Neil Gerrard

Neil Gerrard is widely recognised as an international expert in criminal and regulatory investigations. He is profiled in ‘The Lawyer's’ Hot 100 list of top legal practitioners in the UK, ‘the Legal 500’, the ‘Chambers UK Guide’, and ‘The International Who's Who for white collar crime’. According to the ‘Chambers UK Guid’e, Mr Gerrard’s "bountiful experience of the regulatory risks arena earns him plaudits from across the board". Mr Gerrard is joint global head of DLA Piper's litigation and regulatory group and specialises in white collar crime work in a corporate environment. Before joining DLA Piper in 1995, he was a Metropolitan police officer in London and a prosecutor with the UK Department of Trade and Industry. One of Mr Gerrard’s areas of expertise is regulatory investigations and defending prosecutions undertaken by a range of UK and European regulators, including the Serious Fraud Office, Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs, the Financial Services Authority, the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading. He has extensive experience in the execution of search warrants, interviews under caution and compulsion statements. Furthermore, Mr Gerrard has been involved in many of the largest, high profile criminal investigations carried out by UK, European and US regulators. He has considerable experience in liaising with US regulators (including the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission), particularly where there are concurrent or joint UK/US company investigations – for example, in connection with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Professional highlights include: · Advising on corporate governance issues and is often instructed by Audit Committees to carry out internal investigations · Advising on risk management, internal controls and accountability - various regulatory bodies have instructed him to undertake investigatory work as an independent specialist · Lecturing and advising companies on managing internal procedures, global regulatory compliance and senior executive accountability - he is frequently quoted in the broadcast media and national press and writes regularly in the legal and specialist trade press · Creating a thriving specialist and innovative corporate crime and investigations department; attracting many former senior regulators and prosecutors to his team, and developing unique client services such as the 24 hr rapid response crisis management helpline. · The 2008 edition of the ‘Legal 500’ says of Mr Gerrard and his team: "DLA Piper UK LLP provides 'extraordinary judgement' to companies facing criminal fraud charges, and is currently acting for a large multinational group in relation to the Oil for Food Programme. Neil Gerrard's advice is 'priceless', and the impending addition of recently retired SFO director Robert Wardle will be a boost."