Corker Binning is delighted to have remained in Tier One for both ‘Crime: general’ and ‘Fraud: White collar crime’, in addition to remaining in Tier Three for ‘Financial services (contentious)’ in this year’s The Legal 500 UK listings.
Peter Binning, David Corker and Andrew Smith have been recognised as ‘Leading Individuals’ in ‘Fraud: white-collar crime’, and Robert Brown has also been listed a ‘Leading Individual’ in ‘Crime: general’.
Please see below a full list of our rankings and quotes from The Legal 500 2019:
Tier One in ‘Fraud: white-collar crime’
‘First-rate’ Corker Binning has ‘established an excellent reputation for its quality of work in white-collar crime’. It acts in cases of fraud, bribery, corruption, money laundering, extradition and mutual legal assistance, export control, sanctions and international investigations. The firm continues to act for a former CEO of Barclays who was charged by the SFO with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and unlawful financial assistance in a multi-billion pound case. Department head Andrew Smith is ‘fiercely intelligent, has great judgement and an established reputation’. Jessica Parker has ‘an impressive capacity to rapidly absorb large volumes of material and identify the key issues’. Peter Binning is ‘an outstanding presence in the field of extradition and multi-jurisdictional fraud’. David Corker is ‘an innovative thinker, takes nothing for granted, exceptionally perspicacious tactician, modest and very highly-regarded by other lawyers’. Claire Cross was promoted to partner..
David Corker, Peter Binning and Andrew Smith are listed as ‘Leading Individuals’.
Tier One in ‘Crime: general’
‘Pre-eminent boutique’ Corker Binning acts in matters of possession and supply of drugs, grievous bodily harm, contempt of court, sexual offences, manslaughter, murder and extradition. It often acts for high-profile clients such as businessmen, politicians, sports stars, celebrities and journalists. The team is led by ‘down to earth and pragmatic’ Robert Brown, he is supported by the ‘astoundingly good, dedicated, hugely experienced, and extremely bright’ Andrew Smith and Edward Grange. A recent work highlight included acting for Vladimir Bukovsky, a Russian dissident and Vladimir Putin critic who is on trial for possession and creation of indecent images of children.
Robert Brown is listed as a ‘Leading Individual’.
Tier Three in ‘Financial services (contentious)’
One of the go-to-names in the market for work at the intersection of the criminal and regulatory spheres‘, financial services boutique Corker Binning has an excellent reputation defending individuals in high-profile regulatory investigations. Peter Binning and Claire Cross are ‘brilliant at the interface of insider dealing and market abuse and are able to run rings round the regulator‘. Cross is representing several individuals in an FCA regulatory investigation regarding their conduct as brokers, particularly as it pertains to alleged front-running activity. David Corker is also recommended.
Tier Three in ‘Regulatory investigations and corporate crime’
Corker Binning advises on the full gamut of financial corporate crime including bribery, sanctions and export controls. It deals with large-scale multi-jurisdictional investigations focusing on the shipping, engineering, industrial manufacturing, pharmaceutical, banking, finance and hospitality sectors. The firm continues to advise GML, an antagonist of the Putin regime in Russia in relation to a $50b arbitration following the expropriation of Yukos Oil Company in 2004 by the Russian regime. In 2014 GML won the arbitration however this decision was recently overturned by a Dutch court. David Corker is a key practitioner alongside Peter Binning, who is ‘the godfather of business crime’. Newly promoted partner Claire Cross ‘knows every document in the case’.
Tier Four in ‘Professional discipline’
Corker Binning is ‘a very strong law firm and a pleasure to deal with‘. It is frequently instructed to prosecute and defend regulatory and professional discipline cases brought by the Financial Reporting Council, Financial Conduct Authority and other financial regulators, including the Taxation Disciplinary Board and Takeover Board. Andrew Smith is ‘an excellent lawyer, extremely bright and very efficient and practical in dealing with disciplinary and regulatory issues‘; criminal defence lawyer Peter Binning is ‘exceptional in everything he does‘; recently promoted Claire Cross is ‘a bright new star‘; and Jessica Parker acts for individuals, financial institutions and companies in investigations and proceedings brought by prosecuting bodies.
A link to the full rankings, firm profile and Partner profiles can be found here.