PCB Byrne

Criminal Litigation, Regulatory Investigations

Sara Teasdale is the Managing Partner of PCB Byrne and a Partner in its Criminal Defence Practice. She is consistently instructed in some of the highest-profile and most complex white-collar crime and contentious regulatory cases and has extensive experience of cross border criminal and regulatory investigations and prosecutions brought by the SFO, FCA, ICAEW, MHRA, DOJ and CMA, acting primarily for senior, often high-profile individuals, as well as advising individuals in relation to internal investigations.

Sara previously acted for a corporate defendant in Operation Holbein, the SFO investigation into alleged criminal cartel activity in the pharmaceutical industry. She has also acted for individuals in numerous SFO corruption cases, including the investigation into BAE Systems regarding South African arms deals; Sweett Group plc; and represented a senior individual in the SFO KBR/Unaoil investigation. Additionally, Sara acted for a UK based property developer charged with bribery relating to property dealings with the government ministers in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), which for the purpose of this case, she was sworn into the Bar of the TCI. Currently, Sara acts for a suspect in the Grenfell Tower criminal investigation.

Sara’s other main practice area includes acting for individuals in the financial sector being investigated by the FCA. She acted for the former finance director of the main trading arm of Cattles PLC in the high-profile Cattles FCA case, and in the parallel FRC (formerly the AADB) regulatory/disciplinary proceedings. Sara represented a number of traders at a range of different banks in LIBOR-related investigations brought by SFO, FCA, DOJ and CFTC.

Trained at Pannone and Partners; qualified 2000; assistant solicitor at Pannone from 2000 to 2003; solicitor at Orchard Solicitors from 2003 to 2006; solicitor at Roiter Zucker from 2006 to 2010 (partner from 2008); partner at Pannone LLP from 2010 to 2014; partner at Byrne and Partners, 2014 to present.

Sara is an active member of the Fraud Lawyers Association and has been the Treasurer since 2017 and is a part of the London Chapter Leadership Team of the WWCDA (Women’s White Collar Defense Association).

Manchester Victoria University (LLB Hons); The College of Law (Legal Practice Course, commendation).