WE ARE
ASTRAEA LEGAL

“Nama was instrumental in not only getting a result for me but putting my mind at rest and feeling that she had my back and I wasn’t just another case on her desk”

“Nama is a highly competent lawyer. She gives clear, waffle free advice and manages to convey understanding and support. Highly recommended.”

“From the very moment I met Nama I instantly knew I was in good hands. Her wonderfully calm and collected demeanour mixed with total professionalism told me straight away that I could not of chosen a better and more capable solicitor to represent me.”

Nama is a Solicitor and Higher Court Advocate with over 20 years’ experience.

She specialises in criminal defence, financial investigation, regulatory and professional standards representing businesses, organisations and individuals.

Nama prides herself on offering a holistic legal advisory service to her clients about their legal needs and so has considerable experience in other practice areas such as commercial, civil disputes, family, property, the court of protection and powers of attorney.

Nama also works internationally and across jurisdiction on national and international cases and her work has taken her to Scotland, Norther Ireland, Jersey, Spain, UAE, USA, Cyprus, Republic of Ireland amongst other countries.

She has specialist experience in:

• all aspects of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, including injunctions and confiscation orders and has developed a niche practice for providing advice for interested third parties such as spouses and business partners under Section 10A.
• HMRC investigations and the Tax tribunal.
• national and international fraud,
• money laundering,
• drug importation cases,
• electoral fraud investigations

“I received brilliant service from Matt Reynolds,  he was very knowledgeable and put my mind at rest straight away.  He achieved an excellent result too, couldn’t recommend him more highly.”

 “Matt’s acute focus and extensive experience in this complex area of the law not only saved my license, but more importantly, my livelihood. I would recommend 100%.”

 “The level of service I received from Matt and Astraea Legal was second to none. The level of commitment, dedication, persistence and transparency goes above and beyond anything I expected. In addition there is a genuine care for all clients. It feels like you have a friend alongside you at a daunting time supporting you. I can absolutely say I had the best solicitor fighting my case.”

Matt is an expert in motoring and road traffic law.

He advises on technical defences and legal loopholes to present arguments to the Court that avoid driver disqualification. If there is a way of keeping your licence he will find it. His work has generated national media attention, for example here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2427099/Thousands-motorists-given-points-caught-speeding-illegal-warning-signs-cases-DROPPED.html

Matt is a Solicitor and Higher Court Advocate, who has significant experience in regulatory and criminal defence work.

He represents individuals and companies in both Courts and Tribunals, prosecuted by agencies including the Crown Prosecution Service, Trading Standards, HM Revenue & Customs, VOSA, the DVLA, the DVSA, Landlord Licensing, the DWP, the HSE, FACT (SKY prosecutions), and the SIA. He appears before Council Taxi and Premises Licensing committees, conducting appeals against committee decisions in Magistrates and Crown Court.

Over 20 years, he has gained extensive experience as a specialist criminal litigator, representing his clients from the PACE interview under caution stage, right through to preparing complex cases for trial. As a Higher Court Advocate, if it is advisable to do so, he can represent you throughout a case without the need for (and additional cost of) a barrister. He works alongside senior barristers and Queen’s Counsel in cases that involve murder, fraud, drug conspiracies, POCA/confiscation proceedings, serious sexual offences and other serious crime.

Outside of the law, Matt enjoys spending time with his family.

Of course one can have too much of a good thing and when that risk arises, he slips out to the garden where they can’t find him for a while.

“I cannot be anything but effusive as to my high regard for Mr Roochove. His attention to detail was first class, his ability to create alternative viewpoints and interpretations of, what was, in my case, abstract and little tested areas of law, was outstanding. Additionally he made himself available to me at any time of day, virtually 24/7.”

 “His guidance and knowledge of what can only be described as very complex and obscure parts of the law meant that the whole case was struck out and we won hands down. It’s not just knowledge that he provided but support in keeping us together as a team and focussed on the result.”

