Simon Pentol KC

There is no doubt that Simon’s courtroom flair, tactical prowess, eye for detail and inventive thinking combined with his approachability and straightforward attitude make him very much in demand as a team leader for both individual and corporate clients that face important, serious, substantial and complex criminal offences of all types of privately and publicly funded work both at the investigation stage and at trial.

Simon is committed. He is a straightforward opponent who argued and fought hard for his client. He delivered a powerful speech bringing together the weaknesses in the prosecution’s case.Legal 500

He has a broad fraud practice that benefits from expertise in general crime, regulatory and financial litigation.Legal 500

He has been continually instructed as a leader for the past 25 years, particularly in cases of Serious Fraud. For reasons personal to him, Simon delayed applying for Silk until 2018 when his standing was duly rewarded with him being appointed King’s Counsel. His transition into Silk has therefore been seamless. He is one of only a few defence Silks who is equally proficient, experienced and comfortable in cases of murder / organised crime and Serious Fraud / allied regulatory matters.

Simon’s track record for achieving notable results for corporate & individual clients in very difficult circumstances has rightfully earned him plaudits from a wide range of lay & professional clients alike.

His leadership qualities and strategic thinking make him the first choice for corporate & individual clients both at the investigation stage and to proactively develop compliance protocols to meet anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and anti-tax evasion requirements. He is experienced in dealing with substantial & complex investigations and cases brought by HMRC, the SFO, the FCA, the NCA & the City of London Economic Crime Directorate. Accordingly, Simon continues to be top-ranked in both the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners directories.

He has earned the reputation as a formidable performer among his peers and the judiciary. Simon brings a skill-set comprising judgment, intuition, versatility, assurance and commitment to all cases in which he is instructed.

These qualities combined with his experience of leading in numerous high profile cases have afforded Simon the opportunity to uniquely develop a parallel practice in the specialist field of Sports-related work.

He is now sought after in Sports disciplinary/regulatory and advisory work (legal and commercial) in all sports but most notably Football and Boxing in which he has acted for or alongside federations (The FA, CAF & The Ghana FA), clubs, individual participants and corporate partners.

The combination of his criminal law background and an advanced understanding of regulatory frameworks make Simon one of the few Silks properly versed in sports/criminal law crossover cases. 

Simon’s strength of personality and understanding of modern media/PR make him best placed to meet the demands of clients regularly in the public eye.  Accordingly, he continues to be instructed on behalf of high profile / high net worth individuals and business professionals from the worlds of finance and sport & entertainment. This dates back to his representation of the likes of Des Byrne (Wimbledon footballer and co-defendant of John Terry in a serious nightclub fight), Chris Eubank (legendary boxer), Ashley Walters (aka Asher D of the So Solid Crew) and Brian Harvey (East 17) through to more recent clients such as boxers Dereck Chisora & James DeGale  and the ‘drill’ rapper “Loski”.

Simon undertakes Direct Access work and has achieved notable successes for corporate clients in anti-bribery & tax investigations and for business professionals in sensitive criminal and/or tax/fraud investigations.

On-going Work

Simon is presently instructed/engaged in the following on-going matters:

• City of London ECD v PS & Another: As leader for principal defendant in forthcoming trial re £multi-million carbon-credit investment fraud & corporate money-laundering;
• SFO v MK et al: As leader for principal defendant in £multi-million pension liberation case;
• R v CGB et al: As leader for a main defendant at re-trial in a ‘gang-related’ murder by motor vehicle running-down;
• R v JO’C: As leader at re-trial of ‘drill’ rapper “Loski” for multiple gun related crimes arising out alleged gang warfare;
• Re AI: [Direct Access] Advising on complex extra-jurisdictional land dispute arising out of fraud claims for breach of trustee duty;
• Re DK: [Direct Access] Advising former Premier League footballer in matters re the Professional Footballers’ Association.

Associated Work

• Simon has led plenary sessions re corporate crime at the Cambridge University International Symposium on Economic Crime for the past 5 years;
• He has written & lectured on the key corporate aspects of the Bribery Act 2010 & the Criminal Finances Act 2017;
• Simon remains a much-used expert analyst for major TV & radio broadcasters on range of current sports & legal issues;
• He is an active board member of the British Association for Sport and Law (BASL) and is a long-standing lecturer at the BASL-DMU (De Montfort University) Post Graduate course in Sports Law and a regular platform speaker at conferences/seminars organized by BASL & other sports law organizations;
• He has written numerous articles for BASL publications and provides a legal insight to journalistic articles appearing in the Times and the Sun newspapers;
• Simon is a visiting lecturer at the University of Sheffield LLB degree course and speaks at schools of diverse student bodies to advise on a career in the law;
• He is on the advisory committee to the African Women Lawyers’ Association (AWLA) that seeks to promote and advance career opportunities in the law for women of African Caribbean origin;
• As a long-standing charity worker and advisor to the Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT), Simon was instrumental in arranging the inaugural fund-raising concert for the charity at the Royal Albert Hall by the legendary rock band “The Who” and establishing the annual series of concerts on behalf of the charity that have continued thereafter.

Memberships

• Criminal Bar Association
• Fraud Lawyers Association
• Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers
• Board Member of British Association for Sport and Law
• Advisory Committee to African Women Lawyers' Association
• British Association for Sport and Law (BASL)
• Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association (POCLA)