Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Financial Crime - London (Bar)

1
Band 1

What the Team is Known For

QEB Hollis Whiteman retains its reputation as a leading chambers in the financial crime market, housing an impressive bench of leading silks and juniors experienced in both the prosecution and defence of complex and high-value cases. Members are regularly called upon to represent their clients in investigations into allegations of bribery, corruption and fraud, and are noted for their expert handling of cases involving international elements. Private prosecutions continue to be a key area of strength for the team. The members are described by professional clients as "the go-to set for all financial crime matters," who "provide advice which not only reflects the current legal position but is extremely commercial and anticipate the impact of recent judgments." Recent instructions undertaken by the set's barristers include acting for Glencore's ex-head of oil in SFO prosecution for conspiracy to bribe officials in West Africa to secure favourable deals.

Strengths

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Notable Practitioners

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Adrian Darbishire
Adrian Darbishire
Star Individuals

Joint head of chambers Adrian Darbishire KC is a highly popular silk known for his winning approach in white-collar crime cases. According to commentators, he is excellent on the paperwork and has strong advocacy skills. They further praise him for his lateral thinking and superb interpersonal skills. He acts for high-level executives and professionals in all areas of fraud and financial crime, and has worked on marketing manipulation and accounting fraud cases. Darbishire is further valued for his advice to corporates on a range of financial crime matters.

Everyone knows Adrian. He is fantastic. He is a smooth operator, very practical and intelligent.

Adrian is a master of his craft. He is a superb communicator and could create a compelling narrative out of a shopping list.

Adrian is at the top and justifiably so.

Rachna Gokani
Star Individuals

Rachna Gokani has a well-established practice in financial crime, exhibiting significant expertise and skilled advocacy. She is highlighted by sources for her enviable combination of raw talent and diligence. Allegations of corruption and accounting fraud are a regular feature of her caseload. Her practice includes work on both the defence and prosecution sides, and she has a record of acting in private prosecutions. Gokani is noted for her expertise in cases involving international matters.

She is a real star in the making. She is very much in demand, quietly confident and brilliant.

Rachna will turn her hand to any case and do a really excellent job. She is very, very impressive.

One of the hardest working lawyers at the bar, Rachna is truly fantastic and a lovely person to work with.

Tom Doble
Star Individuals

Tom Doble handles high-quality work in financial crime and is admired for his expertise in HMRC and Serious Fraud Office investigations. He is an expert in cases involving interest rate manipulation and tax fraud, as well as those relating to high-profile bribery and corruption. Doble wins plaudits for his strong technical grasp of complex points of law.

Tom is a fantastic lawyer through and through, Tom operates at the cutting edge of the financial crime junior bar.

Tom is at the top of his game, he is a superb communicator and an extremely talented lawyer.

Tom is a really creative thinker, incredibly hard-working and creates innovative solutions.

1
Allison Clare
1
Band 1

Allison Clare KC is renowned for her lengthy experience advising on financial crime. Recent cases handled have involved the trading of financial instruments and allegations of market manipulation, bribery and corruption. She wins frequent instructions from corporate clients and from the Serious Fraud Office, and has an impressive balance of prosecution and defence work. Clare has notable expertise in matters involving Deferred Prosecution Agreements.

Allison is amazing both on paper and as an advocate. She is a powerhouse.

Allison is very impressive and produces a very high quality of work. Judges find her advocacy extremely attractive and easy to listen to.

1
Mark Ellison
1
Band 1

Mark Ellison KC is a highly experienced criminal prosecutor and former First Senior Treasury Counsel. Nowadays, he tackles a broad mix of publicly and privately funded criminal defence work, including Serious Fraud Office and Financial Conduct Authority prosecutions concerning suspected bribery and insider dealing. Most of his recent briefs have significant international elements and have involved alleged wrongdoing in jurisdictions including Hungary and Saudi Arabia. He is sought after for his high-calibre representation of corporates in international bribery and corruption matters.

Mark is really polished and fantastic.

Mark is a consummate advocate.

1
Sean Larkin
1
Band 1

Sean Larkin KC prosecutes and defends high-value money laundering, investment and tax fraud charges. He has a proven record of defending individuals prosecuted by bodies including the Serious Fraud Office, HMRC and the Financial Conduct Authority. He also provides compliance counsel, self-reporting and pre-charge support to corporate clients.

He is a standout advocate, is great with the law and very confident in densely complex issues.

Sean remains at the very top of his game. He is an astute and highly engaging counsel who is able to grapple with and interpret the most complex of situations with apparent ease.

He is very jury-friendly and has a good brain.

