Sam Stockwell

“Crisp and eloquent.” – Lord Justice Fulford, former Vice-President of the Court of Appeal

“Though Sam is a tenacious advocate, his manner is always measured. He appears to absorb and reflect pressure well; he works hard.” – Opponent

“Sam deftly unpicked the prosecution evidence and put in a lot of over-night work to be in a position to present tightly argued written submissions which were virtually unanswerable.” – Opponent

“Sam can exploit weaknesses in a prosecution case, that he has exposed, with calmness, resilience and persistence.” – Opponent

Sam is a dual-qualified lawyer, as both a Barrister of England & Wales and a US Attorney (California). He has experience in conducting serious and factually complex cases, particularly within white collar crime and associated regulation, as both led junior and junior alone. This experience includes that of fraud, insider dealing, money laundering, financial regulation, bribery & corruption, internal investigations, cross-border issues (including mutual legal assistance), international asset-tracing, FCA and SFO investigations, and regulatory litigation. Sam is listed as ‘Preferred Counsel’ by the FCA, by whom he is regularly instructed on litigation, disclosure, and advisory matters.

Sam represents individuals as well as private and listed corporations over an array of sectors, including aerospace, energy, mining, transport and financial services. In particular, Sam has acted in some of the most high profile SFO investigations of the past decade, for both the regulator and defendant corporations, including those in relation to Rolls Royce, Alstom and ENRC. As such, he is comfortable with complex financial matters and can advise both companies and individuals across a range of regulatory work, from assisting in the drafting and implementation of financial crime policy and compliance programs, to representation in enforcement proceedings. Sam’s unique experience in acting for regulators as well as defendant corporations and individuals allows for greater strategic overview during the entire life cycle of a case, from pre-charge to resolution, whether in court or otherwise. By way of example, when instructed for the defence in SFO v Alstom & Ors., a large and complex bribery & corruption case, Sam conducted internal investigations in the UK and across Europe, for the purposes of self-reporting to the US Department of Justice.

In addition to his white collar practice, Sam has experience in matters that include, but are not limited to, murder, manslaughter, s.18 GBH, historic sexual assault, large scale drugs and firearms conspiracies and has had success in the Court of Appeal.

Recent white collar and regulatory instructions include:

FCA v NatWest Bank PLC (Operation Fordbridge): Instructed by the FCA as Disclosure Counsel in this dual-track regulatory and criminal prosecution. The criminal prosecution involved breaches of the Money Laundering Regulations and the FCA’s Handbook, namely regarding failures following the laundering of c.£520,000,000 through this major UK bank, NatWest. This first and only successful prosecution of a UK retail bank resulted in the Court imposing a fine of c.£265,000,000, a confiscation amount of c.£460,000 and costs of c.£4,300,000.

Instructed as Independent LPP Counsel by the FCA. Various operations include Kempston, Gillingham, Bude, Hibling, Fort Payne, Tiverton, Naples and Cheboygan. Instructions have included attending and advising on legal privilege during dawn raids of prominent companies and individuals in matters involving insider dealing and fraud.

Project E: Instructed by boutique corporate crime firm, Fulcrum Chambers, to defend a multinational FTSE 100 company and conduct an internal investigation into foreign bribery and corruption, in contemplation of arbitration and litigation in the commercial court of a foreign jurisdiction.

Project X: Instructed by Fulcrum Chambers, on behalf of a multinational FTSE 100 mining company to respond to a s.2 notice from the SFO, requesting documentation regarding allegations of international bribery and corruption.

SFO v X: Prosecution Disclosure Counsel in this cross jurisdictional bribery and corruption investigation involving issues of political sensitivity and national security. This case required the highest level of Government Security Clearance.

R v A & Others (Southwark Crown Court):  Led junior representing the first defendant in a 7 handed, 14-week, multimillion-pound conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering. The frauds involved cold-calling private households and using hard-sell techniques to persuade individuals to invest in various schemes; a ‘boiler room fraud’. The schemes were numerous and varied. However, this case centered on schemes involving investments in pay-day-loan companies and the sale of false diamonds as investments. The money laundering involved the movement of the proceeds of those frauds around the world, through various accounts and shell companies. The case generated a vast amount of served evidence, in the sum of c.160,000 pages, and involved transactions over several different jurisdictions with an indictment period covering a number of years for a total of 21 indicted defendants.

HMRC v S (Southwark Crown Court): Prosecution Disclosure Counsel in this multi-defendant VAT fraud. Instructed due to fundamental disclosure failings at the outset of a 5-year investigation. Drafted the Disclosure Management Document and set in place the disclosure process, which I oversaw, along with advising the disclosure officer and prosecution team as to the application of the law. 

R v G & Others (Kingston Crown Court): Defending as led junior in this c.£28,000,000 money laundering conspiracy, involving a web of domestic and international bank accounts and shell companies.

TS v M & Another (Ipswich Crown Court): Instructed as junior alone for the first defendant in this multimillion-pound trading standards fraud.

R v H & Others (Southwark Crown Court): Defending as led junior in a multimillion-pound contested Proceeds of Crime Act matter. Representation for two counsel was granted at the conclusion of the trial, indicating the level of financial complexity of this case, involving extensive asset tracing and expert financial evidence.

R v CMF & Another (Inner London Crown Court): Junior alone for the first defendant in this multi-defendant money-laundering matter, arising from the investigation into a Chinese Organized Criminal Network, responsible for a ‘phishing’ and ‘social engineering’ fraud.

R v G Ltd: Advising this CBD company on an Account Freezing Order, following the suspected importation of Class B drugs into the UK.

R v T & Others (Maidstone Crown Court): Junior alone in this multi-defendant police courier fraud, in which the defendants were said to have defrauded vulnerable individuals, purporting to be the police and arranging for a ‘courier’ to collect bank cards from the victims.

R v A-L & JC Ltd: Advising this private company on an application to discharge a Restraint Order placed on company accounts, following suspected laundering of funds to a foreign jurisdiction.

National Crime Agency v T: Advising this HNW individual as to the legality of a Cash Forfeiture Order.

Information Commissioner’s Office v SEC Elections (trading as Cambridge Analytica): Instructed as junior alone to defend in this high profile case involving Facebook and purported election fraud, following the high profile complaint made by Professor Carroll as to the use of personal data and the failure of Cambridge Analytica to respond to the ICO’s enforcement notice.

Peterborough County Council v U (Peterborough Crown Court): Instructed by a Local Authority to prosecute and provide pre-charge advice in this benefit fraud.

In the Matter of Mr. C: Advising a HNW individual and his various companies on the applicability and legality of banking exit notices.

Operation Sky: Instructed to prosecute by the Payment Systems Regulator in this cross-jurisdiction anti-trust matter, involving cartels.

Professional Tennis Integrity Officers v M (Court of Arbitration for Sport): Instructed on behalf of former Japanese tennis player to appeal his life ban from professional tennis for match fixing.

Instructed to advise in a private prosecution of a former British Prime Minister in relation to claims made during the Brexit, Leave Campaign.

Sam is cleared to the highest level of government security clearance, resulting in instructions from the Government Legal Department, involving highly sensitive material. He is Direct Access qualified and accepts instructions directly from the public and business alike.

Before embarking on a career at the Bar, Sam worked in both investment and relationship management at the UK’s oldest, family run, private bank; C. Hoare & Co.

Sam has represented the Bar of England and Wales at the Lawyers Cricket World Cup.