Squire Patton Boggs enhances European white collar head

Squire Patton Boggs enhances European white collar head

As corporate crime and fraud cases increase steeply in Europe, a US firm boosts its white collar and investigations team to handle these cases

A new director, two partners, and a counsel in Paris have been added to Squire Patton Boggs' white collar team in London as the firm focuses on building its European investigations practice.

As part of the move, US firm Reed Smith has recruited Hannah Laming, a partner at disputes firm Peters & Peters and Wayne Barnes, a partner at Fulcrum Chambers, as head of its European government investigations and white-collar team.

Among the team members will be Ben Ticehurst, a director from Howard Kennedy who joins the duo in London. Squires has hired Marion Seranne as counsel, who is leaving EBL Lexington Avocats to join the firm in Paris.

As Squire's global leader of government investigations and white collar practice, Kevin McCart said the new hires - bringing the white collar team's tally in London to five - highlight the firm's commitment to growing this practice amid a steep rise in the significance and volume of white collar work across Europe.

"Hannah is among the most experienced European investigators, making her the prime candidate for leading our European practice into its next stage of growth," mentioned McCart.

Having worked as a barrister between 2010 and 2014, Laming most recently served as a partner at Peters & Peters. Laming joins Squire after more than a decade there. Peters & Peters hired her in 2010 after she had previously held positions at the Financial Services Authority and Serious Fraud Office.

During his time at Howard Kennedy, Barnes worked as a legal director for three years. He is a criminal barrister by trade and specializes in conducting complex internal and corporate investigations, including those relating to bribery, corruption, fraud, false accounting and insider trading across multiple jurisdictions.

The firm said that Barnes possesses particular expertise in the sports sector as he has supported national and Olympic governing bodies and sporting institutions through white-collar investigations.

Now that Squire has more than 35 lawyers in 19 countries practicing government investigations and white-collar law, the company's white-collar practice consists of more than 35 lawyers.

Jonathan Jones, Squire's managing partner for Europe, said the new hires would "take our group to new heights in an environment where our clients are facing increased scrutiny and regulatory change."

Besides, Allen & Overy, other firms have been scouring the market for white collar talent lately, including RPC's head of civil fraud Andy McGregor, who was hired in February 2022 in a bid to capitalize on a steep rise in fraud cases in London. A&O's McGregor joins the firm a couple of weeks after Norton Rose Fulbright's EMEA disputes head Michael Godden, who joined Norton Rose Fulbright's financial services litigation team in London to strengthen the firm's European finance litigation bench.

Following the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses were scrambling to prepare for a spike in investigations as regulations continued to shift. According to a report published by FTI Consulting in September, businesses have been scrambling to prepare for an anticipated spike in investigations. In light of the new scrutiny posed by public markets, 80percent of the 2,800 surveyed companies believe that their business models must be fundamentally rethought to restore competitiveness.