Richard Swallow > Slaughter and May > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Experts on the interplay between civil and criminal fraud, Slaughter and May works in close tandem with its global investigations group to represent major corporates, financial institutions and governments. Leading the practice is Richard Swallow who is joined by Jonathan Cotton, a specialist in disputes involving wrongdoing who regularly advises on extractive frauds, information theft and accounting frauds misrepresentations. Efstathios Michael leverages his knowledge and expertise in commercial litigation and insurance to advise high-profile clients, while Damian Taylor is another practitioner of note, advising leading banks in international arbitration matters. In addition, Peter Wickham provides considerable knowledge in the area of energy and natural resources disputes, and Megan Sandler specialises in commercial dispute resolution.

At Slaughter and May, the London-based financial services regulatory investigations practice sits within the firm’s cross-practice global disputes and investigations group, which is helmed by Richard Swallow. The group advises clients across the financial services sector on the gamut of UK, EU and global regulatory issues, and continues to excel in handling high-stakes domestic and cross-border enforcement actions. Ewan Brown and Jonathan Cotton act as the co-heads of the global investigations practice. Other key contacts include Holly Ware, Jonathan Clark and Gayathri Kamalanathan. ‘Senior figure‘ Deborah Finkler also remains an active part of the department.

Slaughter and May houses a practice which displays ‘enormous strength and depth‘ across the full spectrum of contentious competition law work. Regularly acting in appeals against decisions made by regulatory authorities, the team acts for a number of notable clients, including Google, Vodafone, and JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. in both standalone, and follow-on cases. Dubbed the ‘doyen’ of the team by clients, practice head Richard Swallow has broad knowledge of cross-border class actions; senior counsel Elizabeth Jordan is noteworthy for her action on large group claims and opt-out collective proceedings. Camilla Sanger is particularly adept at handling follow-on damages cases before the CAT and the High Court. Praised for her ‘impeccable judgment and sangfroid‘, Holly Ware regularly represents clients before the European Court of Justice in cases concerning the clarification of regulations. Having a great deal of expertise in bribery and corruption, Tim Blanchard frequently assists financial institutions with investigations.

Complex, cross-jurisdictional corporate litigation and group actions are mainstays of the ‘impressive and hard-working’ team at Slaughter and May that routinely acts for FTSE 100 clients. Recent successes of the team include its representation of Shell in the highly publicised ClientEarth matter, and acting for Credit Suisse in the ‘tuna bond scandal’. Richard Swallow leads the ‘first class’ team that is a ‘pleasure to deal with’. Peter Wickham is a key name in the team, advising across commercial litigation, investigations and regulatory matters, and commercial arbitration, with expertise in energy and natural resources, as well as group litigation. Smriti Sriram is noted as an ‘excellent lawyer and very good to work with’. 

Slaughter and May’s practice is, for one client, ‘responsive, creative, and collaborates well with other counsel to deliver extraordinary results’, and acts on many of the complex high-value inquiries, and major regulatory investigations. The team notably represents Credit Suisse in multi-billion-dollar claims and JP Morgan Chase Bank in high court litigation linked to global forex investigations. Richard Swallow is ‘preeminent with good reason’, and leads the team. ‘Very experienced, calm, measured, and strategic advisor’ Ewan Brown has a broad-based banking litigation and investigations practice, and is key to the team alongside ‘exceptional advisor’ Gayathri Kamalanathan. Also at partner level, Camilla Sanger and Richard Jeens both have expansive banking and financial services litigation practices, along with Jonathan Clark and Peter Wickham. At associate level, Edward Coles is singled out for his ‘ mastery of complex matters and attention to strategy‘.

Showcasing vast expertise in cross-border financial regulatory and corporate crime investigations, Slaughter and May’s practice is viewed as ‘gold standard’ by one client, acting on behalf of clients within the finance, natural resources, and healthcare spheres. The team routinely deals with domestic regulators- such as the SFO and FCA- as well as demonstrating robust international capabilities supporting global corporations in complex multi-jurisdictional investigations conducted by the US DOJ and SEC. Team head Richard Swallow is an expert on regulatory and criminal proceedings while the ‘superb’ Jonathan Cotton regularly deals with allegations of wrongdoing and corruption. Jonathan Clark advises on fraud and tax evasion matters, while Ewan Brown and Holly Ware are noted for their regulatory and criminal work. Gayathri Kamalanathan is knowledgeable on litigation and arbitration proceedings, with Tim Blanchard advising on bribery and corruption affairs. Senior counsels Ella Williams and Nicholas Querée are also noted.