Laura Ford

She/HerPartner

“Laura is a supremely effective investigations lawyer… with a deep understanding of relevant legal and regulatory issues and a highly developed investigative skill set.”

VP Global Investigations, Global Retail Business

Emaillaura.ford@akd.partners

Call+44 (0)20 7349 0296

London

About

Laura leads AKD Partners s Corporate Crime, Investigations & Compliance practice in the UK. With nearly two decades of experience in handling complex and multi-jurisdictional investigations, Laura advises clients on serious misconduct issues across the areas of bribery, money laundering, fraud, facilitation of tax evasion, human rights and others. She represents clients in matters concerning key regulatory and enforcement bodies including the Serious Fraud Office, HMRC, and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Laura also provides strategic counsel to clients in the design and implementation of their global compliance programmes - from risk assessment to policy development and training - and conducts due diligence and investigations in the context of corporate transactional activity. She has extensive experience in conducting investigations and compliance mandates across a range of sectors, including consumer goods, energy, life sciences, defence, logistics, retail, gambling, property and others.

Laura is Deputy Money Laundering Reporting Officer for AKD Partners in the UK. She was recognised as a leading investigations lawyer in Global Investigations Review s 100 remarkable women in investigations list for 2021 and as a Future Leader in the 2025 edition of Who s Who Legal: Investigations.

Areas of FocusConsumer Goods, Food and Retail Energy and Natural Resources Industrials Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations Regulatory and Government Affairs

Professional QualificationsSolicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales

EXPERIENCE

Advising a multi-national beverage business in connection with an audit-driven investigation concerning suspicions of false accounting and other financial misconduct across multiple jurisdictions.
Advising a client in the life sciences sector in connection with an investigation into suspected breach of Sunshine laws in France.
Advising a horticulture client in connection with a human rights investigation concerning allegations of security guard violence in an African nation.
Advising a US public corporation and its UK subsidiary in the industrial, aerospace and defence sector in connection with a self-report to the SFO concerning a multi-million dollar fraud and false accounting.
Advising an engineering, procurement and construction client on a large scale SFO investigation into bribery and corruption in a Nigerian liquefied natural gas project.
Successfully defending Thomas Kalaris in one of the UK s largest fraud trials concerning Barclays capital raising and related payments to Qatar in 2008, resulting in acquittal on all charges in March 2020.
Advising one of the world s largest retailers in connection with investigations into wide-ranging misconduct by a senior manager, fraud, false accounting and the timely recognition of supplier funding.
Advising the former Editor of the UK tabloid newspaper the News of the World in connection with the Leveson Inquiry and police investigations into allegations of phone hacking and conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.
Advising numerous clients on compliance with the UK's "failure to prevent" legislation, across bribery, fraud and facilitation of tax evasion, including in the design and implementation of compliance programmes to ensure "adequate" and "reasonable" procedures are in place.