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Rose Commander is an experienced criminal defence lawyer who represents clients facing the full range of criminal allegations. A solicitor and higher courts advocate, Rose often represents professional people for whom any criminal investigation, no matter how minor, can have serious and multi-faceted implications.
Rose has represented clients charged with the most serious offences on the statute book, as well as those being investigated in relation to criminal allegations which, while less serious, can nonetheless have significant reputational, professional and personal impacts.
No matter what the allegation, Rose brings the same level of attention and enthusiasm to all her cases.
Experienced across all areas of criminal law, Rose often represents clients and witnesses in sexual allegation matters. She has been highly successful in this area and combines a supportive manner with a dogged determination to challenge the issues that plague many of these cases.
Rose advises at every stage of the criminal process and recognises the importance of swiftly stopping unmerited criminal investigations. She has an enviable track record of persuading the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to drop unnecessary investigations and prosecutions.
An extradition specialist, Rose frequently works on the firm’s most important criminal matters whenever an international or cross-border element is in play. She has expertise in associated orders (such as European Investigation Orders); requests for Mutual Legal Assistance; and cases involving INTERPOL.
Rose has conducted numerous Magistrates’ Court trials; has appeared in the Crown Court; has successfully appeared before the Court of Appeal; and has received praise from the High Court for her oral and written submissions. Her experience as a trial advocate and litigator means she has astute tactical case strategy.
After completing her undergraduate degree in History, Rose obtained her GDL and LPC from the College of Law, Bloomsbury. She was awarded distinctions in both. She trained at a busy south London criminal defence firm before qualifying as a solicitor in 2015. She joined Hickman & Rose in 2018 and was made partner in 2025.
She is a committee member and head of the Maternity sub-committee of Women in Criminal Law and is also the Equality Diversity and Inclusion Officer on the committee of the Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum. She is a former committee member and media officer of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association
Rose regularly represents individuals accused of sexual offences. While always acting in a strategic manner, she takes a compassionate approach to these cases, which are often extremely distressing and impactful, however they may eventually be resolved.
Simply being suspected of an allegation of this type can cause significant professional and personal damage. Rose is acutely aware of this and establishes her case strategy with this fact in mind.
Rose has had significant success persuading the police to stop pursuing cases which do not merit further investigation. Recent clients include two separate cases of accused teachers against whom the police, having received robust legal representations from Rose, took no further action.
Rose advises individuals in respect of extradition requests and often deals with criminal cases with an international dimension.
As a former duty solicitor working in Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Rose understands the importance of early case preparation in extradition cases. Her experience as an advocate at final hearings enables her to provide realistic strategic advice to clients contesting extradition.
Rose’s cases include successfully representing a client in relation to a requested extradition to Italy; and representing a client in relation to an Albanian request connected an accusation of blood feud-related offences.
Rose also provides advice to suspects or witnesses who are the subject of requests for Mutual Legal Assistance from overseas jurisdictions. She works with overseas lawyers and experts, and is a member of the European Criminal Bar Association.
Rose has significant experience representing clients under investigation for assault and violent offences.
She is expert in representing clients with mental health problems, or for whom a moment of crisis led to police involvement. She persuaded the prosecution to drop multiple charges of assaulting a police officer against a vulnerable young woman who had been experiencing a breakdown. Rose has also represented clients for whom mental health treatment requirements including hospital orders and restriction orders were ultimately necessary,
Most of Rose’s clients in these matters wish to focus their efforts on the earliest stage of proceedings to have the best chance of the matter not proceeding further. She is often instructed as soon as the client has an indication of police involvement. Many of Rose’s assault cases have concluded at the investigation stage, some almost immediately after police interview.
Inevitably, some cases do progress to trial and Rose has experience in representing clients in relation to all levels of assault from the Magistrates’ Court to the Court of Appeal.
Rose has appeared before every type of criminal court in the country: from the Magistrates’ Court to the High Court to the Court of Appeal. At the Court of Appeal, she successfully obtained a substantial reduction in sentence for her client.
Rose’s experience as an advocate gives her an astute understanding of case strategy. She is particularly skilled at making arguments about the admissibility of evidence, abuse of process and in making submissions of no case to answer.
Rose has long experience opposing ancillary orders. She feels strongly that these should be robustly prepared due to the disproportionate impact they can have on a person’s life. She has successfully opposed numerous applications for Football Banning Orders which have allowed her clients – often the most committed and passionate of fans – to continue attending matches.
Rose is often instructed by clients accused of harassment, and harassment-related communications offences. While these offences can be less serious in terms of potential sentence if found guilty, they can be emotionally and psychologically challenging.
Harassment and harassment-related communications offences such as often require clients to work closely with their solicitor to work through the many legal issues which can arise. These cases can often give rise to counter-allegations. Rose is often instructed to assist people who wish to make a report to the police.
Harassment trials can be complex and time-consuming. Rose’s meticulous case preparation skills enable her to master complex factual matrices to identify the vital points in a case. Often it is only with thorough examination of a client’s communications that a case can be won.
16 Oct 2025
Hickman & Rose’s status as one of the country’s leading law firms has been confirmed in the latest edition of the Chambers & Partners legal directory.
The firm’s Business Crime,…
1 Oct 2025
Hickman & Rose is delighted to announce that two more of its departments have been elevated to the leading Tier 1 category in the latest edition of the Legal 500 directory.
The Business Crime…
1 Apr 2025
Hickman & Rose is delighted to announce that Kate Goold has rejoined the firm as a partner in its market-leading Serious and General Crime team.
Kate originally joined Hickman & Rose in…
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