Part 2 · Chapter 4
The First 24 Hours
Stabilise the client, preserve evidence and prevent avoidable damage
The first day rarely decides the whole case, but it can determine what evidence survives and which mistakes become permanent. The correct response is not to solve everything immediately. It is to establish status, protect safety, preserve material, contain avoidable risks, create an accurate record and prepare the next informed decision.
Status → Safety → Preserve → Contain → Record → Advise → Review
1. Establish status
- What has happened: complaint, contact, voluntary invitation, arrest, search, seizure, bail or another step?
- Which authority is acting, under what apparent power and in relation to which allegation?
- What is the client required to do now, and what has merely been requested?
- What is the next decision, deadline or attendance time?
Do not build advice on labels supplied in distress. Obtain documents, notices, bail sheets, warrants or correspondence where available and record what remains unverified.
2. Protect safety and participation
Identify medication, injury, mental-health risk, disability, neurodivergence, communication difficulty, pregnancy, dependants and any immediate risk of self-harm. These are not peripheral matters. They can determine whether the client can understand advice, comply with requirements and participate effectively.
3. Preserve; do not edit
Preservation is distinct from collection, disclosure and deployment. Preserve original messages, call records, CCTV, location data, documents, audit trails and device information without altering metadata or creating avoidable dissemination. Do not delete, reset, annotate or forward material impulsively, even if it is embarrassing or apparently irrelevant.
Issue narrow preservation requests where data may expire, identifying system, date range, custodian and overwrite risk. Keep a preservation log. Whether material should later be obtained, reviewed or supplied is a separate decision.
4. Contain communications
The immediate rule is to reduce uncontrolled communication. Do not crowdsource explanations, coordinate recollections, post public denials or send emotional messages. Contact with a complainant is not governed by one universal rule, but may create allegations of pressure, breach a condition, contaminate evidence or damage credibility. It requires specific review before any contact.
5. Record immediate recollection
A confidential early account can preserve memory, but it must not be turned into a polished narrative. Record what is remembered, what is uncertain, the source of each date and any later information that may have influenced recollection. Separate a client proof from independent evidence.
6. Searches, devices and urgent powers
Do not obstruct a lawful search. Equally, cooperation does not require surrendering oversight. Identify the power, inspect and retain the warrant or notice where permitted, record officers and times, protect legally privileged material, obtain property schedules and avoid volunteering passwords, consent or explanations before the legal route is understood.
7. Work, regulation, family and media
Check actual notification duties and deadlines. Do not assume every employer, regulator, insurer or family participant must be told immediately; do not assume silence is safe either. Communications should be accurate, limited to their purpose and coordinated with the criminal position. Public comment should ordinarily wait until facts, audience and objective are defined.
8. The first legal conference
| Task | Output |
|---|---|
| Status | Verified procedural position and immediate requirements |
| Safety | Welfare and participation plan |
| Preservation | Urgent sources, owners, expiry risks and log |
| Restrictions | Bail, contact, travel, work or device constraints understood |
| Account | Confidential first record with uncertainty preserved |
| Next decision | Decision-maker, deadline, missing information and responsibility |
| Review | Named time or trigger for reassessment |
9. What not to do
- Do not delete or tidy digital material.
- Do not guess, fill gaps or give false precision.
- Do not contact witnesses to align accounts.
- Do not approach the complainant without advice.
- Do not obstruct a search or destroy access to evidence.
- Do not publish a denial merely to relieve immediate pressure.
- Do not treat the first day as the point at which the whole defence must be disclosed.
Urgency changes order, not standards. Stabilise first, preserve what may disappear and defer irreversible choices until their authority and consequences are understood.
Related Guidance
Do You Require Advice About Your Circumstances?
This material provides general information and is not a substitute for advice about a specific investigation or case.
Craig provides legal services exclusively through Forbes Solicitors. To make an initial enquiry, contact Craig at:
craig.mackenzie@forbessolicitors.co.uk
An enquiry does not constitute an instruction. Forbes Solicitors must confirm in writing that it has accepted the matter before any solicitor–client relationship arises.