
Richard Kovalevsky KC
Partner, London
Richard Kovalevsky KC
Partner, London
Richard Kovalevsky KC is a partner in Cohen & Gresser’s London office and is the head of Criminal Defense for the London office. He has over 30 years of experience representing high net worth individuals, directors, and corporations in a wide variety of white collar criminal disputes, regulatory and internal investigations, and civil litigation, with a particular focus on financial crime. Richard has successfully defended against, and has extensive experience advising on, claims of fraud, money laundering, corruption, market manipulation, market abuse, competition and cartel allegations, and insider trading. He has advised and engaged at all levels of the UK court system, as well as being actively involved internationally. Richard regularly handles matters pending before the UK Serious Fraud Office, the U.S. Department of Justice, the UK Financial Conduct Authority, and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Highly regarded by both clients and peers, Richard is currently recognized in Band 1 by Chambers & Partners for Financial Crime: High Net Worth Individuals – UK, as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 UK for Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime (Advice to Corporates) and is recommended in the guide for Commercial Litigation: Mid-Market and Fraud: White-collar Crime (Advice to Individuals). He is also recognized in Who’s Who Legal in the Investigations Leading Practitioners category, in Spear’s 500, and in Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom for fraud-related work. Chambers High Net Worth commentary highlights that “he has a great rapport with clients and they really appreciate his direct and robust approach to matters. He is very focused and really knows what clients want to achieve. Clients will find that he adds a lot of value and brings many additional benefits by instructing him.” The guide has further noted that Richard is “the guru for financial crime issues” with a source maintaining that he is “the most impressive legal mind I have ever encountered.” Chambers High Net Worth has also pointed to Richard’s breadth of knowledge and dedication to his clients. The guide’s commentary maintains that he is “hard-working and knows his subject matter inside out.” The Legal 500 recently observed that Richard is “very commercially aware and pragmatic in the way he represents clients,” with emphasis placed on his ability “to look at a matter and work out the best mechanism of defence.” Further comments note that he is “particularly suited to difficult fraud cases that require lateral thinking and a commercial approach,” “he achieves an uncommon number of positive outcomes,” and “has huge experience and when he talks it is really worth listening.”
Prior to joining Cohen & Gresser, Richard was a partner and head of the financial crime practice at a prominent UK litigation firm. Before that, he practiced as a leading silk (barrister) at 2 Bedford Row.
Publications
Co-author, thebriberyact.com: a leading resource on the UK Bribery Act
Richard Kovalevsky KC is a partner in Cohen & Gresser’s London office and is the head of Criminal Defense for the London office. He has over 30…
Education
Manchester University LLB Hons
Bar Admissions
England & Wales Barrister & King’s Counsel; British Virgin Islands
Activities and Affiliations
King’s Counsel
Member of the Fraud Lawyers Association
Jeff Bronheim is featured as a “Top Recommended” corporate lawyer, with Spear’s highlighting that Bronheim is “highly recommended” in wealth management and is an “eminent and personable partner.” The guide notes that “any Mayfair financier who is thinking of branching out into new business ventures” should “give [Bronheim] a call.” Bronheim serves as the Managing Partner of Cohen & Gresser’s London office and has over 30 years of experience assisting funds, companies, HNW individuals, and family offices with complex legal and business issues.
John Gibson, head of Cohen & Gresser’s UK White Collar and Investigations Practice, is featured as a “Top Recommended” criminal lawyer in the 2022 index. He is commended by Spear’s for his “particular expertise with UK/US cooperation in economic crime investigation” and experience working with the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation. With almost three decades of litigation and advisory experience, including five years as a senior prosecutor in the bribery and corruption unit of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Gibson’s practice at Cohen & Gresser focuses on complex economic crime, investigations, and regulatory matters in the UK, Europe and emerging markets.
Richard Kovalevsky KC has maintained his long-standing status as a “Top Recommended” criminal lawyer in the Spear’s index. Kovalevsky is the head of the Criminal Defense Practice for Cohen Gresser’s London office, specializing in advising and representing HNW individuals in connection with international and domestic legal matters. Spear’s states, “What’s noteworthy is the wide range of cases that come across Kovalevsky’s desk – from cases involving business, finance, stock market dealings, listings and announcements, to corruption, tax, fraud and money laundering.” The index similarly praises Kovalevsky for his wide-ranging client base, which includes global business leaders and high-profile politicians to HNW individuals and members of prominent families.
