Anand Doobay
Anand is a partner who is widely recognised as one of the UK’s foremost experts on extradition and for his expertise in financial and cross-border criminal investigations and prosecutions. For over two decades, Anand has dealt with many of the most high-profile, complex and politically sensitive cases.
Anand deals with criminal and regulatory matters including fraud, extradition, mutual legal assistance, corruption, sanctions, tax and money laundering. He has been involved in high-profile and politically sensitive investigations and prosecutions in over 50 countries. He has advised many high profile business people and those in the public eye including a serving Prime Minister, former Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Foreign Minister and three G20 governments. He has successfully defended many extradition requests to the United Kingdom from a wide range of countries; he has also dealt with extradition requests made to countries other than the UK, including Bermuda, Trinidad, Germany and Cyprus.
Anand has co-authored the leading textbooks on extradition law and is consultant editor for extradition in “Halsbury’s Laws of England”. He has advised a number of governments on their extradition legislation. He was appointed by the UK Government to a panel to review the UK’s extradition arrangements and by the European Parliament to produce an expert report on potential reforms to the European Arrest Warrant system and has given evidence to a Canadian Parliamentary Committee on potential extradition reforms. Anand is a former member of the Law Society Criminal Law and International Human Rights Committees and is a member of the Advisory Board of “Halsbury’s Laws of England”.
Anand has been interviewed or quoted by Reuters, Press Association, Bloombergs, Financial Times, The Times, The Economist, International Herald Tribune, CNN, MSNBC, Metro, Evening Standard, People Magazine, BBC News Online, Radio 4 (the Today programme, Law in Action, PM and The Report), Radio 5 Live (Drivetime), BBC World Service (Newshour and More or Less), Sky News, BBC News, ITV News and Good Morning Britain (ITV).
External recognition
Star Individual, Extradition:
London Chambers and Partners 2022
Band 2, Financial Crime:
High Net Worth Individuals:
London Chambers and Partners 2022
Star Individual, Extradition
Chambers and Partners 2021
Former UK Home Secretary
Rt Hon Theresa May MP
14 October 2010
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Christina Russell
Christina is a partner who has been recognised for her “general excellence” and “meticulous attention to detail” in white-collar crime and has also been ranked for her extradition experience. She is a barrister and worked for years in independent practice before working within several government agencies. This varied experience allows her to take a holistic view when advising clients.
Christina deals with business crime, extradition, mutual legal assistance, corruption, INTERPOL, civil restitution and regulatory cases. She is particularly interested in cases which involve considering the legal position in other countries and has worked with many foreign lawyers.
Christina’s extradition experience includes requests from or to Switzerland, India, Greece, Spain, Romania and the Netherlands and has included high-profile and politically controversial cases. She successfully defended the former Chairman and Chief Executive of a FTSE 100 company in a Serious Fraud Office prosecution for fraudulent trading. She has also acted for the former Finance Director of a £400 million computer services business in director disqualification proceedings, succeeding in getting permission for her client to continue as a company director. Her strategy for clients in a corruption investigation and a German tax investigation have resulted in no action being taken against them.
Christina has an MA in English Literature from Trinity College, Cambridge University and a Diploma in Law from City University. She started her legal career at the criminal bar, working for several years in one of London’s leading criminal chambers where she prosecuted and defended a wide variety of criminal matters in the Crown and Magistrates’ Courts. Before founding Boutique Law with Anand in 2017, Christina also worked within government agencies, including the Crown Prosecution Service’s Confiscation Unit, the Home Office’s Mutual Legal Assistance Department and the Enforcement Market and Oversight Division at the Financial Conduct Authority. She speaks French and Dutch. She is a bencher of Gray’s inn and sits on the council of management of the Pegasus Scholarship Trust which facilitates the forging of links between young lawyers from different countries. She has been appointed Recorder on the South Eastern Circuit (Family).
External recognition
Jago Russell
Jago is a partner who has extensive experience of working with lawyers across the globe to address not only the legal, but also the diplomatic, political and media implications of complex and often high-profile cases.
Jago deals with criminal and regulatory matters, including extradition and INTERPOL, business crime, sanctions and financial crime. He has worked on many high-profile extradition cases (including Edmond Arapi, Garry Mann and Andrew Symeou) and INTERPOL matters (including Benny Wenda, Petr Silaev, Bahar Kimyongur).
After qualifying as a lawyer at Slaughter and May, Jago moved into the field of legal policy. He has worked as a legal specialist in the UK Parliament and with the UK NGO Liberty where he successfully campaigned to prevent the extension of pre-charge detention in terrorism cases. Prior to joining Boutique Law in 2021, Jago was Chief Executive of an international non-profit, Fair Trials, for over a decade where he led successful campaigns for reform of UK extradition law, new EU-wide protection for defence rights and improved oversight and redress mechanisms within INTERPOL.
