Richard Egan is an English solicitor known for his work and advocacy in high-profile criminal defence cases. He is also known as a charity worker and a recipient of Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year award he was awarded in recognition for his work defending

Lotfi Raissi Lotfi Raissi ( ar, لطفي رئيسي, ''Luṭfī Rayissī''; born April 4, 1974), was the first person charged in connection with the September 11, 2001, attacks. However, in 2003 a British court ruled that the charges against Raissi were witho ...

who was wrongly accused of training

September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hun ...

hijackers. In 2014 Egan came to notice after successful defence of Tania Clarence who was charged with murder of her two children after her unsuccessful legal battle with

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

ers. After a series of defence motions, murder charge was reduced to that of a

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

by diminished responsibility and Clarence was given a hospital order.

Career

Egan qualified as a solicitor in 1990 and joined

Tuckers Solicitors Tuckers Solicitors LLC, known as Tuckers Solicitors, is a national criminal defence firm that has particular specialisation in serious crime, extradition, martial and military law, civil liberties, human rights, cyber crime and is one of the la ...

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he became a partner in 2001. His work is focused mainly on criminal defense.

Experience

Egan is a member of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association and Association of Military Court Advocates and Justice. He has gathered local attention in

for his aggressive defence style and was one of those who contended that solicitor advocates should be entitled to wear the same wig and gown in court as

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

Notable cases

Egan's work has included acting for: *

, Algerian pilot who allegedly instructed four of the hijackers who crashed the plane into the Pentagon on

. The prosecution case was that Raissi qualified in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as a pilot in 1997, attending the same Arizona flight school as four of the hijackers involved in the attacks September 11. Raissi was acquitted after trial. * Navinder Singh Sarao, accused of triggering a multibillion-dollar Wall Street crash, who was represented by Egan prior to and during

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

proceedings. * Surinder Pal Singh Sappal, who was the only defendant acquitted in a trial relating to insider dealing. Egan and the Special Casework team acted for Sappal on a private basis in one of the rare cases brought by the FCA for insider dealing. The prosecution alleged that the 3 defendants were involved in a plan to make illegal profits from share dealing on secret information obtained by an insider on the board at Logica, a multinational IT and management consultant agency, shortly before the business was the subject of a takeover by CGI Group Holdings Ltd, netting the defendants massive profits. Sappal was acquitted by the jury, with his co-Defendants sentenced. * Giorgina Ray, Jimmy Savile's love child. * Egan also represented Tania Clarence, a wife of an investment banker, in her defence to a charge of murder in connection with the deaths of her three disabled children. Clarence family friends said the mother had felt under constant pressure by local authority and had been “very derogatory about Kingston social services”. Speaking after the trial, Clarence said "lessons need to be learned" from his wife's story of "dedication and love" which turned to "despair and utter hopelessness". After the trial, in a statement issued on Clarence' behalf, Egan blamed medical professionals and social services for contributing to Tania Clarence's depression. * In another widely publicised case Egan represented Pervez Rafiq, British charity worker who was the only defendant acquitted in a trial relating to

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

offences. Egan led

Terrorist and Special Casework team who have secured the acquittal of Rafiq who was accused of terrorist offences whilst Syed Hoque and Mashoud Miah were both convicted of funding terrorism. Hoque was found guilty of using aid convoys to smuggle money to his nephew fighting with an

al-Qaida Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countri ...

linked group * In 2019 Egan represented Jack Shepherd who was convicted of a speedboat murder.

Television and Media appearances

Egan has appeared on multiple national news television programs to provide legal commentary, including "The Briefs", series which were aired on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in July 2013. The series gathered an audience of about 2.4 million viewers during the first show.

On-air commentary

In 2014 Egan has appeared as a guest on 107.8 Radio Jackie commenting on Tania Clarence case.

Awards

In 2003 Egan was received Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award in recognition for successful defence of

who was wrongly accused of being the architect of the September 11th atrocities. In 2015 Egan was named Partner of the Year at The Lawyer awards

References

External links

* Egan reading a statement outside Central Criminal Court following sentencing of Tania Clarence

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, Richard Living people English solicitor advocates British barristers Lawyers from London 20th-century British lawyers 21st-century British lawyers Immigration lawyers Litigators British civil rights activists Criminal defense lawyers British legal writers International law scholars International criminal law scholars Year of birth missing (living people)

Career

Experience

Notable cases

Television and Media appearances

On-air commentary

Awards

See also

References

External links

References