White Collar Criminal Defense

Kathleen Harris is a London-based partner in the firm's White Collar Criminal Defense practice group where she represents companies in a wide range of industries. She is the lead Criminal Adviser for Management and Standards Committee for News Corporation, she is instructed in the Libor matter and a range of other high profile criminal matters. She has extensive experience of advising at Board Level on regulatory matters. In Legal 500 she is recognised as having a 'very keen intellect'. She is an accomplished litigator with extensive knowledge of and experience in matters involving risk assessments, investigations, and prosecutions under the full range of potential criminal offences including the UK Bribery Act, Proceeds of Crime Act, Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act of 2005 (SOCPA), as well as experience of statutes providing investigative powers. Kathleen has broad experience advising government ministers on the development and implementation of policy and fraud strategy, and leading complex overseas enquiries and analyses.

Before joining Arnold & Porter LLP, Kathleen served as Head of Fraud Business Group and Head of Policy at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) (2008-2011), Senior Strategic Policy Adviser in the Attorney General's Office (2007-2008), and held positions in HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Department of Works and Pensions in the United Kingdom. Kathleen has led the prosecution of organisations involved in high-profile bribery investigations, complex financial crime, and tax evasion. At the SFO, she supervised and provided strategic oversight to a number of high-level investigations and prosecutions. Kathleen revamped the agency's critical policy function, headed the domain responsible for investment fraud, and was responsible for the SFO's use of the Regulations of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and its responses to Freedom of Information (FOI) and Data Protection Act (DPA) requests. She played a key role in developing seminal guidelines on critical issues, including plea negotiations, civil remedies, civil recovery, and corporate prosecutions. At the Attorney General's Office, she provided comprehensive legal and policy support, including providing specialist support for the Jessica de Grazia review, resulting in a major reorganisation of the SFO.

Kathleen has worked closely with law enforcement agencies both in the UK and internationally, including the SFO, the Attorney General's Office, the Crown Prosecution Service, HMRC, the Ministry of Justice, the US Department of Justice, and the US Securities & Exchange Commission, on all aspects of investigatory and fraud strategy. In 2010, Ms Harris was one of the official UK Examiners assigned to monitor the US government's compliance with its obligations under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) convention.

White Collar Criminal Defense Representative Matters

• Criminal Adviser to the Management and Standards Committee at News Corporation in relation to the investigations involving voicemail interception and payments to public officials.
• Instructed by individuals in relation to the Corruption Investigation in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
• Advised several corporates in relation to Compliance and the UK Bribery Act.
• Instructed in relation to multi-jurisdictional investigations subject to concurrent investigation by the DOJ, SEC, FSA and SFO.
• Conducting anti-corruption risk assessment  for large Corporations who have a presence in the UK.
• Advising a  Corporate on how to comply with the Data Protection Act when transferring data overseas.
• R v. BAE Systems Plc. In connection with the prosecution of a global defence company, fully managed successful outcome of Judicial Review challenging the lawfulness of the plea agreement, and was responsible for managing counsel, drafting response to the claim, and handling correspondence amidst intense media scrutiny.
• Led team in examining the approach to global offending following the Rv. Innospec judgment, and was responsible for making suggestions to the government for changes to the plea negotiation framework.
• Advised in the updating of the Code for Crown Prosecutors, used by prosecutors to decide whether criminal proceedings should be instituted.
• Advised the Board for the former Inland Revenue in a number of Hansard and serious civil cases.
• Advised and prosecuted in relation to a number of large tax evasion cases involving complex overseas enquiries, analysis of large volumes of data, and knowledge of the law of restraint and confiscation.
• R v. Gray(2006). Advised and prosecuted in case which became a model for HMRC best practice, identifying evidence that permitted the first successful UK inheritance tax case which enabled the Scottish National Gallery to recover a valuable art collection.
• Advised and successfully prosecuted a multihanded conspiracy to defraud in relation to a charity which had high-profile patrons.
• Led investigation for the first UK Carbon Trading investigation by HMRC with a potential loss of over £2 billion.