‘A stellar financial services team. Able to handle the biggest cases and cut through the complexity to find the winning points.’

‘Dorian Drew and Carlos Conceicao are market leaders in the field. Everyone wants them on their side. Tactically astute and razor sharp litigators. Instructs counsel at an early stage.’

‘A first class team. They are hugely intelligent and experienced, but what sets them apart from some competitors is their superbly collaborative working style and the quality of client engagement. It’s a great experience to work with them, whatever the context.’

‘Carlos Conceicao – star quality in spades. He is a brilliant lawyer and a delight to engage with. Michael Lyons – a rising star, with bags of talent.’

‘Unrivalled experience, commercial sense and client focus, especially Martyn Hopper and Ben Packer.’

‘Relationship building is key for Linklaters and staff are readily available from associates to senior partners. Their focus on taking time to get to know their clients and build long term sustainable relationships is unique at a time when most firms are primarily focused on revenue generation. The firm delivers on quality of work and are mindful of budget – there is never a surprise with a bill – it’s clear from the outset with any further expenditure always agreed beforehand. The team is diverse and they collaborate well with both clients and each other.’

‘Susana Cao Miranda and the team at Linklaters take the time to understand our business, cut through the legalese, recommend clear ways forward, stay on budget, produce high quality work and inspire confidence. As a foreign bank in the UK, Linklaters are extremely mindful of the cultural aspects and adapt accordingly. It’s an extremely knowledgeable team and they are highly thought of throughout our organisation.’

‘Deep expertise combined with smart, sensible advice.’

‘Both Martyn Hopper and Alison Wilson are exceptionally good with internal business clients.’

‘The contentious team at Linklaters is excellent. They are intelligent and strategic at all levels. We enjoy working with them and trust their judgment and advice.’

‘Martyn Hopper is excellent. He is very intelligent, pragmatic and commercial, and is not afraid to give very frank (and helpful) opinions.

‘The Rolls-Royce of financial services teams.’

‘Louise Lamb – Very knowledge of the consumer credit space, and is able to apply that knowledge when advising clients.’

‘They are very experienced and knowledgeable litigators in this sphere.’

‘My experiences of Hogan Lovells were absolutely superb at all times. They were pro-active in pushing the case forward, creative in legal and strategic thinking, efficient in terms of case management and great at communicating with all involved.’

‘Elaine Penrose has superb people management skills and an excellent ability to analyse fact and law. These combine to excellent effect.’

‘Uniformly high-quality of partners and associates of all levels, and an unusually high level of partner engagement for a large firm.’

‘Stand-out partners are Philip Parish and Elaine Penrose. Both excellent at running large teams efficiently and maintaining focus and morale in long-running litigation.’

‘A superb world class firm with outstanding ability at all levels.’

‘Strategic thinking and careful solutions.’

‘The team at NRF has a strong advisory bench and good experience in handling investigations work.’

‘Katie Stephen has deep experience of FCA and PRA regulation and has a good instinct for how the regulators respond to issues. David Harris is calm and measured, with good international regulatory experience.’

‘Katie Stephen: She’s an absolute doyen of the FS regulatory arena, with a well-deserved reputation for excellence. She knows the regulatory landscape as well as anyone, and strikes fear into opponents including regulators. A top choice for any tough regulatory fight.’

‘Katie Stevenson: ‘A really tough regulatory lawyer. She knows precisely which regulatory buttons to press, and which ones to stay well clear of.’

‘The team work as a team! As a client you get strength in depth, with lots of input from each of the members of the team. We have needed a lot of complex support, and we have got both the benefits of in depth personal expertise with the team dynamic in delivery.’

‘The team are excellent, lots of in depth knowledge, with the advice delivered in a language that we can all understand. Leading our team has been Jonathan Herbst whose advice has been consistently excellent. We really value the clarity of the advice, and of course the technical excellence in understanding the complexity of the UK regulatory regime.’

