Ruth Cowley > Norton Rose Fulbright > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Lawyers of Norton Rose Fulbright leverage the firm’s expansive international footprint to support on multijurisdictional fraud and asset tracing mandates, including those with insolvency, cyber-fraud, white-collar crime, corruption and bribery. Harriet Jones-Fenleigh is an expert in civil fraud disputes, worldwide freezing order applications, and proprietary injunctions, whereas James Lockwood is noted for his track record across a wealth of banking-related matters. The practice is co-led by Patrick Bourke  and Ruth Cowley.

Norton Rose Fulbright has ‘fantastic knowledge of the market, very hands-on, involved in many of the leading cases, well-resourced teams‘. EMEA head of disputes Patrick Bourke oversees the world of commodities litigators. Among them are key partner Holly Stebbing who worked with senior associate India Furse to defend ExxonMobil, which was co-defendant with Shell U.K. Limited and BP Exploration Operating Company Limited, in a £440m Commercial Court proceedings brought by Apache North Sea Limited exceeding. Both are ‘stars in the making‘.  In oil and gas disputes, the firm advises some of the world’s largest multi-nationals and the team is ‘smart, clever, commercial and completely on top of their game‘. Ruth Cowley, Antony Corsi, international arbitration specialist James Rogers and commercial litigator Harriet Jones-Fenleigh also play pivotal roles in commodities disputes. James Rogers moved to Jenner & Block LLP.

Norton Rose Fulbright’s ‘first-class, top-quality team’ act on disputes for major blue-chip clients across all key industries of the firm, including financial institutions, energy, infrastructure, transport, tech, life sciences, and healthcare. Mandates acted on by the firm are often high-value, complex, and cross-border, and involve the likes of HSBC and Shell. Patrick Bourke and Ruth Cowley form the leadership of the practice, both with expansive domestic and international experience. Key to the team is Harriet Jones-Fenleigh, who ‘offers unparalleled strategic insight’, ‘top class litigation heavyweight’ Antony Corsi, and ‘hardworking and pragmatic’ Holly Stebbing.

Norton Rose Fulbright regularly advises corporates on complex cross-border criminal investigations conducted by domestic and international authorities, including the SFO, FCA, and US DOJ. The practice demonstrates significant strength in the sanctions field, and advises corporates and financial institutions on US, EU, and UK regulation, export controls, and bribery laws, along with ESG compliance programmes. Co-heads Patrick Bourke and Neil O’ May bring vast expertise handling multi-jurisdictional white-collar crime prosecutions to the team, whilst the ‘unflappable’ Pamela Reddy is an expert on cross-border bribery, fraud, and money laundering matters. David Harris has experience dealing with financial sanctions issues, and Katie Stephen focuses on AML . Ruth Cowley concentrates on complex litigation, with Andrew Reeves regularly acting for banks and major corporates on a range of matters. Stuart Neely was promoted to partner in January 2023, with Claudia Culley also recommended.