1
William Boyce
1
Band 1

William Boyce KC is a highly effective silk with an impressively persuasive manner in front of judges and juries. Although a former Senior Treasury Counsel at the Central Criminal Court, he now has a strong defence practice and has been instructed in some major cases, including market manipulation matters and high-profile Financial Conduct Authority and Competition and Markets Authority proceedings. He is adept at fraud, bribery and corruption cases.

William is an absolutely superb cross-examiner and an all-round wonderful advocate. He has a very good manner with clients and he is supremely clever.

2
Ari Alibhai
2
Band 2

Ari Alibhai focuses his practice on the private prosecution of criminal intellectual property infringement. He is regularly instructed by major corporate clients in the broadcast media, film and sport sectors, as well as several trade organisations.

Ari is a go-to. He is highly respected.

Ari is a superb, approachable and extremely talented barrister. His results at court speak for themselves.

Ben FitzGerald
2
Ben FitzGerald
2
Band 2

Ben FitzGerald KC is lauded for his great command of the facts in a case, his strong work ethic and his leadership skills when part of a team. Cases involving money laundering, banking and tax frauds feature regularly in his workload. He provides capable counsel to clients at a pre-charge stage, as well as when appearing at trial, and is noted for his impressive strategic approach to cases.

He is very charismatic and always works as part of a team.

Ben is a super intelligent, calm advocate, who has the ear of the judge, drafts well and is very easy to work with.

Ben is extremely capable and highly skilled in financial crime matters. In particular, his ability to quickly assess complex matters is astounding.

2
Crispin Aylett
2
Band 2

Crispin Aylett KC is a highly regarded criminal barrister who is noted for his expert handling of both heavyweight general and white-collar criminal matters. While he has considerable experience of acting for and advising major corporate clients facing Senior Fraud Office investigations and criminal charges such as bribery and corruption, Aylett is also regularly called upon to act for the regulators in complex and high-value cases and Deferred Prosecution Agreement negotiations.

Crispin has exceptional gravitas in the courtroom and he brings everyone with him, willingly so.

Crispin is one of the funniest and ferocious advocates. He chops and dices defendants, and has incredible judgement and great wit.

2
David Groome
2
Band 2

David Groome is regularly instructed in private prosecutions and has considerable expertise in cases concerning IP rights infringements, fraud and consumer protection. His clients include several major corporations in the sports, film and broadcast media industries.

David has completed the most complex cases ever in this field. His depth of knowledge is superb. He is always willing to help and is a true expert in this field.

2
Jason Mansell
2
Band 2

Jason Mansell's background as both a solicitor at a magic circle firm and a regulator at the Financial Services Authority means that he has great insight into how best to approach financial crime cases. He has recently advised a number of corporates on cross-border corruption issues and counselled financial institutions facing inquiries into rate manipulation. Commentators regard him as a go-to barrister for cases with criminal and regulatory crossover elements. His broad-based practice also includes notable strength in money laundering matters and insider dealing cases prosecuted by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Jason's technical expertise is a game-changer on cases.

2
Jennifer Newcomb
2
Band 2

Jennifer Newcomb is regularly called upon to prosecute high-value and complex cases. She has been appointed to a number of panels, including the Serious Fraud Office's A Panel and the Fraud Specialist Panel for the Crown Prosecution Service.

Jennifer is a pleasure to work with and extremely capable.

Jennifer does a fantastic job on prosecution. She is a great advocate.

2
Tom Broomfield
2
Band 2

Tom Broomfield is a well-regarded junior recognised for his particular expertise in Financial Conduct Authority matters. He is regularly called upon to prosecute insider dealing cases.

Tom is a brilliant junior. His advocacy skills are brilliant and his out of court skills are great. He is dependable, reliable, very down to earth and passionate about his work.

Tom is excellent. He is really professional at all times, really confident, has an exceptional work ethic and very persuasive advocacy.

Tom is very hard-working and exceptional on issues with insider dealing.

3
David Spens
3
Band 3

David Spens KC is a veteran criminal barrister recognised for his expert representation of individuals facing high-profile bribery and corruption charges. His matters are largely international in character, covering alleged wrongdoing in a wide variety of jurisdictions.

David Spend KC is charm personified. He is a really lovely advocate, carries a jury with him and is very persuasive.

David is a really effective and very experienced jury advocate.

3
Karen Robinson
3
Band 3

Karen Robinson is an experienced junior who is noted for her expertise in financial crime investigations. She is regularly instructed by prosecuting entities in connection with fraud matters.

Karen is very smart, hard-working and a very solid advocate. She is extremely practical and goes the extra mile for her clients.

