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

Regularly representing multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public bodies in financial regulatory and corporate crime investigations and criminal proceedings, Slaughter and May fields a ‘world-class‘ disputes and investigations team with a ‘wealth of experience‘ in the space. Jonathan Cotton, who clients describe as ‘highly intelligent with excellent judgement‘, and Richard Swallow have extensive experience acting as coordinating counsel in cross-border investigations and regulatory matters, while Ewan Brown takes point on DPAs. Cotton, Brown, and Swallow now jointly lead the team. Other key individuals include Holly Ware, recommended for bribery and corruption issues, and Gayathri Kamalanathan, who regularly acts for financial institutions; Ella Williams is another key name here, while Nicholas Querée ably assists on agency-facing investigations.

Providing a ‘consistency of quality that is unprecedented’, Slaughter and May represents global corporations, financial institutions and governments in high-value, technically demanding disputes, in which allegations of fraud are key features. Richard Swallow heads the disputes and investigations group; Jonathan Cotton is experienced in disputes and investigations involving wrongdoing allegations; Efstathios Michael is ‘an amazing lawyer’; and Damian Taylor acts in a range of civil fraud matters. The next line of key practitioners comprises Peter Wickham and Megan Sandler, whose wide-ranging practices include fraud investigations, and Tahlia Brysha-Pullen, who has notable experience in high-value civil claims involving bribery and corruption allegations.

Experienced in both defendant and claimant enforcement actions, Slaughter and May routinely handles multi-billion dollar damages claims in the CAT and High Court, as well as a number of high-profile appeals. Major follow-on damages actions and complex cross-border litigations are both key workflows for the team’s ‘consummate experts‘. Camilla Sanger leads on some of the most significant class action and competition proceedings in the United Kingdom. Practice head Richard Swallow has over 25 years of experience in large-scale cross-border competition litigation and group actions. In addition to appearing before the High Court and the CAT, Tim Blanchard assists his clients with global cartel investigations. In recent months, Elizabeth Jordan has advised clients from various industries on collective actions, including opt-out actions, abuse of dominance, and cartel damages. Holly Ware undertakes competition litigation for major corporate entities and financial institutions.

Richard Swallow leads the commercial litigation team at Slaughter and May, which boasts a successful track record in multijurisdictional corporate litigation. The practice’s stellar clientele spans various sectors, including energy, manufacturing and financial services. Efstathios Michael boasts a broad commercial litigation practice – with a particular focus on multi-party disputes and mass claims – alongside Camilla Sanger. Damian Taylor plays a lead role on a number of key matters, advising on distribution, contractual and damages disputes and Richard Jeens is praised by clients. Jonathan Clark represents corporations across a range of sectors in both commercial and competition litigation and Jonathan Cotton co-heads the global investigation group and advises on contentious aspects of corporate transactions. Peter Wickham‘s diverse roster of clients includes a number of corporations and financial institutions; he has particular experience in energy and natural resources disputes. Smriti Sriram, who was promoted to partner in May 2023, Holly Ware, and Megan Sandler are other names to note.

Leveraging ‘tremendous strength-in-depth’ at a partner and associate level, Slaughter and May has the resources and expertise to handle large-scale domestic and multi-jurisdictional regulatory enforcement actions and pursuant civil litigation. Appreciated for her ‘deft strategic instincts’, Gayathri Kamalanathan exemplifies this ability to guide banking clients through multi-headed disputes. The ‘very clever’ Ewan Brown also excels at representing banks in various regulatory and governmental investigations, including into allegations of attempts to manipulate FX rates. Jonathan Clark is a ‘great litigator’ whose recent work has focused on large-scale market manipulation matters for banks. Other recommended practitioners include Holly Ware, who excels at handling bribery and corruption, market abuse and money laundering cases; Ross Francis-Pike, who provides ‘detailed and forensic’ advice to retail banks, among others; and Deborah Finkler, who has vast experience in the field. Richard Swallow heads up the overarching disputes and investigations group.

Pre-eminent in high-value and high-profile disputes, Slaughter and May represents clients across the financial services sector, on both a national and international level. The ‘well respected and experienced‘ team demonstrates prowess in disputes related to financial products and derivatives, as well as fraud and benchmark manipulation claims. It works in tandem with the firm’s global investigations group to advise its clientele of global investment banks, fund administrators, and investment companies on regulatory investigations. The ‘highly experienced’ Richard Swallow heads the team, and Ewan Brown boasts a wealth of experience representing financial institutions, both in the High Court and the CAT. Operating on an international basis, Jonathan Clark’s litigation practice spans from derivatives disputes and manipulation claims to regulatory investigations. Camilla Sanger and Richard Jeens are also key contacts in the team and Gayathri Kamalanathan brings to the group extensive in-house experience, being adept at handling disputes and investigations across jurisdictions. Megan Sandler is another name to note, along with Ross Francis-Pike and Melissa McFarlane.