The Legal 500

Work Department

Business crime.

Position

Immediate past senior partner, now a full-time special counsel, engaged in all aspects of fraud and regulatory matters for more than 40 years and widely regarded as the ‘doyen’ of the business crime legal practice area. Monty was recognised for his outstanding contribution to law by being made a Queen’s Counsel (honoris causa) in April 2011. Areas of work include: fraud, including tax and customs fraud, corruption, money laundering issues covering compliance advice, crisis management and defence, securities infractions, regulatory enquiries, cross-border and asset tracing. Clients include: governments, corporates and individuals, financial institutions, multinationals and some of the largest professional practices in the UK, with his work being frequently international in scope. Monty has been involved in numerous high-profile cases, many of which remain high-profile and outside the public domain. Those in the public domain include `Cash For Honours’, Lloyds of London, Guinness, Barlow Clowes, Blue Arrow, BCCI, Maxwell, Wickes, Versailles and Oil for food.

Career

Trained at Peters & Peters; qualified 1962; partner 1965; past-president London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association. In the 1980’s he served as a deputy Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, before being appointed as an assistant recorder of the Crown Court. When not practising, he travels the world extensively lecturing and training governmental and commercial organisations concerned with fraud, money laundering and corruption, as well as on missions dealing with his specialist areas. Author and contributor to a wide range of publications in respect of these and related issues, including co-authoring a chapter on money laundering and human rights for ‘A Practitioner’s Guide to UK Money Laundering Law and Regulation’ (City and Financial); joint contributor of the chapter on money laundering in the Oxford University Press looseleaf ‘Fraud: Criminal Law and Procedure’; author, ‘Blackstone’s Guide to the Bribery Act’ (publiched 2010, OUP). Visiting Professor of Law at Kingston University.

Languages

Conversational French and German.

Member

The Law Society of England and Wales; founded the Business Crime Committee of the International Bar Association and until 2006 chaired its Anti-Corruption Working Group; American Bar Association; a director of The Fraud Advisory Panel; Honorary Solicitor to The Howard League; London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association (past president and life member); Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners; British Syrian Society; Customs Practitioners Group; British Academy of Forensic Science; European Criminal Law Association; European Criminal Bar Association.

Education

Davenant Foundation; University College, London (LLB Hons).

Leisure

Exploring the architectural history of London and reading widely.

Practice Areas

Crime - corporate; Fraud; Tax - VAT, C&E