Stephen Pollard > WilmerHale > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Under the joint leadership of Stephen Pollard and Richard Burger, WilmerHale’s growing white-collar crime practice routinely represents individuals in significant SFO, NCA, police, and HMRC investigations. The ‘legendary‘ Pollard has an impressive track record handling the full range of business crime and securities enforcement matters, while seasoned white-collar specialist Burger handles both domestic and international regulatory and criminal investigations. Lloyd Firth’s recent caseload includes representing senior individuals in bribery and fraud proceedings.

The investigations and criminal litigation team at WilmerHale has a broad practice with notable strength in transatlantic instructions. Co-chair Stephen Pollard, lauded for his ‘incredible experience and phenomenal judgement’, has a strong track record representing corporate clients in high-profile proceedings brought by the SFO. Pollard works alongside co-chair Richard Burger, a former prosecutor with extensive experience handling domestic and international regulatory enforcement and criminal investigations. Lloyd Firth handles internal investigations as well as multijurisdictional government-facing investigations. Imogen Makin joined the team in January 2024, and is a key contact for financial institutions.

Combining ‘US law firm heft coupled with gold-standard UK lawyers’, WilmerHale excels in representing financial services entities and senior executives in large-scale regulatory investigations and enforcements. In this context, the team is particularly effective in helping clients navigate matters with regulatory and criminal implications, through large-scale internal or regulatory agency-led investigations. The ‘hugely impressive and experienced’ Richard Burger ‘will leave no stone unturned in achieving the best for his clients’. He has vast experience defending clients before a range of regulatory bodies including FCA, SFO and the US DOJ. Hot on the heels of Burger’s arrival from DWF in January 2023, the firm welcomed the arrival of Imogen Makin from the same firm in January 2024. Makin is also noted for her aptitude at handling global investigations. The ‘legendary’ Stephen Pollard co-heads the team alongside Burger and is able to leverage ‘deep experience across the regulatory and criminal divide’.