Furnival Chambers

Furnival Chambers is regarded as one of the country’s leading criminal and white-collar sets offering an impressive and high quality list of advocates and advisors. Members specialise across practice areas of serious and organised crime, financial crime, bribery and corruption, gross negligence manslaughter, regulatory/professional discipline, asset forfeiture and extradition. Chambers’ reputation is best exemplified by involvement in most of the recent major criminal and white-collar trials to be heard from fraud to murder, and from gross negligence manslaughter to extradition. The quality of service extends to its progressive clerking team led by a senior clerk with a justified reputation for efficiency and integrity. Individuals, professionals and corporate clients instruct chambers either through solicitors, professional advisers, or on a public direct access basis.

The set: Members are renowned for appearing in high-profile criminal and white-collar cases, both for the defence and the prosecution. They appear in the Crown Court, Divisional Court, Court of Appeal, Privy Council and Supreme Court, as well as the European Court of Human Rights and before Regulatory/Disciplinary panels. Members undertake high-profile work on behalf of or against the Financial Conduct Authority, HM Revenue and Customs, the Serious Fraud Office, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Football Association and other sports and disciplinary/regulatory bodies. Members also regularly advise corporates on issues concerning the Bribery Act 2010.

Furnival is a ‘go to set’ for high-profile, complex cases and those involving novel law including defending in the first ’Judge alone trial’; the first Bribery Act prosecution; the first Modern Slavery trial (and most of the subsequent significant cases under MSA); and the first successful FGM trial (both prosecution and defence). Members have experience in cold cases and Criminal Case Review Commission applications and also conduct cases in the Commonwealth and other jurisdictions (including the Caribbean).

Work undertaken: Chambers enjoys particular expertise in the following fields:

Corporate and financial crime: Chambers offers considerable experience in all areas of corporate and financial (white-collar) crime in both UK and international jurisdictions. Members advise companies and national newspapers on issues arising out of the Bribery & Corruption Act 2010; Members are instructed on some of the largest high value fraud and asset forfeiture cases in recent years including Operation Yuletide (a merchant banker assisting in the laundering of €100m defrauded from a Dutch shipbuilding company), Operation Banjax (£100m VAT fraud), Operation Stagecoach (£7m rare earth metal boiler room), bribery allegations within the building and construction industry (Polycarpou). Other recent high profile frauds have included UBS Rogue Trader Case (Adoboli), Goldman Sachs (Wilkins), and multi-million carbon credit fraud (R v H) as well as the first professional cricket ‘spot fixing’ case. Members experience includes all forms of fraud, MTIC/VAT tribunal hearings, market abuse including insider dealing and rate manipulation, through to asset recovery, forfeiture, restraint and confiscation. Members are also experienced in providing specialist advisory services to clients, both individual and corporate both generally (in relation to compliance) and in connection to specific investigations. Members have been retained to advise and act for and against the SFO, FCA (FSA), CPS, UKBA, the police, HMRC and public companies and high-net worth individuals in international / multi-jurisdictional proceedings, recently including global dividend-arbitrage and withholding tax reclaim investigations and the Alstom bribery investigation.

Serious and organised crime: Chambers has long been instructed in top-end work at trial and appellate levels including R v Twomey, the first Judge alone trial, the first post-Jogee murder appeals, the News International phone hacking (Operation Elvedon) trials, the Hatton Garden heist, the ‘Pentonville murder’ trial, the Jodie Chesney murder, the Stephen Lawrence murder, the murder of ’Baby P’, the ‘Witchcraft murder’ Ife -the successful defence of those tried for the death of a family member following ’botched exorcism’, the ‘Gypsy Slavery’ cases, Operation Fort (Panorama featured) – one of largest MSA prosecutions, as well as the Jonty Bravery case and the Sally Challen appeal, to name but a few.

Terrorism: Members have appeared in terrorism trials for decades including the Gloucester shoe bomber, the first Al Qa’eda funding prosecution post 9/11, the Afghan Stansted hijacking, the ‘Ricin’ conspiracy, a number of recent Al Qa’eda and Syria-related cases, together with significant IRA trials in the past. As well as trials, members are also instructed in collateral proceedings such as Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs).

Sexual offences: Members have appeared in Operation Yewtree cases, Operation Goldfinch (Welsh Children’s Home Child Abuse cases); the Aylesbury & Oxford sex ring case, the prosecution of Rolf Harris, the prosecution of the hairdresser convicted of trying to infect ten men he met on Grindr with HIV as well as many serial rapist cases including the ‘West End mini cab rapist’, the M25 rapist, the Steve Cook trial, the Grime artist Solo 45 multiple rape trial and cases of historical rape and sexual abuse. Individuals have been recognised for their skills in this area, including the recent ’Barrister of the Year’ award for the work done defending Liam Allen.

Extradition: Members of the team are at the forefront of this specialised area of law and have appeared in a significant number of ground-breaking cases. They advise and represent individuals and foreign governments in extradition proceedings at first instance, before the High Court, the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. Members are instructed in the highest profile extradition cases of the day including the United States Government request for the extradition of Julian Assange, and the Government of India’s request for ‘diamondaire’ businessman Nirav Modi over alleged $1bn fraud. Members of the team also provide advice to individuals who are (or may be) subject to Red Notices and are published authors on authoritative texts, including: “A Practical Guide to Interpol and Red Notices” published by Bloomsbury. Recent instructions include US Government v Julian Assange, Government of India v Nirav Modi, Government of India v Singh – re conspiracy to murder Indian politicians and Government of Hungary v Orsos. Members were also involved in the leading authority: Government of the United States of America v Yolanda Cleveland [2019] 1 W.L.R. 4392 – on the law with regard to dual criminality.

Regulatory and disciplinary: Chambers has a highly regarded regulatory team who provide exceptional representation for the financial industry, the professions, and sports people / staff, before a wide range of disciplinary tribunals. Chambers has vast experience in both acting for and dealing with regulatory and disciplinary proceedings before the SRA, GMC, GDC, GOC, NMC, the HCPC (including the Morecambe Bay Healthcare Trust case, concerning alleged misconduct of midwives leading to the death of a baby and endangerment of another’s life.) Chambers handles all nature of hybrid and related criminal proceedings before the Crown Court, Coroner’s Court (including the London Bridge Inquest), public inquiries and mental health review tribunals. Recent successes include the defence of two prison officers charged with gross negligence manslaughter, following the suicide of a vulnerable inmate. Members also appear before Football Association and other sports regulatory authorities, both for the authorities and individuals / teams concerned.

Clerking and practice support:  Chambers' practice areas benefit from an experienced clerking team, led by senior clerk, Stephen Ball. The clerks are highly regarded, approachable and dedicated and will offer a range of counsel of appropriate experience for the work concerned.