Kingsley Napley named as ‘Best law firm for financial crime, fraud & regulatory 2019’ by The Times

The Times launched its first Best Law Firms 2019 listing this week and only 200 of the 10,000 firms in England and Wales made the list, with each of the firms listed being commended in one or more of 31 categories of law by its peers in other firms. Kingsley Napley was rated 1st in the category of ‘Best law firm for financial crime, fraud & regulatory 2019’.
 

Commentary about the firm included:

"The firm, which was founded in 1937, is rarely out of the headlines — the recent BBC drama A Very English Scandal portrayed the founder partner Sir David Napley advising the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe.

Apart from crime and politics, in the early 1990s it acted for Nick Leeson, the “rogue banker” who brought down Barings, the City’s oldest merchant bank, by secretly losing almost £1 billion through fraudulent trading.

It describes itself as a firm with expertise in all areas of business and private life, and “one of the most highly regarded criminal defence firms, noted for its high-profile mandates from media organisations and sports professionals”.

It is also “known for being big on diversity” — half the partners are women, including the managing partner, Linda Woolley, the head of regulatory, Nicola Hill, and the new head of the criminal litigation practice, Louise Hodges, who takes over from éminence gris Stephen Parkinson, who has stepped up this year to become senior partner. It has been acknowledged that the criminal litigation department at Kingsley Napley continues to “hold its own against the ‘magic circle’ firms”.

You can read more about The Times Best Law Firms 2019 here.