Phil Smith

Information about the specialist

Practice Areas

Phil heads the Crime & Regulatory team. He is a Band One ranked leading individual for Crime, and a leading individual for Financial Crime in Chambers directory, which notes that “Clients applaud his ‘excellent judgement and feel for where the case should be going’”. Phil is consistently acclaimed as “Outstanding in the field” by the Spear’s 500 and has been recognised by the Lawyer Awards in the Client Partner of the year category.

Phil establishes an immediate dialogue with investigating authorities, often successfully making representations to police and specialist agencies not to charge his client.

With over 25 years’ experience in all areas of criminal law, Phil is renowned for his versatility and crisis management when acting for clients with a public profile, coordinating with PR specialists and our defamation department to head off reputational fall out. His clients include HNWIs and prominent figures from the arts, sport, finance, the professions, broadcast and print media, and academia.

He has recently acted for partners in City and US law firms, separately investigated domestically by the NCA and internationally by the U.S. DoJ, FBI and IRS. He successfully represented a former Police and Crime Commissioner on misconduct in public office allegations.