‘Very strong individuals, and an exceptional ability to scale teams up and down to fit the volume of work required. This works because of the quality they have.’

‘Ewan Brown is great for difficult issues, and is quick to win the confidence of boards and senior stakeholders. He has very wide expertise. He is also very pragmatic and approachable.’

‘In general, all team members – partners and associates – bring an exceptional degree of commitment and skill.’

‘Holistic, qualified and value adding advice. Always available, customer-oriented and trustworthy.’

‘Gayathri Kamalanathan is the partner I have the greatest interaction with. I have a very high degree of interaction with. My view of her: incisive mind, broad and relevant knowledge of the complexities of financial institutions who delivers prompt, succinct and actionable advice with a self-deprecating and understated manner. In the middle of a crisis or when we as a client are making some of our most difficult decisions, Gayathri is the person you want in the room and in all the work that goes on after the room has adjourned.’

‘Ewan Brown – smart guy, excellent client manner and my go to for this type of work.’

‘Slaughter and May is unique in the breadth of experience of their lawyers, the quality of associates and their strategic advice. When the chips are down they are ultimately the people you need to have on speed dial.’

‘Ewan Brown is also a standout.’

‘The team at Stephenson Harwood is hugely talented, highly professional, committed to their clients and hard working. They work very well as a team and organise any workload very efficiently, in a very timely manner. They are objective, detailed and straight-talking and are very good at a technical level. In addition to these qualities, they are highly personable and responsive.’

‘I see them as clearly different from competitors and best in class. Special mention to Justin McClelland, Alan Ward and the wider team, whose work and expertise is of the highest calibre, sets them apart. Straight-talking, highly knowledgeable and meticulous, calm, fully dedicated and a pleasure to work with.’

‘Justin McClelland has had a wonderful way with clients who, not surprisingly given his mastery of each case and engaging personality, have the utmost respect for him. His preparation of his cases is impeccably thorough: it is not just a case, as with many, of summarising, but their instructions and enclosures provide a concise and incisive analysis of the evidence and law and this position maintains at every stage of the proceedings. And difficult, complex and novel areas of law at that!’

‘Traditionally a strong firm for white collar criminal / regulatory defence work.’

‘Rob Fell is absolutely superb, and runs big cases beautifully. He’s incredibly clever, is one of most experienced financial services litigators in the market, and has a detailed knowledge of both the industry and the law in this area. He’s a terrific strategist, and a brilliant negotiator. He’s perfect for any really tough financial services dispute. In civil fraud, he’s been picking up top cases for a number of years; and is rightly regarded as a leading practitioner in the area.’

‘Wonderful firm offering clients a brilliant service.’

‘Very good team with good experience of financial services investigations.’

‘Rob Fell – very experienced partner who is extremely good with clients.’

‘Huw Jenkin – experienced and on top of all of the details of a case.’

‘Speed of response, ability to dive straight into an issue at very short notice.’

‘Pragmatic, sensible and on hand when you need them. Take a balanced approach blending the technical legal position with a genuinely commercial approach.’

‘David Pygott brings a huge depth of knowledge and always seeks to apply it pragmatically to the benefit of his clients.’

‘David Pygott is excellent – careful, detail-oriented and knowledgeable.’

‘My experience with the team at Brown Rudnick has been exceptional. Their in-depth knowledge in the law surrounding the financial services is nothing short of stellar. The team’s collaborative knowledge, network and skill sets make Brown Rudnick the only choice for anyone looking to resolve their legal issues with the peace of mind knowing they have a powerful legal team behind them.’

‘Ian Weinstein worked tirelessly to help me with a legal issue from a regulator. His knowledge of the law in the financial services combined with the direct access to the team at Brown Rudnick and their valuable input and advice helped address all issues with crystal clarity breaking down each and every point that had been raised. The time Ian spent with me to understand my business model in detail felt like he cared more than other firms I had previously engaged with.’