James is a solicitor and primarily advises political parties, members of parliament, councillors, and activists on a variety of electoral law and reputation management issues. His work include allegations of electoral fraud, election petitions and advising on false and defamatory statements made against political candidates.

James also has a wider litigation experience which includes advising on defamation proceedings and commercial disputes. He also works as a Tutor at the University of Law teaching a range subjects.

Examples of how James has helped clients include:

• (with Nama Zarroug) successfully defended Craig Mackinlay MP and his election agent against allegations of electoral fraud following his 2015 election victory against Nigel Farage; https://news.sky.com/story/conservative-mp-craig-mackinlay-not-guilty-of-2015-general-election-offences-11598096
• (with Nama Zarroug) advised and represented over 60 clients in one of the largest electoral fraud investigations ever seen in the UK. All clients either had their cases discontinued by the police or the CPS, or were acquitted following trial.
• Successfully struck out a complex set of claims made by a barrister employed by a leading city firm made against various defendants (including a number of councillors) http://camdennewjournal.com/article/former-tory-election-candidate-has-deselection-legal-claims-struck-out
• obtained a public apology and compensation for former MP Byron Davies (now Lord Davies of Gower) in relation to a defamatory social media post falsely claiming he was being investigated for electoral fraud; https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/public-apology-damages-pay-out-14541825
• Obtained apologies and damages for Dr Kieran Mullan MP in relation to a defamatory online article published during the 2019 General Election.
• Was part of ex New Order founding member Peter Hook’s legal team, playing a key role in his successful Derivative Claim application against his former bandmates (Peter kindly acknowledged James in his book “Substance – inside New Order”)
• Successfully secured relief from criminal sanctions for an election agent who had made genuine mistakes when completing an expenses return for a high profile MP.

“I have sought professional advice from Sara on many occasions and always found her and the practice to be efficient, effective and mindful whilst maintaining sensitivity on challenging matters. I have no hesitation to recommend Sara to anyone seeking expert legal advice.”

“I have been working with Sara Perischine for 3 years now and feel lucky to call her my lawyer! Sara is very professional, friendly, accurate and delivers the highest quality work and service every time. She has a gift of explaining everything in words that I can clearly understand and is very meticulous and thorough. As a young business entrepreneur, there have been some situations and legal matters that were very overwhelming and quite scary for me at times. Sara really made me feel at complete ease, simplified the situation and sorted it all out. She always responds very quickly and is so reliable. I am looking forward to many more years of working with Sara as my trusted lawyer”.

Sara stared her legal career at a large national firm and qualified as a Solicitor in 2010. She has extensive litigation experience, having managed a litigation team at a regional firm before relocating to London for a number of years where she assisted the in house legal team of an international record label before moving to an international city firm.

Sara has significant civil and commercial litigation experience, working with individuals, organisations and businesses in respect of a variety of legal disputes, often with an international/cross border element.

Sara also works with a variety of clients across the media and entertainment industries including those in TV, film, music and sport. In addition, she has experience of advising clients in relation to defamation proceedings and assisting with the removal of online defamatory material.

Family Law

Sara also specialises in a range of family matters including divorce, child residence and contact cases and matrimonial finance.  She has represented high net worth individuals and has experience of cross border family matters together with jurisdiction battles and child abduction cases.

Sara can also assist with surrogacy issues such as planning a surrogacy, assisting with the UK legal processes and bringing a child home to secure family status.

Examples of how Sara has helped clients include:

• Working on the successful defence of a landmark defamation claim which was the first full test of the Defamation Act 2013 s.4 Public Interest defence (Economou v De Freitas).
• Assisting the Claimant in a $5million cross border contract dispute.
• Acting for the Claimant in a $2.5million arbitration relating to a telecommunications contract dispute.
• Successfully representing the petitioner in a partnership dispute which generated substantial media interest.