Norton Rose Fulbright awarded Investigations Team of the Year

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has been awarded Investigations Team of the Year at the annual Transatlantic Legal Awards.

The Awards, held last night in London, were judged by a panel of senior editors and reporters from American Lawyer Media, led by the editors-in-chief of both American Lawyer and Legal Week. The awards recognise firms for their excellence in advising on complex cross-border matters spanning the US and the UK.

The Investigations Team of the Year award recognises the firm’s successful defence of a senior banking executive in multi-jurisdictional criminal and civil proceedings arising out of the JP Morgan “London Whale” case, which included investigations and proceedings brought by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and extradition proceedings in Spain.

Following over five years of investigations and proceedings in the United States and Europe, in August 2017 the DOJ and the SEC dismissed all criminal charges and civil claims against the firm’s client, Javier Martin-Artajo, a former senior executive at JP Morgan. The allegations related to events in 2012 in connection with what has been referred to in the press as the “London Whale” trading losses.

The US government’s decision, which came following four years of civil proceedings involving the disclosure of millions of pages of documents, depositions of over 35 fact witnesses in the US and Europe, and the government carefully analysing the evidence, completely vindicated Mr Martin-Artajo’s position and reflects the strength of his defence which he has consistently maintained from the outset of this matter in 2012.

An integrated, cross-border team was led by partner Lista Cannon (London) and partner David Harris (London) and partner Bill Leone (New York) and senior counsel Felice Galant (New York), of the firm’s global regulation and investigations practice, and included significant input from the firm’s investigations and enforcement lawyers in London, New York and Washington, DC.

The firm’s representation of Mr Martin-Artajo demonstrates the depth and strength of the firm’s cross-border investigations and enforcement capabilities in advising senior executives, financial institutions and corporates, with experience in the key financial and regulatory centres of London, New York and Washington, DC.

For further information please contact:

Louise Nelson, Senior PR Manager
Tel: +44 (0)20 7444 5086; Mob: +44 (0)7909 684 893
louise.nelson@nortonrosefulbright.com

Notes for editors:

Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law firm providing the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. The firm has more than 4,000 lawyers and other legal staff based in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East.

Recognized for its industry focus, Norton Rose Fulbright is strong across all the key industry sectors: financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and life sciences and healthcare. Through its global risk advisory group, the firm leverages its industry experience with its knowledge of legal, regulatory, compliance and governance issues to provide clients with practical solutions to the legal and regulatory risks facing their businesses.

Norton Rose Fulbright operates in accordance with its global business principles of quality, unity and integrity, aiming to provide the highest possible standard of legal service in each of its offices and to maintain that level of quality at every point of contact.

Norton Rose Fulbright Verein, a Swiss verein, helps coordinate the activities of Norton Rose Fulbright members but does not itself provide legal services to clients. Norton Rose Fulbright has offices in more than 50 cities worldwide, including London, Houston, New York, Toronto, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Sydney and Johannesburg. For more information, seenortonrosefulbright.com/legal-notices.