‘Brown Rudnick are really really good in financial services cases. They put their clients at ease and work really hard and carefully for their clients.’

‘Peter Bibby – a financial services and banking guru. Chloe Pawson-Pounds – a hardworking, thoughtful and astute financial services litigator. Ian Weinstein – assesses his cases with care and is excellent at working out strategic angles.’

‘Strong practice in Peter Bibby.’

‘Peter Bibby is knowledgeable and forensic, and fights for his clients.’

‘Polly James: A steady and calming influence when cases hit crisis point.’

‘The key strength of BCLP is its ability to bring together top quality employment and regulatory specialists to help us navigate issues as a client in FS. The relationship management we receive is first-class.’

‘Oran Gelb – gives very good, practical, advice. Not afraid to say what he would do if he were the client.’

‘A financial services team with long standing experience and renowned in the field.’

‘Polly James – is one in a million. Modest, smart, cool and collected. A joy to work with. Breathes life into every case and goes the extra mile at every stage.’

‘A very capable team and a pleasure to work with. They have a number of team members who have spent time on secondment at financial regulatory authorities (e.g. FCA and PRA), which provides valuable insights to dealing with regulators on enforcement matters.’

‘We have been working with Oran Gelb and the team for well over ten years and we consider them as part of our team, fully knowing that they will fight our corner and protect us as best they can. They always go out of their way to assist and support and put us in touch with the relevant individual in the event they cannot assist directly. They have a large team behind them.’

‘Oran Gelb and the team are very approachable and very knowledgeable and always provide a speedy response. They always have our best interests at heart and in the past have provided us with very helpful legal advice which has proved invaluable.’

‘An excellent firm who are great at putting together diverse teams where collaboration is encouraged.’

‘Katharine Harle is very knowledgeable financial services lawyer who ably deploys her many years of experience within the regulator. Christopher Brennan is a very experienced litigator, at home working both for and against the regulators, with a portfolio of very impressive outcomes for his clients. Zeena Saleh is a star asset for any team and works brilliantly with Chris Brennan.’

‘Katharine Harle is a remarkably knowledgeable financial services practitioner; she’s enormously hard-working; she gets on brilliantly with clients, including the most sophisticated and demanding ones; she produces superb letters and advice; she’s an astute tactician; and a nightmare for the other side when she needs to be. Quite superb.’

‘Richard Caird is excellent is every respect – he is able to draw on a wealth of experience in financial services and regulatory law to instinctively navigate through the maze of technical issues to get to the crux of the issue.’

‘An outstanding international litigation department with a specialism in maximum complexity banking cases and handling HNW and demanding clients.’

‘Chris Brennan is a great recent signing who brings excellent judgment and legal understanding to all of his cases.’

‘A well-established team of outstanding reputation particularly in the banking space.’

‘Zeena Saleh is hard-working, savvy and unflappable: a star of the future.’

‘Very slick outfit. Worked with them on a high profile and challenging commercial JR case. They were excellent with the clients and on litigation strategy.’

‘The key strength of this DLA team is the partners. I have worked often with Jeremy Sher and Tony Katz and regard them as exceptionally good. That sets the tone for the team as the work product from associates who have trained and worked with, in particular, Jeremy (as the more junior partner) reflects his work ethic and ability.’

‘The partners, including Tony Katz, are both amongst the very best I have worked with: tactically astute, very clever, see straight through to the heart of the dispute and show great judgment.’

‘Commercial approach; good judgment; hardworking.’

‘The team is able to swiftly understand the issues and provide effective solutions. I have worked with the firm on several occasions and rate them very highly. They are clear from the outset as to who will be involved with reference to the complexity and speed required.’

‘Both James Carlton and Sona Ganatra are a joy to work with. You can call them at any time and they will respond. A real 24/7 team that has your back.’

‘The team is a leading City firm able to offer me equivalent experience and expertise of a larger City practice without the hindrance of conflicts. Has a broad and deep experience at all levels in the criminal and regulatory teams.’

