BCL top-ranked in Chambers High Net Worth 2018

BCL top-ranked in Chambers High Net Worth 2018

Chambers & Partners have published the 2018 edition of High Net Worth. BCL has been top-ranked in Financial Crime: High Net Worth Individuals – UK, with five partners identified as leading individuals and ranked as follows:-

 

Band 1:

Ian Burton

Jane Glass

Richard Sallybanks

Harry Travers

 

Up and Coming:

Shaul Brazil

 

In relation to the firm’s position, Chambers High Net Worth states:

The team at BCL Solicitors has extensive experience defending high net worth clients in financial crime investigations. “I think in their field they are the standout firm in the City,” reports an interviewee, explaining that “they’ve got a fantastic client list, great people and very deep levels of experience.” Another agrees: “They’ve got incredible strength in depth; they seem to have specialists in all areas. You feel incredibly well looked after with them and it’s just easy to get hold of a lawyer any time, night or day. They’ve seen all kinds of problems so they know to deal with them. We’re very impressed with them and they’re our first port of call.”

The firm is highly regarded for its client service, as well as its technical expertise. “I would say they are the number-one go-to firm,” comments a market insider, adding: “I think they have a very broad range of client-directed skills; they understand the problems that will come with representing people who are often foreign nationals in this country. They are very client-facing and they approach the work ensuring that the client is in the best possible position.”

 

In relation to the ranked partners, Chambers High Net Worth states:

Ian Burton “is probably the best white-collar criminal solicitor in London,” enthuses a barrister, adding: “He’s the grand old man of financial crime.” Burton wins praise from all corners of the market for his extensive experience acting for high net worth clients. “He’s simply fantastic – he has an extraordinary wealth of experience to draw upon. He has the wisdom of Solomon,” says one interviewee. Another comments: “I think he’s got a huge and well-deserved reputation as the pre-eminent figure for high-profile criminal representation. He’s a deep strategic thinker and he just has an unbelievable depth of experience.” A market insider reports that “over the years he has appeared in a number of high-profile cases exposing politicians, businessmen and celebrities. He has vast experience and good judgement, meaning that he is an extremely safe pair of hands when it comes to high-profile or difficult cases.”

“I think if I got arrested, Jane Glass would be my first phone call,” declares a fellow lawyer. She is highly regarded for her representation of individuals under SFO and FCA investigations. “She’s exceptionally committed and organised, and she has a large reservoir of experience from the very biggest cases on which to draw,” reports one source. Another notes that “she’s very approachable and practical, very responsive and down-to-earth.” “She is fantastically hard-working; her clients absolutely love her because she has a very high emotional intelligence and understands what clients are going through and what they need in addition to the law,” says a barrister, adding that “she’d be amongst my first choices if someone in my family was in trouble, because I know they’d be looked after as though they were her own children.”

Richard Sallybanks frequently acts for clients in business crime investigations and is experienced in both domestic and international cases. He is a superb solicitor,” says an interviewee, explaining: “He’s very calm. I think people get a real sense that everything is under control and they can stop panicking. He has a very serious understanding of the law and the client.” “He has an unusual mix of experience, first as a commercial solicitor, then as a criminal litigator, which gives him a very valuable package of skills and knowledge for high net worth clients,” reports a market insider. Sallybanks is also praised as “excellent with clients, extremely hard-working and utterly dependable.” “He’s a very good analyst; he sees all the evidence at once and sees the wood for the trees,” notes a barrister, adding that “he’s also very good with numbers – lots of people pretend they can read a set of accounts, but he actually can.”

Harry Travers is experienced in handling business crime cases, and is particularly noted for his tax expertise. “He’s at the very top of the tree for business crime and he’s exceptionally able academically,” reports a source, adding that “he is particularly adept at cross-over cases, and that requires a rare skill-set. He’s also phenomenally enthusiastic.” A barrister notes that “he’s very highly respected and he has very good connections. He’s very good at using the law – he thrives on complexity.” “He is capable of explaining the complex in a clear and articulate way – he’s very commercial and he’s able to see through the maze. I think very highly of him,” says an interviewee.

Shaul Brazil focuses his practice on business crime and regulatory enforcement. “He came from the Bar originally, he dived into this world and he’s born for it really: he’s very good at immersing himself into huge documentation and assimilating it,” reports one interviewee. Another says that “he’s got a lot of experience. He’s very good at articulating and representing views. He has a business background so he can grasp commercial issues very quickly and he is very capable of thinking on his feet. He’s dealt with really quite unusual and compelling cases.”