33 Chancery Lane

This internationally renowned set specialises in commercial and financial wrongdoing, including asset forfeiture, bribery and corruption, civil recovery, company and insolvency work, fraud, investigative law, money laundering, public access, and regulatory law.

The set: With an unrivalled, proven track record at its foundation, the set is an acknowledged leader in its field in the UK and overseas. Its members pride themselves on providing approachable, responsive and supportive cradle-to-grave litigation strategies, leading to elegant, simple and common-sense solutions.

The set places significant emphasis on client care and procedures. It has acted for governments, corporations and individuals around the world, including the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Abu Dhabi, Dubai (DIFC), India, the US, Australia, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Canada, Argentina, China, Seychelles, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey, The Isle of Man, Denmark, Pakistan, Singapore, Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands, and Northern Ireland. Members appear in tribunals, arbitrations, mediations, appeals or at first instance, domestically and throughout the common law world.

Twelve members have been appointed to the specialist SFO PoCA and Prosecution Lists. Members include the authors of Corporate Criminal Liability and the leading text on confiscation and asset forfeiture: Mitchell, Taylor and Talbot and Criminal Confiscation and Civil Recovery. Members also contribute to Archbold (the money laundering chapter), The White Book, Blackstone’s and Administrative Court Practice and Procedure. Another Member is the lead author of Smith & Shepherd, Commercial and Cyber Fraud: a Legal Guide to Justice for Businesses as well as the author of A Practitioner’s Guide to Commercial and Cyber Fraud: Claiming Compensation in the Civil and Criminal Courts.

Types of work undertaken: Members often appear on behalf of corporate personalities, company directors and liquidators regarding financial wrongdoing matters and are instructed in regular insolvency work and company law actions, such as unfair prejudice claims and derivative actions on behalf of minority shareholders, including actions against directors for breach of their statutory duties.

Fraud, civil and criminal, are notable areas of expertise. Members are routinely instructed in pre-charge or pre-action issues, such as freezing/restraint orders, drafting claims and defences, judicial review of investigative decisions, multi-jurisdictional matters, ADR, and other issues. Members are instructed to defend and prosecute in cases of the highest complexity brought by the SFO, FCA, NCA, CPS and other agencies as well as act for Claimants or Respondents in complex civil actions. Investigative law expertise includes search warrants, production orders and witness summonses.

Members of 33 Chancery Lane have been at the forefront of legal practice in money laundering for decades and continue to act in the most complex cases domestically and overseas, as well as delivering personalised training and education to professionals in the field. Members have been advising numerous investors and financial institutions in matters concerning money laundering obligations arising out of the emerging cannabis market in Canada.

Asset forfeiture is a major specialism. Members are regularly instructed by prosecuting authorities, defendants and interested parties. They frequently make applications applying for, discharging or varying restraint orders. Members regularly appear in applications to discharge or vary Account Freezing Orders (AFO) and Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO) as well as applications relating to Moratorium Period Extensions. They handle competing claims between ancillary relief applications flowing from divorce and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, as well as high-value confiscation proceedings at the Crown Court involving assets in and outside the jurisdiction, including hidden asset cases.

Bribery and corruption expertise includes UK Bribery Act matters as well as overseas legislation. Members have appeared in many civil recovery proceedings and are retained by the CPS and SFO as well as respondents to advise upon and act in the development of the latest jurisprudence.

The set is also a leader in proceedings before financial and professional regulatory bodies, including enforcement, mediation and settlement. Members frequently appear before professional disciplinary bodies.