‘Sebastian Sayer’s experience as a criminal barrister coupled with direct experience gained in-house in the FCA Criminal Prosecution Team at the FCA makes him a go-to lawyer for individuals and firms seeking advice about FCA criminal investigations. He is one to watch.’

‘The level and depth of expertise in contentious regulatory matters makes this team unique.’

‘I have worked closely with James Carlton, Sona Gonatra, Peter Wright and Sebastian Sayer for a number of years. They are all highly professional with excellent judgement and understanding of complex regulatory matters. Sona has superb client handling skills and is an analytically excellent lawyer. She is incisive and forensic.’

‘Fox Williams have a really talented financial services team led by Peter Wright. They are excellent and my first choice.’

‘Peter Wright – simply the best. James Carlton – for investigations with a criminal / white collar angle, he is brilliant.’

‘Kingsley Napley has great people, in many departments, across multiple sectors, equipped to answer issues arising almost anywhere in the world. Each separate department can call upon the intelligence and experience of every other department to provide a one-stop solution to complex and multi-dimensional legal challenges. Most other firms in this field do not offer that luxury. The ethos of the firm is to be tough but sensitive – that is a lot cleverer, and of far greater use and comfort to a lay client, than simply being tough.’

‘Louise Hodges heads up the team and sets the tone and industry of its members. She is the go-to solicitor for most City traders whenever insider trading or market abuse is suspected. She speaks the language of the City with authenticity. Her experience in this field is second to none. I have never known a client to be less than amazed by her fluency in the intricacies of financial services. Down to earth, practical, realistic, Louise is admired and respected by every regulatory and enforcement agency in the field.

‘Jill Lorimer is a defence assassin – operating below the radar to snuff out the problem at source and kill off the danger before others have even spotted that it exists. Many of her clients never reach the stage of being charged or disciplined because she has anticipated and negated all viable criticism before it can crystallise.’

‘Great team, great work, client sensitive.’

‘Highly experienced and personable team that is quick to respond to all matters. Produce outstanding and detailed work, and break down complex concepts in a way that is easy to understand.’

‘My stand-out mentions go to Jill Lorimer and Anna Holmes. I have worked with them closely on a couple of projects and they are outstanding in the work they produce, the outcomes they achieve, and the speed at which it is completed.’

‘The team are excellent.’

‘I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Andrea Monks and her team. The advice she provides is exceptional and she is a pleasure to work with even when the circumstances are tricky. Andrea is great at guiding strategy and makes the time to explain complicated issues in an easily digestible manner.’

‘A strong group with increasing depth.’

‘Chris Chapman is brilliant – he is always across the detail and has great judgment.’

‘The team at Mayer Brown is excellent, very responsive, diligent and practical. They are very client focused, and able to give very sensible pragmatic advice to clients.’

‘Chris Chapman is very good, he provides excellent mixture of technical legal analysis coupled with real world pragmatism and is very good at thinking through solutions and next steps.’

‘Chris Chapman is an exceptional lawyer – very insightful, pragmatic and a pleasure to work with.’

‘Excellent legal team and fantastic service. From the beginning, all fees and steps were clearly set out to us and we were incredibly well informed throughout the whole process.’

‘We had many phone calls and emails back and forth with the firm’s partner, Chris Chapman and other team members. Every email was answered in a timely and informative manner. Nothing was ever an inconvenience for Chris.’

‘Mishcon de Reya have some of the most talented and widely-recognised individuals within the financial services space. They are fearless in support of their clients and clear-eyed and imaginative when advising and devising strategy.’

‘Adam Epstein is one of the most knowledgeable and respected practitioners in the field. Guy Wilkes is an unflappable and sensible presence in the most difficult of circumstances and complicated of scenarios. Elizabeth Hope is one of the best associates in the whole financial services field.’

