The legal landscape has changed rapidly in recent years. Both corporates and individuals are increasingly facing exposure to criminal investigation and potential enforcement action across multiple jurisdictions, our corporate crime team combines lawyers, forensic accountants, regulatory consultants and technology to provide holistic advice in mitigating risk and defending investigations.

We bring together a multi-disciplined blend of knowledge and expertise across the criminal and regulatory spectrum that puts us in a leading position in the market and enables us to deliver an end-to-end service to meet all of our clients' needs.

Our corporate crime offering covers the following core areas:

Bribery & Corruption
Fraud
Money Laundering
Internal Investigations
Sanctions
Private Criminal Defence
Private Prosecutions
Professional Discipline; and
Extradition & Mutual Legal Assistance

We combine the experience and expertise of former regulators, investigative lawyers, prosecutors, together with specialists from DWF Forensic, our in-house forensic accountants, and DWF Regulatory Consulting, our in-house regulatory consultants.

DWF Mindcrest, our in-house legal solutions provider, can also assist with the large scale, low cost and time-pressured dataset reviews that are invariably involved in the majority of criminal investigations.

Members of our team have been at the forefront of the most significant and high profile cases in recent years and are recognised as leading experts.

Our experience encompasses the following:

Defending corporate and individual clients in investigations conducted by the UK law enforcement agencies including the SFO, CPS, HMRC, and the FCA as well as their foreign counterparts across a broad spectrum of corporate crime related matters including bribery and corruption, serious fraud, tax evasion and money-laundering.
Conducting and advising corporates on internal investigations, including establishing terms of reference, obtaining witness evidence and providing legal analysis on corporate liability and self-reporting to the authorities.
Mitigating corporate crime risks in a wide range of scenarios by advising on compliance with corporate crime legislation and the implementation of preventative measures with a particular focus on anti-bribery, money laundering and tax evasion.
Dealing with urgent and unexpected issues including dawn raids, search warrants, productions orders and other disclosure requests, account freezing and forfeiture orders and advising on the scope and application of legal professional privilege.
Advising corporates on whether to bring a private prosecution in response to corporate crime perpetrated against the company, such as employee fraud, corruption, theft and IP infringement and either subsequently conducting a prosecution or helping to gather evidence and report crimes to the appropriate authority.

Testimonials

“"He is clear and direct in his advice. He has a sensible and calm approach to cases and sees the bigger picture."”

Euros Jones – Chambers & Partners:

“"He is very thoughtful, with great attention to detail."”

Euros Jones – Chambers & Partners:

“"He is thorough and diligent, leaving no stone unturned. He provides support but does not avoid the hard facts."”

Euros Jones – Chambers & Partners:

“"Richard Burger is an assiduous lawyer who will leave no stone unturned in his quest for justice for his client – he works very hard and is trusted by clients as a safe pair of hands."”

Richard Burger – Legal 500

“"A very hardworking solicitor whose client care is second to none. He readily gets the client onside, no matter how difficult the case may be, and puts in all of the hard yards necessary to get a case in order and ready for trial."”

James Peacham – Legal 500