Solicitors in Rochdale

We work across four practice areas. Each one has a dedicated team and its own Rochdale-specific page with detailed information about how we handle cases locally.

Motoring offences

Rochdale sits in the Greater Manchester Police force area. Motoring cases from the borough are heard at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court, with serious matters going to Manchester Crown Court. The A627(M), A58 through the town centre, and the M62 corridor through Milnrow and Littleborough are common enforcement zones.

We defend every type of driving charge:

• Speeding — from Band A (3 points) through Band C (56-day ban). Our speeding offences solicitors in Rochdale page covers sentencing bands, speed awareness courses and how to challenge a Notice of Intended Prosecution
• Drink driving — breath test challenges, blood sample procedure errors, and the drink drive rehabilitation course for first-time offenders
• Drug driving — roadside DrugWipe testing, prescribed medication defences, and cannabis blood level challenges through our drug driving solicitors
• Dangerous and careless driving — the distinction between these two charges often determines whether a case ends in penalty points or prison
• Totting up — if you have 12 or more points, we prepare exceptional hardship applications to keep your licence
• Driving without insurance, failing to provide a specimen, mobile phone offences and failing to stop

Our driving offence solicitors in Rochdale page has a full breakdown of how we handle each charge type, local court procedures and fixed-fee pricing.

Criminal defence

We defend individuals facing serious criminal allegations across England and Wales. Our lead solicitor, Shazia Ali, has over 20 years of criminal defence experience, and the team has a high success rate across thousands of cases.

We handle:

• Harassment and stalking allegations
• Public disorder and affray
• Possession of an offensive weapon
• Assault and criminal damage
• Dangerous or careless driving (including serious injury cases)
• Police interviews and arrest representation

We do not handle sexual offence cases. Our criminal defence solicitors provide police station representation around the clock — if you’re arrested and held at a Greater Manchester Police custody suite, we can attend within the hour.

Crown Court cases from Rochdale are heard at Manchester Crown Court on Crown Square or at Minshull Street. We handle pleas, trials and appeals at both venues.

Immigration

Rochdale has a large and established South Asian community, and immigration cases make up a significant part of our workload. We handle spouse visa applications, settlement (ILR) applications, naturalisation, asylum claims, deportation appeals, and sponsorship licence work for local businesses.

Our immigration solicitors are registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner and handle cases before the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and the Upper Tribunal. We also assist with EU Settlement Scheme applications for European nationals living in the Rochdale area.

Our immigration solicitors in Rochdale page covers the specific application types we handle and the current processing times.

Divorce

Divorce and family cases from Rochdale are processed through the Central Family Court (online applications since April 2022) and heard locally at Manchester Civil Justice Centre when contested hearings are needed. We handle applications under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, which introduced no-fault divorce in England and Wales.

We advise on:

• Uncontested and contested divorce — including the 20-week reflection period and joint applications
• Financial settlements — consent orders, clean break orders, pension sharing
• Child arrangements — where children live and how often they see each parent
• Same-sex divorce and civil partnership dissolution
• Domestic abuse protective orders — non-molestation and occupation orders
• Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements

Our divorce solicitors in Rochdale page has detailed information about the process, costs and timelines.