Armstrong Teasdale Adds to U.K. White-Collar, Litigation Teams

Armstrong Teasdale announces that Partner Sarnjit Lal, Associate Partner Fraser Mitchell and Solicitor Keziah Kissi have joined in London. They join a roster of more than 350 attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale throughout the U.S. and U.K. and demonstrate the firm’s ongoing investment in the white-collar and litigation practices. In the past three years, the firm has added more than 30 white-collar criminal defense practitioners across offices.

Lal has more than 20 years’ experience in fraud and major criminal cases covering all stages of criminal law and cross-border disputes. She leads the firm’s U.K. White-Collar Crime and Investigations team. Her matters are often high-profile and high-stakes, and she has extensive experience in handling both internal investigations and those brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and other prosecuting authorities. Lal is recognized for her discreet yet robust approach, and excellent crisis management skills. She is regularly instructed by both companies and individuals to advise on complex fraud and white-collar crime cases and advises her clients throughout the entire criminal procedure from the beginning of an investigation, during the police investigative stage and including any criminal proceedings.

Mitchell is an associate partner in the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice. He has experience acting in a range of complex cross-border and multijurisdictional disputes for a variety of clients including individuals, trusts, companies and funds as both claimant and defendant. Mitchell is often instructed in cases where civil fraud, bribery, conspiracy or breach of fiduciary duty are alleged. He regularly acts in insolvency litigation and shareholders’ disputes and has extensive experience in obtaining and resisting interim applications often at short notice. He also has prior experience handling investigations on behalf of companies, individuals and state entities. He has advocacy experience and has appeared many times as both as sole counsel and as junior up to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal.

Kissi is a solicitor in the firm’s U.K. White-Collar Crime and Investigations Department, which sits within the Litigation practice. Her broad-ranging background includes work in the areas of fraud, white-collar crime, compliance and regulatory sectors. Kissi has detailed experience of working on matters involving Financial Crime Authority (FCA), National Crime Agency (NCA) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Having represented clients during investigation and proceedings, Kissi has a deep understanding of prosecutorial procedures and leverages her analytical and problem-solving skills creatively to secure favorable outcomes for clients.

Lal and Kissi join from a Tier 1 criminal specialist firm and Mitchell from an offshore law firm.