Monday, January 17, 2011

DEWANI: Profile on QC Clare Montgomery, lawyer for Shrien.

Clare is a highly respected specialist in criminal, regulatory and fraud law, perhaps best known for her work on legally and factually complex cases. Formerly junior Treasury Counsel, Clare has also been concerned in a wide range of public law and due process cases. For the past decade Clare has specialised in dealing with the most demanding and complex legal cases. In December 2009, Clare was appointed to the inaugural Serious Fraud Office QC list.

Clare is widely valued as a pre litigation adviser, providing strategic advice and guidance to companies and individuals caught up in regulatory and criminal investigations, particularly those with an international dimension and those where both civil and criminal law problems are present. For example, she acted successfully for Glaxo Smith Kline in dealing with an investigation by the MHRA into its clinical trials procedures involving questions of EC and domestic regulation. She is presently instructed on behalf of BAE and was involved in negotiating the ground breaking settlement with the SFO.

She is able to take a case through from investigation to trial as with the high profile investigation and prosecution of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner for health and safety offences arising out of the death of Jean Charles de Menezes and the defence of Martin George, the former British Airways director, cleared of the cartel offence after the collapse of the OFT’s prosecution case. She represents both prosecuting authorities, such as the FSA as well as acting for private clients and corporations.

She has worked on some of the most significant and complex criminal trials in the past decade. She was the lead advocate for the former chief executive of Railtrack charged with health and safety offences in relation to the deaths in the Hatfield rail crash. She has appeared in many of the leading SFO trials of the last 20 years. She is joint editor (with Professor David Ormerod) of Fraud (Criminal Law and Procedure) (OUP, 2008).

Since taking silk in 1996, Clare has also come to be valued as trial advocate in complex civil disputes. She has appeared as trial counsel in the Bermuda Fire & Marine litigation and in the BCCI misfeasance action against the Bank of England. She is valued for her ability to work in a team, her attention to detail and her skill as a cross examiner.

She has had extensive experience in extradition and international mutual legal assistance, representing both governments and individuals. She represented Augusto Pinochet in the House of Lords, and led the challenge to the mutual assistance requests made in connection with Silvio Berlusconi's business activities and advised the former Prime Minister of Thailand after he was ousted in a military coup. She lead the prosecution team in the recent Rwandan genocide request and acts for the former President of Bosnia in relation to allegations of war crimes made by Serbia. She is a co-author of The Law of Extradition and Mutual Assistance (2nd Ed published by OUP, 2007).

Clare has also developed a substantial and varied appellate practice. She represented the Bar when the issue of barrister’s immunity arose in the House of Lords, she appeared for Sally Clark when Clark was finally cleared of murdering her two sons by the Court of Appeal in 2003 and appeared for Sion Jenkins when his conviction was quashed in 2004. She has appeared in courts of appeal in Brunei and in Bermuda. In the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal she acted for Mo Yuk Ping, in the leading case on conspiracy to defraud, and in HKSAR v Andrew Lam she secured the acquittal of a solicitor charged with perverting the course of justice.

http://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/Members/28/Clare%20Montgomery.aspx