‘The team is extremely well-led (by partner Adam Epstein) and has an excellent depth of skill and experience. More than a match for anyone in this sector.’

‘Adam Epstein (partner) – extremely experienced and knowledgeable with impeccable strategic judgment. Many talented and able team members including Elizabeth Hope.’

‘Great experience acting for individuals throughout the investigation and disciplinary process.’

‘Adam Epstein has been acting for individuals in significant regulatory matters for many years.’

‘Well-known and good-sized time. Particular mention Guy Wilkes and Elizabeth Hope. Always seem to be involved with large cases and busy.’

‘Adam Epstein is the doyen of the field. A reassuring adviser for clients who completely understands the strengths and weaknesses of the case and adjusts his strategy to suit. Ably assisted by the up and coming Elizabeth Hope, a super-efficient associate with an excellent down to earth style.’

‘Commercial and pragmatic.’

‘Excellent knowledge and experience in financial regulatory matters.’

‘Barney Reynolds and Thomas Donegan are both excellent.’

‘Always go the extra mile and place clients at the core of what they do.’

‘Thomas Donegan, Chloe Barrowman and the team are absolutely that best I have ever worked with.’

‘Helen Marshall leads a very experienced and impressive team, based on deep familiarity with the regulatory framework. Punchy and will fight your corner.’

‘ They have an exceptional personal approach which, when lawyers are required is very reassuring.’

‘John Bechelet and Antony Brown are exceptional both in their approach to clients and in the advice that they provide.’

‘Stephen Elam is a real star in this area, and is a thorough and thoughtful litigator.’

‘The team has developed a significant niche, and expertise in crypto matters to support an already strong disputes and regulatory practice area.’

‘Friendly, easy to work with, practical and results oriented.’

Stephen Elam and Elizabeth Meade are both exceptional to work with.’

‘Clients benefit from the environment CYK has nurtured – it is more intimate, more positive and clients receive big-law quality advice at a lower price.’

‘It is rare to have a boutique firm that is nimble and flexible also having such high quality and overall clout.’

‘CYK’s knowledge of the financial services sector and regulations is excellent. Unusually for a law firm, they have hands-on experience of working in the sector.’

‘Steve Elam is very bright, always available and gets to the underlying problem extremely quickly. He always gives clear advice.’

‘Strength in-depth in this area of law and a display of excellence across the work done.’

‘Peter Binning is the go-to person for referencing work in this area. Clare Frost is also very good in this area.’

‘Excellent team. First-rate reputation.’

‘Claire Cross is extremely collaborative and immediately inspires confidence from clients.’

‘One of few really strong players in criminal/regulatory cross-over space in FS contentious work.’

‘Claire Cross is fantastic. She is phenomenally clever, extremely experienced and a safe pair of hands for any client in difficulties with the FCA.’

‘A variety of criminal and regulatory experience – able to deal with technical and complex FS cases efficiently and bringing varied experience to bear.’

‘Corker Binning has a small team but without exception they are each legally astute, hardworking and forces within the legal industry. The firm is the epitome of a boutique law firm. It covers a range of legal areas, from financial regulation to extradition but the legal knowledge held is deep, and the experience vast. It is the law firm I would recommend to friends and family.’

‘Knowledgeable and commercially minded.’

‘Friendly and approachable.’

‘The Financial services: contentious team at Fieldfisher LLP are an outstanding group of individuals and a team that makes the challenging legal process as palatable as possible. They demonstrate second to none efficiency, expertise on their subject matter, thoroughness and then explain in as simple terms required to the client what is required of them, what the possible outcomes of the process could be and what the next steps of the process will likely be.’

‘Their depth of knowledge is key which is outstanding. They took time in getting to know me as their client and the history of the case.’

‘Duncan Black as the partner I deal with has been a pleasure to work with. He is meticulous and efficient with unrivalled knowledge. He has spent a significant amount of time explaining the process (which is completely foreign to me) and the range of outcomes.’

