Louise Hodges

Louise represents individuals and companies embroiled in criminal proceedings in the UK. She was part of the team representing Tesco in the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) criminal investigation and Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA).

Louise is experienced in advising companies and senior management in relation to corporate criminal liability and economic crime. She is experienced in conducting or advising on internal investigations and is part of the Kingsley Napley Corporate Investigations Group. She frequently represents witnesses being interviewed either by employers or by investigating authorities, including those being compelled to attend interviews.

Louise is well known for representing individuals subject to financial regulatory and/or criminal investigations for market abuse or market misconduct including insider dealing and misleading the market, mainly dealt with by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the SFO. She co-heads the KN Financial Services Group.

Louise often advises early in an investigation, aiming where possible to avoid criminal charges and either secure no further action or alternative regulatory disposal. She has a track record of securing acquittals at trial.

Her cases frequently have an international dimension, including involving the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as well as many European prosecutors and regulators, including Consob, BaFin, and FINMA, she has been involved in representing individuals in the Libor, Euribor and FX investigations and prosecutions. Louise represents individuals embroiled in HM Revenue and Customs criminal tax investigations. She was part of the team representing Rebekah and Charlie Brooks in the phone hacking trial.

Louise has public law experience, including the Leveson Inquiry and in the Baha Mousa Public Inquiry.

Louise was the first Chair of the Fraud Lawyers Association (FLA) and is currently the Immediate Past Chair. She was previously the Vice Chair of the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA) which is a network of European criminal lawyers and is a member of the European Fraud and compliance Lawyers (EFCL). She was part of a Law Society working group looking at issues of Legal Professional Privilege. In 2018, she gave evidence to the House of Lords (HoL) Bribery Act 2010 Committee and previously gave evidence to the HoL Select Committee on the European Union.

Louise is listed by Who's Who Legal: Business Crime Defence 2022 and is recognized as a Global Elite Thought Leader for Individual Defence and Thought Leader for Individual Defence Corporates. She is also listed in Who's Who Legal Investigations 2022 as a Global Thought Leader and she won the Who's Who's Legal Investigation Lawyer of the Year Award in 2022.