3
Paul Raudnitz
3
Band 3

Paul Raudnitz KC is a sound and dependable barrister who prosecutes and defends, and regularly provides companies with pre-charge advice. Investment fraud, bribery, and money laundering cases all form part of his practice.

3
Philip Stott
3
Band 3

Philip Stott is an experienced criminal barrister who regularly appears in complex fraud, bribery and corruption cases. He has experience acting both for the prosecution and the defence, and has recently acted as sole junior in two major Serious Fraud Office prosecutions.

Philip has a razor sharp intellect and is very personable.

He is a very good advocate, with a hard-working and dedicated approach.

3
Selva Ramasamy
3
Band 3

Joint head of chambers Selva Ramasamy KC prosecutes and defends cases involving professionals and companies charged in criminal, regulatory and disciplinary proceedings. He has recently worked on a number of tax fraud proceedings against HMRC and has also acted in crossover fraud and professional disciplinary matters involving the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the General Dental Council. His financial crime practice also takes in bribery cases.

He is a strategic master, very experienced and his drafting is so precise.

He is a very clever silk who thinks strategically, and charms the court with his advocacy.

Selva is very calm, intelligent and terrific. He is a very lovely advocate with great experience dealing with difficult clients.

3
Senghin Kong
3
Band 3

Senghin Kong is well regarded for his grasp of the detail as a specialist in business crime. He regularly appears in cases of financial wrongdoing brought by the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority, representing defence and the prosecuting agencies alike in a variety of insider trading, money laundering, bribery and corruption, and serious and complex fraud.

Senghin is one of the most brilliant juniors in financial crime in England. He has a brain that is exceptional. There is no limit to amount of data he can process.

He is extraordinarily bright, has very good judgement and can speak the language of commercial clients.

4
Jocelyn Ledward
4
Band 4

Jocelyn Ledward KC is a highly rated criminal barrister with an increasing focus on significant financial crime cases. She is valued for her representation of clients in cases alleging varieties of fraud ‒ in particular, tax fraud. She is also experienced in money laundering cases.

She is really impressive and super bright.

Jocelyn has fantastic attention to detail. She is unflappable and a future star in the rank of KC.

She is a leading practitioner in her field.

4
Mark Aldred
4
Band 4

Mark Aldred is a talented barrister who is noted for his expertise in significant Serious Fraud Office investigations. He is commended for his ability in major fraud cases and is particularly experienced in international bribery and corruption cases.

Mark is a highly intelligent junior. He is doggedly determined and unafraid.

4
Peter Finnigan
4
Band 4

Peter Finnigan KC is a former Standing Counsel to HMRC who has broad experience of cases concerning bribery, money laundering and MTIC frauds. His recent caseload has included high-profile work prosecuting international bribery matters. He also defended in market manipulation proceedings related to the rigging of LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate).

4
Philip Evans
4
Band 4

Philip Evans KC is a sought-after barrister who is recognised for his tactical skill and depth of experience. He demonstrates a range in both his geographical and topical focus and is able to handle great complexity and large regulatory bodies.

He has a calm, well-measured approach in advocacy.

He is a rigorous cross-examiner. He is relentless and really fair which is a really good combination.

Philip is really excellent and incredibly experienced.

Ranked Barristers at
QEB Hollis Whiteman

Provided by Chambers
Filter by
Band

Silks (KC)

London (Bar)

Financial Crime

Adrian Darbishire KC
Adrian Darbishire KC
Star Individuals
1
Mark Ellison KC
1
Band 1
1
Sean Larkin KC
1
Band 1
1
William Boyce KC
1
Band 1
2
Allison Clare KC
2
Band 2
2
Crispin Aylett KC
2
Band 2
Ben FitzGerald KC
3
Ben FitzGerald KC
3
Band 3
3
David Spens KC
3
Band 3
3
Paul Raudnitz KC
3
Band 3
3
Selva Ramasamy KC
3
Band 3
4
Jocelyn Ledward KC
4
Band 4
4
Peter Finnigan KC
4
Band 4
4
Philip Evans KC
4
Band 4
Financial Crime: Corporates

Adrian Darbishire KC
Adrian Darbishire KC
Star Individuals
1
Allison Clare KC
1
Band 1
Ben FitzGerald KC
2
Ben FitzGerald KC
2
Band 2
2
Crispin Aylett KC
2
Band 2
2
Mark Ellison KC
2
Band 2
Financial Crime: Private Prosecutions

Adrian Darbishire KC
1
Adrian Darbishire KC
1
Band 1
1
William Boyce KC
1
Band 1
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