Jago has been interviewed and quoted frequently in mainstream media outlets worldwide. He has appeared on podcasts, lectured at numerous high-profile events and given expert evidence to UK Parliament Select Committees, the UK Government’s extradition review, the European Parliament, and the United Nations’ Committee Against Torture and Council of Europe.
External recognition
Chambers
16 July 2023
Dr Sharon Persaud
Sharon is a partner whose criminal practice has covered an extremely wide range of cases and every aspect of heavyweight criminal defence work at trial, on appeal and on second appeal. Sharon’s active and innovative approach has frequently resulted in decisions not to prosecute her clients as well as discharges, acquittals and successful appeals.
Sharon now focuses predominantly on fraud and financial crime, Serious Fraud Office and other investigations, review / regulatory work, and extradition and mutual legal assistance cases. Many of these cases are complex, high profile or extremely sensitive, and cross disciplinary or national boundaries.
Sharon’s career in criminal defence started in 1991 at the leading civil liberties and human rights firm, Bindman & Partners, where she became a partner in 1997. Her varied practice has covered every aspect of criminal defence work from advice in the police station to the Court of Appeal, and the whole spectrum of alleged offences, from murder, terrorism and large-scale conspiracies to drugs, money-laundering and fraud. Sharon has particular interest and expertise in active and innovative defence and has achieved a very wide range of acquittals as a result of successful legal submissions including on abuse of process, no case to answer / lack of mens rea (the mental element required for a criminal offence), pleas in bar, disclosure failures, the admissibility of evidence and public interest immunity.
Sharon also has extensive expertise in criminal appeals and in review work. She worked as a specialist lawyer at the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), and between 2013 and 2018, she held a public appointment as a Commissioner at the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the independent statutory body which investigates potential miscarriages of justice. Sharon dealt with some of the CCRC’s most complex, long-running and high profile cases. She was the Lead Commissioner on the joint enterprise cases following the change in the law on R v. Jogee, on ‘change of law’ cases, and those involving the effect of inadequate legal advice.
Sharon has written and lectured widely on criminal law and, in 2019, conducted a high-profile independent review of student disciplinary processes at the University of Warwick. She sat on the CCRC’s research committee with the then Law Commissioner and leading academics in the criminal justice field. Sharon has a degree in English from Wadham College Oxford, and a doctorate in the law and regulation surrounding human genetic selection from the University of London.
She is a member of the Fraud Lawyers Association, the Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum and the Criminal Appeals Lawyers Association.
External recognition
Amy Cunningham
Amy is an associate who specialises in supporting individuals and companies facing criminal and regulatory matters, with experience in criminal, commercial and financial litigation.
Amy has gained experience of a wide range of matters, including extradition and INTERPOL, business crime, sanctions and financial crime. She has worked on extradition requests made by countries both within and outside of the EU and has particular experience representing individuals facing Indian extradition requests. Amy has successfully challenged extradition on the evidential inadequacy of the extradition request and on human rights grounds, including a finding that extradition would be incompatible with the requested person’s Article 5 rights. Amy has also acted for individuals involved in investigations brought by various investigative authorities and regulatory bodies, including the Serious Fraud Office, Solicitors Regulation Authority and Metropolitan Police Service. She has experience of investigations into professional misconduct, bribery and corruption, and money laundering. She has supported clients through the process of preparing for compelled SFO interviews, providing witness statements for investigations, and achieving decisions to take no further action.
Before joining Boutique Law, Amy worked in the commercial and financial litigation teams of two international law firms, and in the claims arm of an investment business dealing with interest rate hedging products. Amy came to criminal law through her work on Operation Resolve, one of two criminal investigations ordered following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report in September 2012. She trained with Boutique Law through Accutrainee, and after completing her final seat with an enterprise software company, she joined Boutique Law in 2019.
Amy is a committee member of the Extradition Lawyers Association. She is also a member of the Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum, Young Fraud Lawyers Association and Female Fraud Forum.
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Jessica Williams
Jessica is an associate with experience of working on complex financial and extradition matters often across multiple jurisdictions and involving a range of investigative, prosecuting and regulatory bodies.
Jessica has worked on a range of business and financial crime matters involving prosecutions and regulatory proceedings brought by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Financial Conduct Authority, Serious Fraud Office and HM Revenue & Customs. These have included civil restitution, fraud, misleading statements, mutual legal assistance, tax and money laundering cases spanning the UK, the US and European countries.
Jessica has also advised individuals in INTERPOL matters and in high-profile extradition cases, including requests from or to Switzerland, Greece and Romania and a successful appeal to the High Court where the court, exceptionally, found that extradition could not take place because of a flagrant violation of the right to a fair trial and the right to freedom from arbitrary detention.
Prior to joining Boutique Law, Jessica trained at DWF LLP where she gained in-depth experience in financial regulation within the banking and financial services and regulatory teams. This has proven useful when working on matters involving complex transactional documents and with clients including CFOs and accountants.
Jessica is a member of the Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association and the Defence Extradition Lawyers’ Forum.
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Lucy Reynolds
Lucy is an associate with experience in defending complex and high-profile criminal and regulatory matters.