From Cohen & Gresser’s London office, Bronheim, Gibson, and Kovalevsky and their UK colleagues work closely with attorneys in Cohen & Gresser’s U.S. and Paris offices on complex multi-jurisdictional matters and offer a multi-disciplinary practice tailored to the needs of ultra-high and high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Leveraging decades of experience, including at premier investment houses, the Bar, and the top tier of elite global law firms, Cohen & Gresser delivers consistent, high-quality service across the types of matters our clients are likely to face, including fund investing and structure, strategic transactions, art law and restitution, privacy and data security, employment matters, tax issues, regulatory considerations, commercial disputes, reputation management, and, when necessary, defense against litigation, investigation, and prosecution.
The guide states that C&G is "dedicated to their client’s interests” and is always “responsive and switched on.” Client commentary highlights the firm’s ability to handle complex and sophisticated matters and describes the firm’s lawyers as “incredibly bright” and “prompt and professional.” Additional commentary notes that the firm “punch[es] above its weight in terms of quality of people it has attracted and the work it is instructed on.”
Richard Kovalevsky KC has once again been recognized in the Chambers High Net Worth guide as a Band-1 lawyer for Financial Crime: High Net Worth Individuals in the UK. Chambers commentary notes that Kovalevsky is “the guru for financial crime issues.” Another source calls Richard “the most impressive legal mind I have ever encountered.”
John Gibson has also debuted as an individually ranked lawyer in the Chambers High Net Worth guide for Financial Crime: High Net Worth Individuals in the UK. The guide highlights John’s talent for “distilling large volumes of material and complex issues into practical, usable advice that helps to progress a matter.” Additional commentary notes that he is an “astute criminal lawyer” who is “tenacious, well informed,” and “incisive and action led.”
Since opening in 2018, C&G’s London office has built a roster of superb lawyers, including some of the UK’s most respected former prosecutors. Led by four highly regarded lawyers from the Bar, Cohen & Gresser’s London White Collar and Criminal Defense practice offers unique full-service capabilities with respect to the four major facets of international financial crime practice: regulatory investigations and compliance, criminal defense, settlement options, and anti-money laundering and Proceeds of Crime and Asset Tracing (POCA).
About Chambers High Net Worth:
Published by Chambers & Partners, the 2022 Chambers High Net Worth guide ranks the leading lawyers and law firms for international private wealth. The guide is used by family offices and professional advisers to wealthy individuals, providing objective guidance on an international scale. According to Chambers, “Those ranked in the guide understand the complex needs of HNW individuals and provide specialist advice and legal services.”
Leading practitioners are determined by an independent analysis of the opinions of corporate counsel and investigations experts from around the world. Richard joins a distinguished group of lawyers and experts from 46 jurisdictions who are “considered leaders in the field.”
Who’s Who Legal is an organization that identifies the foremost legal practitioners and consulting experts in business law based upon comprehensive, independent research.
- Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime (Advice to Corporates)
- Fraud: White-Collar Crime (Advice to Individuals)
- Commercial Litigation: Mid-Market
- John Gibson: Commercial Litigation: Mid-Market; Fraud: White-Collar Crime (Advice to Individuals); Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime (Advice to Corporates)
- Richard Kovalevsky QC: Commercial Litigation: Mid-Market; Fraud: White-Collar Crime (Advice to Individuals); Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime (Advice to Corporates)
- Jumana Rahman: Commercial Litigation: Mid-Market
- Thomas Shortland: Commercial Litigation: Mid-Market; Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime (Advice to Corporates)
- Tim Harris: Fraud: White-Collar Crime (Advice to Individuals); Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime (Advice to Corporates)
- SFO Ruling Casts Doubt Over Other Foreign Material, Lawyers Claim, The Law Society Gazette
- K. Blocks Bid to Get U.S. Company Documents in Fraud Probe, Bloomberg Law (Subscription Required)
- UK Supreme Court Limits SFO’s Investigative Powers, Global Investigations Review (Subscription Required)
- SFO Suffers Serious Blow to International Search Powers, Law360 (Subscription Required)
- Greenberg Secures Victory in Hotly-Anticipated SFO Supreme Court Battle, com International (Subscription Required)
- Serious Fraud Office Suffers Setback after Supreme Court Decision, The Lawyer (Subscription Required)
International law firm Cohen & Gresser today announced that Richard Kovalevsky QC, a distinguished barrister and Queen’s Counsel, will join the firm’s White Collar Defense & Regulation group as a partner in its London office. As head of Criminal Defense for the London office, Richard’s hire will bolster Cohen & Gresser’s highly-regarded White Collar Defense practice and strengthen the firm’s ability to provide clients with sophisticated and strategic guidance on the most complex government and internal investigations.