‘The team has extensive experience and a fantastic work ethic. Their work is consistently top class and they are very easy to work with.’

‘They were always available, very organised and had an incredibly commercial approach to solving problems.’

‘The proven ability of TLT’s Financial Services litigation team to time-and-again deliver great results in a cost-effective manner across all UK jurisdictions consistently makes them our first choice for dealing with defended litigation.’

‘Russell Kelsall has a level of industry knowledge which is second to none. He is our ‘go-to’ individual for advice on consumer issues within financial services.’

‘James Chadwick is a highly effective and cost-efficient litigator who manages a team that consistently achieves great results.’

‘Fantastic experience of representing senior and high-profile individuals who are caught in the crosshairs of both domestic and international regulatory enforcement investigations.’

‘Stephen Pollard: One of the most well-known names when it comes to representing high-profile individuals involved in regulatory investigations. Clear, constructive and not afraid to pick battles for his clients when needed.’

‘David Rundle: Provides excellent support to Stephen Pollard on larger matters, and is also someone we approach to represent individuals who are involved in smaller cases. Calm, assured and constructive in his approach.’

‘Superb high-calibre team with masses of experience in the field.’

‘Calm, market savvy and meticulous attention to detail. Great client handling skills and well-connected in the market.’

‘Strength in depth – lots of good people at all levels.’

‘Verity Barker has terrific attention to detail and runs cases very smoothly. James Sidwell is hugely experienced.’

‘In my opinion, a go-to firm for individuals who find themselves in a bit of bother with regulators or prosecutors.’

‘Christopher Houssemayne de Boulay – A great eye to detail in any case – no potential argument can miss him. Ross Dixon – A great technical lawyer with a great instinct, particularly in disciplinary cases giving rise to cross-border issues.’

‘Really strong in criminal/regulatory cross-over space. Strength and depth in team.’

‘Ben Rose, Andrew Katzen and the team are all exceptional practitioners in the contentious FS space as well as general white collar advice. Ross Dixon is also a fantastic white collar practitioner.’

‘I am working with Ben Rose, who is incredibly astute, practical and collaborative. He is creative and has excellent judgment. Even as a founding partner of his firm, he is very ‘hands on’ and knows the case inside out.’

‘Great team that has worked on some of the biggest cases anywhere.’

‘Aaron Stephens is one of the very best – loads of experience and a great way with clients and managing stressful situations.’

‘I have been working with Arun Srivastava and his team for some years now. He has great knowledge of the sector and has a good bank of both corporate and individual clients. He is a good team player and is highly respected by regulators, who feel that they can trust him. He works well with clients and has the depth in the team that works with him.’

‘Arun Srivastava has vast experience and is a team player and is really shrewd. He has good judgment and knows exactly what the strengths and weaknesses are in a case and then goes on to address the real issues.’

‘Arun Srivastava has a strong technical background in non-contentious financial services advice, meaning that he has a deep knowledge of both the products and the regulatory system that applies. The result is that, when combined with his time spent as a regulatory litigator, he can provide a holistic view and (particularly in relation to the FCA) has an excellent feel for how they will approach issues and what agreed outcomes might be possible.’

‘An open firm with innovative solutions to complex problems staffed by people who actually care about the result for their client.’

‘Sara George had been phenomenal achieving results where none appeared possible, her commitment to her clients, strategy and approach to litigation is second to none.’

‘Sara George is truly exceptional. Her management, forward thinking, networking capabilities are truly amazing.’

‘Strong UK regulatory and market knowledge. Able to provide a nuanced opinion and strategic advice.’

‘Sara George is fearless, very strategic, clear and knowledgeable. Great to have on your side in any contentious, regulatory matters.’

‘Excellent team – great strength across the board. Good industry knowledge.’

‘Chris Webber: an excellent litigator who fights hard for his clients, and really knows the FS industry in detail.’

‘Paul Anderson and Chris Webber offer practical, commercial advice.’