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Polly Sprenger

"She is in many ways a strategic genius. Tactically, she is beyond astute and beyond comparison. She can see her way through the knottiest of problems and is unbelievably hard-working."

Partner, Global Investigations
London

Expertise

Polly is a Partner in the Global Investigations Group. She specialises in corporate crime, guiding clients through investigations and subsequent remedial litigation. Her practice is cross-border and cross-discipline: she has recent experience of bringing and defending high-profile, high-value matters in both the civil and criminal courts.

Her recent work has focused on:

fraud investigations, asset tracing and recovery on behalf of investment funds and other defrauded entities
bringing and defending high-value private prosecutions on behalf of corporate and individual victims of crime
conducting investigations into misconduct affecting corporations, including suspected fraud, corruption, theft of commercial data, false accounting, tampering with safety equipment, and unlawful surveillance
acting for corporates and individuals facing asset freezing and forfeiture orders
advising on industry-wide campaigns of private prosecutions and
acting as a leading advocate for the proper and lawful conduct of private investigations.

Polly also advises a growing number of corporate clients grappling with allegations of sexual offences in the workplace, and other sensitive, business-critical matters. Her advisory work extends beyond legal remedies into managing reputational issues and crisis planning, preparedness and response.

Polly was junior counsel in the high profile prosecution of News of the World journalists in 2014, and served as technical advisor to a Parliamentary inquiry into private investigators and phone hacking in 2012. Polly previously served as Head of Strategic Intelligence at the UK Serious Fraud Office and worked for several years as a corporate investigator and investigative journalist.

Polly is recommended as a Leading Individual for corporate crime, and is ranked in legal directories in private prosecutions, civil fraud, investigations and white collar crime. She was recognised by Global Investigation Review in its directory of the top 100 women practicing globally in investigations and was shortlisted for the Employed Bar Awards in 2018. She is the author of Deferred Prosecution Agreements: the Law and Practice of Negotiated Corporate Criminal Penalties (Sweet and Maxwell, 2014) and a co-author of Arlidge & Parry on Fraud (4th and 5th editions). She was the Managing Editor of the Code for Private Prosecutors, the industry- and peer-reviewed code of conduct published by the Private Prosecutors' Association. Polly writes and lectures extensively on the subjects of conducting lawful investigations, civil and criminal remedies to trace and recover misappropriated assets and private prosecutions.

Publications

Author: Deferred Prosecution Agreements: the law and practice of negotiated corporate criminal penalties (Sweet & Maxwell, 2014)

Co-author: Arlidge and Parry on Fraud (4th and 5th editions) (Sweet & Maxwell)

Managing Editor: Code for Private Prosecutors (Private Prosecutors' Association, 2018)

Investigating the Investigators (Lexology, 14 October 2019)

Navigating the jungle of internal investigations. (Global Investigation Review, 28 March 2018)

Contributor: Confiscation: A practitioners handbook (Bloomsbury Professional)

First Convictions for Corporate Bribery Target Construction and Property (Lexology, 14 March 2018)

What we can expect from the SFO’s next director. (The Lawyer, 14 May 2018)

Professional Memberships

Fraud Lawyers Association
Private Prosecutors' Association
Civil Fraud Lawyers Association
Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

Testimonials

Chambers and Partners 2025 - Financial Crime: Private Prosecutions London:

"Polly is a very impressive private prosecutor. She has a remarkable ability to recall relevant documents and put together closely argued and highly detailed submissions." - Chambers and Partners 2025 - Financial Crime: Private Prosecutions London
"She is able to provide pragmatic advice to deftly handle complex issues." - Chambers and Partners 2025 - Financial Crime: Private Prosecutions London
"She's an outstanding and professional lawyer. Her attention to detail is second to none." - Chambers and Partners 2025 - Financial Crime: Private Prosecutions London
"She is in many ways a strategic genius. Tactically, she is beyond astute and beyond comparison. She can see her way through the knottiest of problems and is unbelievably hard-working." - Chambers and Partners 2025 - Financial Crime: Private Prosecutions London
"She is innovative, hard-working and brilliant with clients. Whatever clients need, she will come up with a good solution and brings a real practical aspect to it - great judgement." Chambers 2023
"Polly Sprenger is a hugely passionate practitioner who leaves no stone unturned. She brings great drive and commitment to every case she does." - Chambers 2023
"Polly does not leave any stone unturned. She is diligent and creative." - Chambers 2023
"Polly is incredibly knowledgeable and couples this with hands-on, practical experience." - Chambers 2023
"She is an excellent lawyer and investigator." - Chambers 2023
"Polly Sprenger’s leadership of engagements and her focus on her clients’ requirements is exceptional. Her approach to solving complex problems is always innovative and she adopts an investigative mindset to great effect." – Legal 500 2021, Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime (Advice to Corporates)
‘Polly Sprenger has really valuable experience of criminal/civil cross-over on fraud work, so whilst I work for her on the civil side she is always mindful of a joined up strategy, for example a private prosecution, where applicable. She is incredibly hard working and dedicated. She is responsive and turns around drafting impressively fast’. – Legal 500 2021, Civil Fraud
Polly Sprenger brings to bear previous experience as head of strategic intelligence at the SFO in private prosecutions for corporate clients, with noted expertise in fraud matters. "She is always looking for creative solutions to clients' problems." – Chambers 2020
"She's a specialist fraud investigator and a very able advocate. Her appetite and her ability to seek practical and commercial solutions for her client, using criminal and civil jurisdictions in the UK, are exemplary." – Chambers 2020
"Sprenger is noted for her niche expertise in the private investigations space, among other areas." – Legal 500 2021, Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime (Advice to Corporates)
"Polly has been fantastic to work with. Handling a multifaceted issue with numerous stakeholders, all with different underlying concerns and objectives is never easy. Polly was able to identify the key drivers and stumbling blocks, and make the possible and the probable paths ahead clear. I hugely appreciated Polly’s true partnership, dedication and great humour. It would be a pleasure to work with her again." – General Counsel, global consumer brand.