Profiles

Louise Hodges

Partner

Louise specialises in all fraud and business crime litigation, including investigations and prosecutions by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as well as other agencies.  She is particularly well known for representing individuals subject to FSA regulatory and/or criminal investigations for market abuse or market misconduct including insider dealing and misleading the market. Her cases frequently have an international dimension, and she has acted in a large number of cases involving international mutual assistance (MLA) requests. Many of her cases involve restraint, asset seizure or confiscation proceedings.   She also advises in general criminal matters including caution interviews under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) and specialises in representing investigation officers in criminal and quasi-criminal investigations.

Louise has a particular interest in Europe and is currently the Vice Chair of the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA) and a member of the Law Society European Law Committee.  Louise attended the launch of the European Union Justice Forum in May 2008 on behalf of ECBA.  She has given evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union regarding the proposed European Supervision Order in May 2007 and on procedural rights in criminal proceedings throughout Europe in November 2004.  She has also been invited to attend various expert meetings at the European Parliament, Commission and Council in Brussels.  As well as writing articles, Louise has drafted a number of responses on behalf of the ECBA on proposed legislation such as the EU Framework Decisions on the European Evidence Warrant (EEW), conflicts of jurisdiction and ne bis in idem, confiscation, the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) and criminal sanctions in environmental law. She is a regular speaker on topics related to European criminal justice, most recently in relation to the Commission's Communication on e-Justice. 

On a domestic level Louise is also active in advising and commenting on criminal justice proposals and policy.  She chaired the LCCSA sub-committee which responded to the "Fraud Review" 2006.  She is currently co-writing and co-editing a book on serious fraud due to be published in early 2009.   She is a regular speaker on criminal and regulatory investigations, in particular with regard to FSA investigations.

Louise joined Kingsley Napley in 1997 as a trainee and qualified into the criminal practice area in 1999.  She has previous non-criminal legal experience working in the field of International Capital Markets in Hong Kong which included a secondment to ING Barings. 

Professional societies

• London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association (LCCSA)
• European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA)
• Association of Regulatory and Discipline Lawyers (ARDL)
• British Academy of Forensic Sciences
• International Criminal Law Association
• The Law Society

Professional Committees

• Vice Chair, European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA)
• Member of the Law Society of England and Wales European Law Committee
• Member of Law Society European Criminal Law working group
• Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of European Criminal Law (JECL)

Further information

• October 2008 speaker at the Norwegian Bar Criminal Association Meeting
• September 2008 chair of the session "Expert Evidence - A European Perspective" at the Criminal Justice Conference entitled "Safeguarding the use of expert evidence in the European Union" http://international.lawsociety.org.uk/node/3816
• October 2008 chair of the session "Ejustice - mutual recognition coming to your laptop soon: benefits pitfalls and date protection" at the European Criminal Bar Associate Conference in Bratislava
• Member of the European Commission Justice Forum
• Chair of the UK taskforce for the forthcoming AGIS Project on Expert Evidence in Criminal Proceedings in Europe
• April 2008 speaker at the ECBA conference in Amsterdam on the European Evidence Warrant
• January 2008 attended launch of the Law Society Guide to the Treaty of Lisbon at the House of Commons in January 2008 which had been drafted by the Law Society EU Committee.
• September 2007 invited to expert meeting at the European Parliament discussing criminal sanctions in environmental law.
• September 2007 Speaker at the Kingsley Napley seminar on Prevention of Illegal Working
• May 2007 and November 2004, gave evidence to the House of Lords European Union Select Committee E on Procedural Safeguards in criminal proceedings in the European Union and on the European Supervision Order.
• May 2007 - Speaker at the Dutch Criminal Bar meeting in Utrecht on representing defendants at the police station.
• May 2007 - Chair and Speaker at the City Fraud Conference - lecture on FSA Powers and Procedures.
• April 2007 - National delegate reporter at the ECBA conference in Potsdam
• Attended expert meetings in Brussels on topics including conflicts of jurisdiction and ne bis in idem, the presumption of innocence and exchange of documents, the European Evidence Warrant (EEW), the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) and criminal sanctions in environmental law.
• Regular speaker in the UK and Europe, in particular on topics related to European Criminal Justice
• Regular speaker on Financial Services Authority (FSA) Criminal and Regulatory Investigations
• Member of the ECBA China Death Row Project and has lectured to members of the Chinese judiciary and defence practitioners concerning English legal justice system and safeguards in criminal proceedings

Publications

• Journal of European Criminal Law, "Towards a European e-Justice Strategy" - a review of the communication from the Commission - to be published November 2008
• Journal European Criminal Law, "A Report on the Justice Forum" 
• Contributor to the Law Society Guide to the Treaty of Lisbon - Jan 2008
• Contributor to the Kingsley Napley publication on "Preventing Illegal working" - October 2007
• Journal of European Criminal Law, Vol 2 2007 1 p.47, "Black market employment: EU targets employers", joint author with Elspeth Guild
• Chair of LCCSA sub-committee responding to the "Fraud Review" in 2006
• European Lawyer,  "EU arrest warrant in action", joint author with Roberto Pisano,   November 2005
• Joint author with Stephen Gentle of "Regulatory Offences" chapter in "Fraud: Law, Practice and Procedure" published by Lexis Nexis Butterworths, 2004
• Contributing Editor to the Journal of European Criminal Law (JECL)
• Editor of European Criminal Bar Association newsletter
• Joint author of various papers issued by the European Criminal Bar Association  concerning proposed European Criminal legislation
• Joint author of various papers issued by the Law Society of England and Wales concerning proposed EU legislation 
• Co-author of LCCSA response to the Government White Paper "Justice for All" 2002
• New Law Journal, "Video links and Overseas witnesses" May 2002
• The London Advocate " Disclosing Reports and Witness Details"