Practice Areas
Piers is Head of Freshfields’ London financial disputes practice, and has amassed extensive experience advising financial institutions in litigation and regulatory investigations. Piers acts for a wide range of investment banks, wealth managers, retail banks, asset managers, insurers and reinsurers, investment funds, brokers, specialist finance providers, payment service providers, stock exchanges and clearing houses, financial advisers, professional services firms, and other corporates, in the UK and elsewhere.
His contentious regulatory experience includes advising on numerous Financial Conduct Authority thematic, s.166 and enforcement investigations. Piers has also assisted clients during investigations by, and disputes with, the UK's Financial Reporting Council, Office of Fair Trading, Serious Fraud Office and HM Revenue and Customs, along with the European Commission and overseas regulators, which have involved some of the largest ever fines imposed by the authorities. His civil litigation experience includes cases involving mis-selling, and derivatives and inter-creditor disputes, often with multijurisdictional dimensions.
Having been seconded to a number of financial institutions, Piers provides practical advice that reflects the legal, regulatory, commercial and practical issues that such institutions face. Piers is also involved in mentoring lawyers at Freshfields and at client organisations, and has recently done the same for a legal project manager in the business services function. He mentors internal talent from diverse backgrounds (ethnic, gender and other diversity), and has been a mentor on the Stephen Lawrence scholarship scheme.
Personal
Piers holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from York University and completed the CPE and LPC at the College of Law, York.
