Brabners LLP

Corporate defence and compliance team

Sarah is a Legal Director in our corporate defence and compliance team.

Her practice focuses on fraud, money laundering, anti-bribery and corruption, cybercrime and all aspects of POCA (criminal and civil).

This well-rounded and comprehensive experience allows Sarah to analyse cases through various lenses and issues — including privilege and disclosure — and provide clients with the most objective advice at each stage of the process.

The wide definition and application of fraud has seen Sarah be instructed by those accused of dishonesty and fraud across a wide spectrum, including professional disciplinary proceedings brought by the SRA.

Sarah’s fraud practice is a full service offering that includes both the traditional contentious work of criminal investigations and prosecutions as well as non-contentious work that includes reviewing current governance and designing and implementing adequate internal procedures and policies. This includes conducting discreet internal reviews and investigations to review, test and draft compliance and protective policies, as well as informing any advice to self-report. She regularly receives instructions from individuals, managers, directors, senior management, boards and corporates — and irrespective of what the trigger for the advice is, Sarah takes the time to understand her clients’ goals and provide strategic and holistic advice in relation to achieving the best possible outcome.

With criminal investigations, Sarah has extensive experience in representing individuals in all formal interviews — whether under caution, arrest, voluntary or compelled powers — as well as corporates in relation to written responses under caution. Accurate identification of the issues and analysis of the evidence at this stage can result in no further action being taken or out of court disposals being negotiated. These courses of action offer significant reputational, cost and certainty of outcome benefits in the current climate, where limited resources across the criminal justice system can result in long and anxious delays. This disposal can also avoid some of the draconian ancillary orders that a court may consider, including POCA. Sarah is experienced in managing adverse publicity and seeking to minimise reputational damage.