Rod Fletcher
Head of Department
Experience Overview
Rod Fletcher is head of the Business Crime & Regulation department and has over 30 years experience in all aspects of white collar and business crime. He has also acted as a regulatory lawyer in a wide range of disciplinary investigations and hearings.
Based in London, Rod has been a partner at Russell Jones & Walker since 1985. He is recognised as a leader in his field for Crime, Professional Discipline and Fraud. He was appointed a Recorder of the Crown Court in 2003.
Highly regarded in the leading legal directories, Rod is ranked as a star practioner in Chambers & Partners 2012, an accolade only awarded to lawyers who receive exceptional recommendations in their field. The Business Crime and Regulation team are "heartily recommended" by sources within Chambers & Partners 2012.
Rod is Co-Chair of the Criminal Law Committee of the International Bar Association and a founding member of the Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers (ARDL).
He graduated from Birmingham University in 1978 and was admitted as a solicitor in 1981.
Business Crime & Regulation
Rod is an expert white collar and business crime solicitor with experience in corruption, corporate compliance, insider dealing, financial regulation, cartel defence, tax, corporate manslaughter and extradition. He acts for both corporate and individual clients. He is currently acting in SFO and OFT investigations into the sports retail and car manufacturing sectors, and in SFO investigations into Mabey & Johnson, Torex Retail Ltd, Langbar International and Innospec, as well as major insider dealing cases. Chambers & Partners 2012 describe the Business Crime & Regulation team as the "logical choice" for criminal cartel investigations.
Rod has acted in many of the major investigations and prosecutions from Maxwell to the present day. Particular recent highlights include Balfour Beatty (Rod & Jeremy Summers represented the company in relation to an SFO investigation and secured the first ever Civil Recovery Order and no criminal prosecution) and the successful cartel defence of a Chief Executive in the SFO’s prosecution of an alleged pharmaceutical drug price-fixing cartel. He has also been acting in the Bae investigation and in the 5 year SFO investigation into the Coal Health Compensation Scheme.
Rod also has substantial experience in corporate manslaughter prosecutions and Health and Safety investigations, including the Hatfield derailment case where his client was acquitted of all charges.
He is a regular speaker at seminars on transnational criminal law issues, corporate investigations, UK law enforcement, money laundering and developments in the criminal justice system.
Ranked as a 1st tier firm for white collar crime in the Legal 500 Directory 2011 and 2010, Rod Fletcher is described as ‘excellent in all areas’ and his ‘extremely supportive, calm, experienced, understated, reassuring, diplomatic, discreet, confident and collaborative’ approach 'makes the whole process more bearable.'
Chambers & Partners 2012 remark that Rod is "a major player" who "never takes a wrong step; is pragmatic, approachable and measured with great judgement," and clients agree that his presence provides significant reassurance in highly stressful situations. Both Rod and the Business Crime & Regulation team are ranked Band 1.
Professional Discipline & Regulation
Rod has acted as a regulatory lawyer in a wide range of professional discipline and regulatory investigations and hearings. His clients have included senior City executives facing FSA investigations and also individuals subject to investigation in the police, legal, financial, healthcare and ecclesiastical sectors. He has frequently acted in judicial review cases.
In addition, Rod has acted in many of the major public inquiries and inquests of the last 20 years. Examples include the Scott Inquiry, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, the Marchioness Inquiry and the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. He has also acted in a large number of Coroners’ Inquests arising from deaths in custody.
For many years Rod lectured on the presentation and defence of disciplinary proceedings. Rod draws praise for his representation of professionals from the financial services, police, healthcare and legal sectors within Chambers & Partners 2012.
