Addleshaw Goddard has announced the appointment of corporate crime and investigations expert, Michelle de Kluyver, as a partner in its London based litigation team, demonstrating its commitment to the continued development of its Corporate Crime and Investigations team and capitalising on Michelle's investigations experience in several sectors.

Michelle joins leading individuals Nichola Peters partner and head of the practice, Chris Brennan (partner) and Erin Shoesmith (legal director), who each lead the financial services regulatory and health and safety teams (respectively).

Nichola Peters, head of the Corporate Crime team at AG, commented that "This is a fantastic hire for the team and greatly increases our bandwidth in this space and builds on the great work that the team has been doing. With our multi-disciplinary team, including forensic accounting and data analysis expertise, we believe that we are well positioned to tackle the most complex and challenging investigations."

Michelle, who will join the firm on 11 December, has built up considerable expertise and industry recognition whilst at Allen & Overy, where she was Counsel, and is known for leading high value, complex cross border investigations for corporates, including investigations relating to bribery and corruption, money laundering and economic sanctions. Her work has also included advising financial institutions on financial crime risks and she has also handled contractual and company law disputes, as well as parallel litigation arising out of investigations.

Michelle is listed in Global Investigations Review as one of 100 "remarkable" women investigation specialists operating globally, as well as being named by Legal Week's 2016 'Rising Stars in Litigation' report as one to watch. In 2017 Michelle was named a leading individual in Who's Who Legal Business Crime: Defence and as a Next Generation Lawyer in Legal 500 Regulatory Investigation and Corporate Crime.

Nichola Peters said: "The complexity and number of investigations has grown exponentially in most of the key jurisdictions increasing the need for bigger and multi -disciplinary teams. Michelle has a holistic approach in dealing with the wider context of an investigation. She is adept at dealing with regulators and law enforcement, as well as managing reputational risks and other commercial and legal risks. We are delighted to welcome her to the team."

Michelle, commenting on her appointment, said: "This role marries my own skill set with that of a team with an excellent market reputation, and creates opportunities in how we service clients and work together to grow the business in this area. Addleshaws has a fantastic client base in sectors where this expertise is key. I am attracted by the multi-disciplinary and client-centric approach of the team which means we can service clients on all aspects of corporate investigations - investigation, defence, compliance, remediation, directors’ duties and governance. I am excited to join Nichola and the energetic and innovative team she has built."

Notes to Editors

• Our Corporate Crime practice is a multi-disciplinary team, made up of both lawyers and a forensic accountant. We advise on corporate and financial crime investigations, compliance, mitigation and corporate crime defence.
• The team provides a global perspective and frequently advises on issues of bribery and corruption, market abuse, cartels, trade and economic sanctions, money laundering and other internal regulatory investigations and prosecutions.
• The team has experience in a range of industries and advises clients from top-tier organisations, senior executives and employees in criminal prosecutions and enforcement actions. Its client base ranges from major financial institutions, energy companies, utility companies and manufacturing companies.
• The Corporate Crime and Investigations team has become a market leader in the world of financial sanctions and the team is considered the "go-to" team for sanctions advice for a number of the firm's FTSE 100 clients.