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Cross Practice Insights Part 1: Criminality in Estate Disputes
Katherine Pymont
Sophie Tang is a Senior Associate in the Criminal Litigation team. Sophie’s practice includes all areas of criminal litigation, with particular expertise in general crime and white collar crime. She represents individuals and corporate clients from the initial stages of an investigation through to trial.
Serious and General Crime
Sophie is an experienced criminal litigator who has defended and prosecuted the full spectrum of general crime, from road traffic matters to serious violent offences. Prior to joining Kingsley Napley, Sophie was a Senior Crown Prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Sophie uses her experience both as a prosecutor and a defence lawyer to provide holistic, insightful advice on all areas of substantive criminal law, procedure, evidence, disclosure and trial advocacy.
Sophie guides her clients through every stage of the criminal process. She provides police station advice and representation with the aim of protecting her clients’ interests and resolving matters at the earliest opportunity. Should the matter reach court, Sophie has extensive experience in the Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court in trial preparation, management and strategy. Her experience with the CPS gives her valuable insight into how best to engage with prosecutors, which she uses to her clients’ advantage.
Sexual Offences
Sophie has particular expertise in defending individuals accused of sexual offences, having worked as a prosecutor in the CPS Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit (RASSO) before joining Kingsley Napley. Sophie’s deep understanding of the prosecutor’s perspective and the CPS’s approach to sexual offences informs both her legal advice and her defence strategy. Sophie recognises the wide-ranging impact that allegations of a sexual nature can have on her clients’ lives, and she approaches her cases with care, sensitivity and with a view to navigating and mitigating risk. Sophie’s clients include individuals in the public eye, City professionals and regulated professions.
Competition and antitrust
Sophie advises on competition and antitrust investigations and litigation. She previously worked in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Antitrust Litigation team and has a wealth of experience in CMA and European Commission investigations into alleged anticompetitive activity, including cartel conduct, and private follow-on litigation in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, High Court and Court of Appeal. She also advises on internal investigations and provides competition law compliance advice to corporates.
Sophie has particular expertise defending individuals facing competition director disqualification proceedings. Sophie has experience defending action by the CMA to disqualify directors of a company that has committed a competition law infringement. Sophie has successfully represented individuals who have accepted competition disqualification undertakings in their applications to the court for permission to act as directors in specified circumstances.
White Collar, Business and Financial Crime
Sophie works on complex investigations and actions brought by a range of regulatory authorities including, for example, the SFO, Gambling Commission and HMRC.
She has worked on internal investigations looking into suspected regulatory breaches, with multijurisdictional elements. Additionally, Sophie has led on compliance advice and training following the conclusion of such investigations. She advises corporate and individual clients from a broad range of sectors, including technology, energy and financial services.
Qualifications
Sophie holds a first class degree in Law (MA) from the University of Cambridge.
Recent cases
General Crime
- Secured an acquittal following a Crown Court trial for a client charged with rape
- Achieved offers of no evidence from the prosecution for a client charged with multiple rape and assault charges in a domestic context
- Achieved offers of no evidence from the prosecution for a youth client charged with sexual offences
- Achieved offers of no evidence from the prosecution for a client charged with stalking and harassment
- Persuaded the police to take no further action in an investigation into sexual assault
- Achieved a non-custodial sentence for a client charged with possession of indecent images
White-Collar Crime and Competition Law
- Represented a corporate client in a CMA investigation into anti-competitive behaviour
- Represented a director in CMA competition disqualification proceedings
- Represented an individual applying for permission to act as a director, following a disqualification undertaking agreed with the CMA
- Advised a client on their private prosecution activities
- Defended a client facing a private prosecution
- Advised an individual subject to an international Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) request
- Advised an individual giving evidence in a public inquiry
Publications
A sticking plaster, not a solution: violence against women and the sentencing review, The Law Society Gazette, June 2025
Memberships
- The London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association (LCCSA)
- Women in Criminal Law (WICL)
- Young Fraud Lawyers Association (YFLA)