Patrick Bourke > 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‘s pensions litigation team sits within the firm’s broader dispute resolution team, which is led by the firm’s EMEA-lead Patrick Bourke. The practice routinely advises employers and trustees on issues such as investigations initiated by the pensions regulator, internal complaints, and professional negligence cases. Key contacts within the team include the ‘hugely bright’ Lesley Browning and associate Suzie Kemp.

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 has a ‘highly experienced financial services regulatory team combined with astute commercial litigators’, acting for major banks on contentious regulatory matters, corporate crime investigations, and a range of high-profile banking mandates. Patrick Bourke is the head of the team that consists of Harriet Jones-Fenleigh, who is ‘highly recommended for her legal skills and commercial approach’, ‘model litigator’ Radford Goodman, and the ‘understated and very effective’ James Lockwood. At associate level the ‘particularly impressive’ Aditya Badami is recognised, along with the ‘insightful’ Samson Spanier.

Maintaining a strong track record representing senior executives and UHNW individuals, Norton Rose Fulbright’s practice covers all aspects of financial crime, showing strength negotiating DPAs and defending fraud investigations. The team is well-equipped to handle proceedings conducted by overseas enforcement agencies, as well as displaying consistent involvement in major SFO and FCA related affairs. The group is jointly led by Patrick Bourke and Neil O’May, with the latter specialising in criminal and regulatory law matters. The ‘calm and astute’ Pamela Reddy has 25 years’ experience advising clients in domestic and international fraud, corruption, and money laundering investigations. while David Harris concentrates on cross-border internal investigations and criminal prosecutions. Katie Stephen is highly knowledgeable on AML and market abuse issues, Andrew Reeves is an expert on bribery and corruption, while Annie Birch, Claudia Culley and Thomas Hubbard are also highly regarded within the team at non-partner level.

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.

Norton Rose Fulbright routinely acts across several jurisdictions from the outset of disputes. The team also assists at award enforcement stages. Paul Stothard recently relocated to London from Dubai, where he was disputes head; Holly Stebbing is ‘a real arbitration specialist‘; and Patrick Bourke is a Middle East expert. Senior associate Joseph Bentley has ‘a phenomenal ability to understand complexity‘. Former partners Matthew Buckle and James Rogers have left the firm, the latter at Jenner & Block LLP since February 2023.