obviously worried me about the process. However, Askews Legal LLP or more importantly Lauren D’Arcy have proved everyone wrong. Lauren was a pleasure to work with and she made the process so incredibly smooth. She’s professional and was always there to back our case with any issues that happened. I think every solicitor should come to Lauren for advice because she knew exactly what she was doing and ensured we got perfect best in class service. I will recommend Askews, and more specifically Lauren, to any family member or friend and bet £2 million that they’ll have the smoothest house purchase process. Thank you Lauren.
Brandon S.
Brandon S.
12:27 01 May 24
My husband and I have recently made our Trust Wills with the guidance of a lovely lady, Stephanie Napier. Stephanie is an Associate Solicitor and Head of Private Client. We cannot recommend her highly enough,. Stephanie was very easy going and pleasant to talk to, everything was explained thoroughly and any queries we had she answered. We felt totally at ease with her, something that i can imagine can be quite daunting for some people. Thanks again Stephanie for all you helpDella and Steve
Della W.
Della W.
11:53 29 Apr 24
This is the second time we used Askews and I must say, they are the most responsive and reliable solicitors I have ever used (and we have tried a few).Lauren D'Arcy looked after our account and she was absolutely incredible! Completely on it, nothing was too much trouble, very fast at responding to our questions and overall a lovely, lovely person. She is an absolute asset to the company and we are so grateful for all her work that led to swift completion of our sale. We will be using Askews again in the future. Thank you once again Lauren, you are brilliant!
Monika N.
Monika N.
11:44 29 Apr 24
Just used Askews for a recent house sale. All went smoothly, got back quickly if I had any questions. Personally I found it difficult filling the forms in online as I had to use my phone as I haven’t got a lap top. Apart from that all good
andrew L.
andrew L.
12:41 26 Apr 24
Brilliant service!We sold and bought with Askews, and we would most definitely use their service again. The team were quick and efficient, and Paul was great in communicating with us. Thank you.
Katy F.
Katy F.
11:45 26 Apr 24

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