Jose Olivares-Chandler

Jose was called to the Bar in 2000 and is a member of Middle Temple and the Criminal Bar Association. He read law at University College London. He practises in the fields of criminal (both defence and prosecution) and civil law:

Criminal law practice

Defence (publicly-funded):

Jose represents those accused of committing offences across the spectrum of criminal law. In particular, he has successfully conducted trials concerning wounding with intent and Class A drugs and recently secured an acquittal as a sole counsel in an eight-day triple rape case where there was evidence of witness intimidation. He has also appeared successfully on a number of occasions in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), including the only Bomb Hoax case at the time of the London July 7th bombings to reach that court. Jose has been instructed as junior counsel in a sex-trafficking case where the prosecution arose after evidence supplied by a Donal McIntyre Undercover investigation which appeared on television.

Defence (privately-funded):

Jose is experienced in representing those accused of committing offences which do not attract legal aid, such as Road Traffic matters, and has been instructed in over fifty such cases. Moreover, Jose conducts the defence of those who do not wish their advocate to be publicly-funded and has represented the interests of those accused of offences of violence, handling stolen goods, benefit fraud, council tax non-payment, trademark infringements, unauthorised depositing of waste and bigamy (!)

Prosecution:

Jose acts for prosecuting authorities in relation to all types of criminal law. In particular, Jose is instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service, VOSA, SERCO and Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.

Civil law practice

Environmental law:

Jose appears on behalf of companies accused of unauthorised depositing of waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Recently, he has acted successfully for the Respondent company in a High Court Appeal case which has clarified the law in relation to s34(1)(b) of the 1990 Act and has subsequently been reported. Jose has recently successfully defended a farmer in proceedings relating to depositing material on the highway which resulted in a car crash. The court accepted his legal submission that negligent driving afforded a defence, notwithstanding that this is a moot point.

Solicitor law:

Jose represents solicitors' firms which sue clients for non-payment of fees. In particular, he undertakes cases where there are counterclaims involving professional negligence.

Consumer Regulation law:

Jose acts for Trading Standards departments in relation to effecting the cessation of trading practices which breach consumer regulations. This entails seeking Undertakings from "rogue" traders as well as applying for Enforcement Orders in County Courts under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002. Jose was successful in applying for the first Enforcement Order at Reading County Court. This case was the subject of an Inside Out investigation which appeared on television in Autumn 2006.

Personal Injury Law:

Jose undertakes both Claimant and Defendant work. He has been instructed in a multi-track case for a defendant director of a company. At present, he is defending a hotel owner in a multi-handed claim for damages following the murder of an American tourist by a known sex offender. An application to strike out the claim is expected to be heard in the High Court in the next few months.

Insolvency law:

Jose represents bankrupts in the High Court and, in particular, has successfully applied to annul a bankruptcy.

Landlord and Tenant law:

Jose represents Claimants and Defendants in relation to possession proceedings. He has successfully prevented the eviction of a Mortgagee.

Reported cases:

London Borough of Camden v Mortgage Times Group Ltd (2006) (Environmental Law).

Articles

"London Borough of Camden v Mortgage Times Group Ltd – a wasted opportunity?"

Public speaking

Criminal law:

Jose conducts seminars on all matters concerning crime. In particular, he provides lectures (with accompanying handouts) to defence solicitors on the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 relating to Bad Character evidence, Hearsay evidence and defence disclosure obligations. He was a speaker at the Legal Aid conference 2006 held at the Law Society.

Civil law:

Jose has run day-long workshops on Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002 on behalf of the Office of Fair Trading for Trading Standards departments across the UK . In particular, he conducted the pilot workshop in relation to these types of proceedings. Furthermore, Jose has conducted a number of workshops on the CPR in so far as they apply to Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002.

Committee work

Jose currently sits on the Young Barrister Committee of the Bar Council and is a member of the Bar Mock Trials Working Party for the Citizenship Foundation; the Forensic Accountancy Working Party; and the Third-six Pupillage Working Party. He formerly sat on the Pupillage Board of the Bar Council.

Jose is actively involved in organising international events for young lawyers. In particular, he was on the organising committee of the Anglo-Dutch Exchange 2006 which entailed a week-long educational and social programme for approximately 70 Dutch lawyers. He assisted in the organisation of the International Weekend 2005 for International young lawyers.

Relevant legal experience

Prior to entering the profession, Jose worked for the Federal Defenders in Philidelphia , USA , where he represented prisoners on Death Row. He was also employed at Lovells solicitors where he worked on the privatisation of Air Traffic Control, the first privatisation by the Labour Government, as well as in reinsurance.

Personal interests

Jose spends his spare time socialising and keeping fit. In particular, he likes nothing better than to go out for a drink, eat out at a restaurant and then see a band or go clubbing with friends.

Those curious individuals [you know who you are!] who are wondering about the origin of Jose's name will be interested to know that he has a Chilean father and an English mother.