Katie Stephen > Norton Rose Fulbright > London, England > Lawyer Profile

The ‘knowledgeable and experienced team’ at Norton Rose Fulbright stands out for its expertise in the wholesale markets sector, advising on matters concerning retail and wealth management, with a strong capability in handling cross-border mandates. ‘Top-notch’ Hannah Meakin focuses on market infrastructure, commodities derivatives, fintech and crypto regulation work; clients ‘would be lost without her’. Meakin leads the practice alongside Jonathan Herbst, who has ‘enormous experience’ in bank structuring and advisory matters, and Katie Stephen. Albert Weatherill leads the firm’s global payments practice and Matthew Gregory counts domestic and overseas banks, investment firms and wealth managers among his key roster of clients.

Described as ‘a highly experienced litigator with excellent judgement’, Michelle George leads the team at Norton Rose Fulbright. George is skilled at navigating high-value disputes and also advises on cases with an international element. Katie Stephen is another standout member of the team with experience navigating professional negligence claims and investigations arising from contentious regulatory matters. Charlie Weston-Simons left the firm in January 2024.

Corporates, banks, investors, boards and individual directors frequently rely on Norton Rose Fulbright for advice on listing obligations, annual reporting obligations and disclosure obligations. Practice co-head Jon Perry is especially knowledgeable about governance issues in the commodities, mining and financial services sectors, while co-head David Harris specialises in the contentious side of the practice. Other notable names in the team include Jonathan Herbst, who specialises in corporate governance for banks and other financial services; Stuart Neely, who is a key contact for bribery, corruption, money laundering and fraud matters; Matthew Gregory, who is active in FCA regulation matters; and Katie Stephen, who excels in contentious regulatory matters. The practice was further reinforced by the addition of Alison Kellett, who joined the firm from an in-house role in August 2023.

Seated within the firm’s broader dispute resolution and litigation department, Norton Rose Fulbright’s white-collar team leverages the firm’s international presence and capabilities to provide a full-service offering that spans the full range of business crime offences. Areas of recent growth for the team includes advising on senior management liability, cross-border mandates, as well as investigations relating to non-financial misconduct. Spearheaded by Neil O’May and Patrick Bourke, the group is routinely instructed to advise both corporates and individual clients. O’May is noted for his experience advising on deferred prosecution agreements as well as SFO self-reports. Andrew Reeves and Katie Stephen handle money laundering mandates, while David Harris is the name to note for cross-border internal investigations. Thomas Hubbard ably assists on SFO corruption and fraud trials. Pamela Reddy left the team in December 2023.

An ‘excellent choice for London litigation’, Norton Rose Fulbright is routinely instructed by corporate and banking clients to act in high-stakes and high-profile fraud disputes in the UK. The team’s civil fraud and asset tracing expertise extends to insolvency, white-collar crime, cyber-fraud, and bribery and corruption cases. It also has substantial experience in high-value civil fraud-related interim relief applications, such as worldwide freezing orders and proprietary injunctions, as well as Norwich Pharmacal and search orders. The practice recently experienced an increase in work relating to push payments, supplier invoices and crypto fraud. Fusing experience in civil fraud litigation in the English High Court with international expertise, Ruth Cowley is the firm’s London commercial disputes head, while Patrick Bourke is EMEA dispute resolution leader. The practice also includes Harriet Jones-Fenleigh, a specialist in civil fraud disputes, including applications for worldwide freezing orders, proprietary injunctions, and Norwich Pharmacal orders and other ancillary relief; James Lockwood, a ‘star of the future’, who is currently acting in bribery, conspiracy and dishonest assistance claims, along with payment fraud disputes; Antony Corsi, whose caseload frequently involves large-value fraud claims; and contentious financial services lawyer Katie Stephen. Stuart Neely, Samson Spanier and Aditya Badami are other names to note.

Reinforced by a strong advisory practice and its broader commercial litigation offering, Norton Rose Fulbright can ‘seamlessly deliver’ very effective advice to a myriad of retail and wholesale financial services clients from a risk management perspective, as well as throughout the litigation and regulatory enforcement contentious continuum. Katie Stephen is a ‘wily lawyer’ who is well-placed to represent clients in regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, having been seconded to the FCA, as well as broader civil litigation cases. Combining ‘technical expertise with very skilled relationship and negotiation skills’, David Harris is a popular choice to provide high-level board advice in contentious scenarios, he is also very skilled at guiding entities through FCA and PRA investigations, as well as being increasingly busy of late advising on sanctions and AML matters. Claudia Van Gruisen continues to grow her reputation advising clients in internal and external criminal and regulatory investigations, with a focus on bribery, money laundering, fraud and regulatory compliance.