Stephen Pollard to Join WilmerHale’s London Office

White collar criminal defense law is a field that is becoming increasingly international. With that in mind, the WilmerHale law firm has expanded its white collar practice in the U.K. with a key hiring: Stephen Pollard, a white collar criminal defense attorney, is joining WilmerHale’s London office as a partner in the firm’s Investigations and Criminal Litigation Practice. Pollard joins from London-based law firm Kingsley Napley LLP.

Pollard has represented clients in the United Kingdom in cases involving allegations of insider trading, market manipulation and market abuse. His practice over the past 22 years, in cases involving regulatory or criminal investigation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), has included representations of former Barings trader Nick Leeson; a defendant in the FSA's first criminal prosecution for market manipulation; and a partner of a leading hedge fund facing allegations of market abuse. He represents clients in the defense of financial services fraud, internal investigations, multijurisdictional white-collar crime allegations, corruption allegations and competition/cartel allegations.

Pollard studied law at Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating with an LLB in jurisprudence in 1980. He did his articles with Payne Hicks Beach, including an eight-month secondment to the European Commission of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. He is fluent in French and German.