Lucy has worked on several high-profile criminal trials for clients accused of offences including fraud, terrorism, money laundering, and misconduct in public office. She also advises clients in respect of sanctions related matters, extradition, mutual legal assistance, and INTERPOL Red Notices. Lucy has experience advising designated persons in relation to the sanctions regime and advising on licence applications to Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). Lucy has also represented clients in regulatory investigations and proceedings before various professional bodies, including the Solicitors Regulation Authority. She has experience with a range of inquest work, including in an Article 2 inquest following the death of a child and his aunt following a police pursuit.
Prior to joining Boutique Law, Lucy trained and qualified with a specialist criminal defence firm. She qualified as a police station representative in 2019 and has extensive experience advising clients from the very start of investigations. Lucy acted for a police officer in interview, accused of misconduct in public office after being linked to an organised crime network following the penetration of the Encrochat communication network. She successfully secured acquittals or the discontinuance of prosecutions for clients accused of various offences.
Lucy has a first class degree in Law and Criminology from the University of Sheffield. She was awarded the Centre for Criminological Research Prize and the David Hoath Memorial Prize, both for academic excellence, upon graduation. Lucy is a member of the Young Fraud Lawyers Association, the Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum, and the Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers.
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Simrit Kaur Sidhu
Simrit is an associate with a wealth of experience representing high-profile, High Net Worth clients and corporate clients in respect of criminal and regulatory cases within both domestic and cross-border settings.
Simrit deals with a variety of cases including general and corporate crime, mutual legal assistance, money laundering, sanctions, extradition and INTERPOL. She has advised clients subject to investigation by a broad range of bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority, HM Revenue & Customs, General Pharmaceutical Council, Charities Commission and the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
She has particular experience in matters under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002; where she has advised on restrictive measures such as account moratoriums, freezing orders or restraint proceedings; defending allegations of money laundering; or representing clients in confiscation or enforcement proceedings. Simrit’s cases often involve large multi-party proceedings, cases with related civil or other proceedings, and the management of substantial quantities of material.
Prior to joining Boutique Law, Simrit trained and qualified within the private crime department at one of the largest specialist criminal defence firms in England. She was the first point of contact for clients upon arrest and provided advice and representation during interviews under caution and hearings in the Magistrates’ Court. She continued to represent her clients through to their trial and appeal. Simrit regularly defended clients accused of serious and complex crimes, gaining a strong instinct for making apt strategic and tactical decisions.
Simrit is a member of the leadership team at the Sikh Lawyers’ Association with roles in both the events and mentorship committees. She is also a member of Women in Criminal Law, the Female Fraud Forum, the Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association and the Defence Extradition Lawyers’ Forum. She has presented on legislative changes affecting her areas of law and shared insights from a criminal law perspective to other legal professionals.
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Alex Chester
Alex is a consultant working with us who has over 20 years’ experience of dealing with serious criminal offences, serious fraud offences and extradition cases.
Alex deals with criminal and regulatory matters including fraud and money laundering and has defended clients in Serious Fraud Office, Crown Prosecution Service, National Crime Agency, Financial Conduct Authority and HM Revenue & Customs investigations.
She has defended clients against extradition to countries both within and outside the EU, including cases involving politically motivated requests and has an in-depth knowledge of human rights law. Alex has successfully applied to INTERPOL for the deletion of Red Notices and has advised clients who anticipate that a request will be made for a Red Notice or for extradition.
Alex also has extensive experience of representing individuals in serious general criminal matters, including in police station interviews, in relation to offences ranging from sexual offences, offences involving violence and murder to allegations of dishonesty.
Before starting to work with Boutique Law, Alex trained at Peters and Peters and worked at BCL for a number of years. Alex is a contributing author and editor of the “Police Station Advisor’s Index”, 4th Edition.
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Jenny Barker
Jenny is a consultant working with us who has considerable experience in acting for individual and corporate clients in high-profile domestic and international cases.
Jenny deals with the full range of criminal and regulatory proceedings. This includes not only complex fraud and corruption cases, but more general criminal matters, as well as extradition, mutual legal assistance and sanctions. She also has prosecution experience; Jenny acted for many years for the complainant in R v Somaia (which, at the time, was the largest successful private prosecution ever brought by an individual). Jenny also advises in respect of regulatory matters, including professional discipline and inquests, and has experience in prominent and sensitive judicial review proceedings. Many of her cases have a strong international element and involve working with teams of professional advisors in jurisdictions around the world.
Jenny is a barrister and completed her training at 3 Raymond Buildings, a leading criminal law set. Prior to working with Boutique Law, she worked for many years at Peters & Peters LLP, latterly as Of Counsel, with responsibility for the conduct and strategic direction of multiple matters.
Jenny has regularly written articles for the specialist and mainstream press and commented on current legal issues in print and other media (including television). She was a co-author of the Thomson Reuters “Practice Notes on Extradition” and is a former Chair of the Extradition Lawyers’ Association.
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