Overview
(July 27, 2017, London) — Steptoe & Johnson UK LLP announced today that Meredith Rathbone, who has spent nearly 15 years in Steptoe’s Washington, DC office, has relocated to the firm’s office in London. Ms. Rathbone, a US-qualified international regulatory lawyer, will add further depth to the Europe-based trade controls practice Steptoe has built in London and Brussels over the past decade.
As a partner in Steptoe’s International Regulation & Compliance Group, Ms. Rathbone advises on economic sanctions, export controls, and other trade-related matters affecting clients in the financial services, technology, telecommunications, energy, defense, insurance, manufacturing, retail, and service industries. She regularly interfaces with US regulators, and assists clients with conducting internal investigations, establishing compliance and audit programs, undertaking classification and jurisdiction assessments of their products, software, and technology, seeking licenses, and obtaining advisory opinions from the relevant regulatory agencies. Ms. Rathbone has also defended clients in criminal investigations related to economic sanctions and export controls.
“As Brexit will usher in a new trade and investment relationship between the UK and the rest of the EU, we believe a strong UK presence remains vital in the international marketplace and continue to invest in our London office,” said Steptoe Chair Phil West. “Meredith’s relocation to our London office reinforces our commitment to further expand our services to multinational companies located in Europe and Asia.”
Ms. Rathbone’s move to London expands the office’s compliance team which welcomed Jeff Cottle and Patrick Rappo in 2013, and John Rupp in 2015. Mr. Cottle joined Steptoe from BHP Billiton, the world’s largest diversified mining, oil and gas and natural resources extractives company, where he helped manage the company’s global anti-corruption and trade compliance programs. Mr. Rappo joined Steptoe from the UK Serious Fraud Office, where he had served as joint head of Bribery and Corruption and was a key participant in the efforts to introduce deferred prosecution agreements in the United Kingdom. Mr. Rupp has more than 40 years’ experience advising clients on compliance matters and conducting internal investigations involving trade control issues, bribery, money laundering, accounting irregularities and pharmaceutical marketing issues.
Commenting on her move, Ms. Rathbone said: “Our clients in Europe and around the world need cross-border, multidisciplinary support in addressing their global compliance challenges. Our highly integrated team in London, Brussels, and Washington has years of experience guiding clients through global business, legal and regulatory challenges in diverse settings. The firm's experience in international law is reflected in the scope of cases handled, the diversity of the client base, and in the many languages our lawyers speak.”
Ms. Rathbone, who serves on the firm’s Executive Committee, has been recognized in numerous prestigious guides including Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, and WorldECR. She has been accepted as a Registered Foreign Lawyer by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
About Steptoe
Steptoe & Johnson LLP is an international law firm widely recognized for vigorous advocacy in complex litigation and arbitration, successful representation of clients before governmental agencies, and creative and practical advice in guiding business transactions. The firm has more than 500 lawyers and other professionals in offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
