Richard Fisher KC KC > Doughty Street Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

Doughty Street Chambers
53-54 DOUGHTY STREET
LONDON
WC1N 2LS
England

Work Department

Position

Richard Fisher KC provides advice and advocacy for clients whose cases involve allegations of financial crime, issues of bribery and corruption, the proceeds of crime and related litigation, and regulatory compliance.

His non-contentious and advisory work sees him providing guidance to companies and their individual directors and officers on whether or not their business activities are at risk of incurring regulatory or criminal sanction. Advisory work has included: a UK/Japanese corporate on money laundering regulations; a Big Four firm on the law governing offshore company and tax evasion legislation; a multi-jurisdictional £900m criminal tax fraud and money laundering investigation; corporate client on the impacts of Proceeds of Crime legislation on insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. Richard is co-author of Blackstone’s Guide to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Oxford University Press, 5th ed) and was invited to give expert evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Proceeds of Crime legislation (2016).

In contentious work Richard is instructed in cases involving allegations of fraud, cheat, money laundering and where the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is engaged to restrain, recover, forfeit or confiscate assets. Richard is routinely instructed to advise both individual and corporate clients before any criminal proceedings have commenced, during the investigation stage, representing those who have been charged with criminal offences, acting for those affected by the various forms of civil recovery litigation/restraint proceedings, advising third parties affected by asset recovery measures and assisting those seeking to appeal against convictions, sentences or other orders. Richard has also conducted linked litigation in the High Court.

Recent cases of note include representing the principal defendant in a series of Film Tax fraud trials, an IFA in another Film Tax Fraud, representing four defendants in an international bribery and corruption case prosecuted by the SFO, a multi £m fraud on the Welsh Assembly and the EU, confiscation proceedings in the HBOS case and criminal/confiscation proceedings in a Town and Country Planning Act prosecution.

Career

Year of Call: 1994; Lincoln’s Inn; Year of Silk: 2015

Licensed to accept direct public access work. Lincolns Inn sponsor.

Publications of note: co-author of ‘Blackstones Guide to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002’ (2nd, 3rd & 4th Edition). Has written articles for ‘Archbold News’ and the ‘Solicitors Journal’ and contributed to written responses by Liberty and the CBA.

Languages

Very basic French.

Memberships

Criminal Bar Association; Justice; Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association.

Education

King Henry VIII School, Coventry; University of Bristol (1993, LLB); Inns of Court Law School (1994).

Leisure

Family, films, foods and sports.

Lawyer Rankings

London Bar > Proceeds of crime (POCA) and asset forfeiture

(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2

Richard Fisher KCDoughty Street Chambers ‘As a trial advocate he is a quietly confident safe pair of hands who sticks to his guns and can always be relied on to be the consummate professional on all matters of law, procedure and conduct rules.‘

London Bar > Fraud: crime

(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2

Richard Fisher KC – Doughty Street Chambers ‘Richard is an excellent jury advocate and has a great bedside manner with clients.’

Doughty Street Chambers is widely recognised for its strong criminal fraud offering, and several members of chambers regularly appear in complex and high-profile cases. Richard Fisher KC is ‘an excellent jury advocate’ with a broad practice who has recently represented both corporates and individuals in relation to investigations into overclaims under the government’s Coronavirus furlough scheme. Peter Caldwell is a cryptocurrency fraud expert and recently defended a client against allegations of conspiring to defraud Bitcoin wallet holders using a combination of copycat websites, virtual private networks, and servers based in Ukraine.