01
SPECIALISED CRIMINAL DEFENCE
Leightons Law is a specialised criminal defence firm providing expert legal representation in complex criminal law matters.
02
About us
A specialised criminal defence practice – led by an Accredited Specialist, focusing on complex litigation, and built to assemble the right team for each individual case.
Leightons Law was established with a simple goal in mind – to provide the highest quality legal services to each client from start to finish. We consider our clients’ legal problems carefully, develop practical and personalised solutions, and execute with precision.
Offices in Perth and Sydney. Close working relationships with solicitors and barristers around Australia. The flexibility to assemble the best team for each case.
03
WHY LEIGHTONS LAW
Strategic clarity when it counts.
01
Specialist, not generalist
A practice dedicated exclusively to criminal and quasi-criminal law — not a line item inside a larger firm.
02
The right team, every time
Intentionally structured to provide the flexibility needed to assemble the best team from around Australia.
03
Your reputation, protected
A network of communications, media and legal professionals to help clients manage risk beyond the courtroom.
04
Strategic from day one
Acting for only a select few clients, each matter is approached with a clear, considered strategy – then executed with discretion and precision.
Strategic criminal defence
when the stakes are high.
04
OUR FOUNDER
Karen Espiner.
Accredited Specialist — Criminal Law (NSW)
Prior to establishing Leightons Law, Karen was a founding Partner of one of Australia’s largest criminal defence firms. She practised exclusively in Sydney until 2023, gaining recognition by her peers in the Doyle’s Guide as one of the leading criminal lawyers in Sydney, Perth and Australia.
A highly-skilled advocate whose expertise was recognised by the NSW Law Society in 2017 when she became an Accredited Specialist, Karen was subsequently named Criminal Law Partner of the Year in the 2020 Lawyers Weekly Awards.
Now living in Perth, Karen is a highly sought-after criminal defence lawyer who represents clients around Australia. Her practice has a particular focus on complex and large-scale litigation, as well as a range of sensitive criminal and quasi-criminal matters requiring clear, strategic advice and discretion.
Karen established Leightons Law with a simple goal in mind — to provide the highest quality legal services to each of her clients from start to finish. She carefully considers her clients’ legal problems to provide practical and personalised solutions, then executes their legal strategies with precision.
Acting in two war crimes prosecutions arising from the IGADF Afghanistan Inquiry, Karen is now one of only a handful of non-government lawyers around Australia with experience in matters involving the National Security Information (Criminal and Civil Proceedings) Act 2004 (Cth).
05
Get in touch
Discuss your matter
in confidence.
Seeking legal advice at an early stage can materially change the outcome. Conversations are confidential.
General enquiry