Michael Hick
Michael Hick specialises in serious fraud, but also prosecutes and defends general crime.
He is regularly instructed in some of the most challenging criminal cases and his calm, considered advice is often sought in complex and difficult matters. When prosecuting he is instructed by the Serious Fraud Office (A list), the Financial Conduct Authority, the Insolvency Service and the CPS specialist fraud unit (Grade 4), whilst his defence practice ranges from money laundering to murder. He was previously instructed on the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. Before coming to the Bar Michael worked in the City as a Chartered Accountant and stockbroker, and spent time working for the Foreign Office in Africa and South-East Asia.
He is ranked as a leading junior in the Legal 500.
Appointed a Recorder of the Crown Court in 2018.
Current cases include:
- Instructed in an alleged $16m fraud on a Sovereign Wealth Fund
- Instructed in a £25m alleged international money laundering operation
- Instructed to advise in relation to an alleged €100m multi-national fraud involving a UK listed company
- Instructed to advise in relation to allegations of bribery and corruption at a UK local authority
- Instructed to advise in relation to allegations of fraud concerning a high-profile individual
- Instructed in £5.6m confiscation proceedings with worldwide assets
Major recent cases include:
- R v F: instructed to lead in transnational film piracy case involving complex computer evidence
- R v B: film tax fraud worth £76m - instructed to lead in confiscation proceedings - successfully argued that the Prosecution should discontinue proceedings
- R v O: instructed to lead in £1.4m international money-laundering case involving evidence being taken via live-link from Bangladesh
- R v N: instructed as first junior in £4.4m boiler room fraud
- R v B: instructed in notorious London murder case at first instance and on appeal (in which the CA held that it was not permissible to re-try a defendant for murder following a conviction for manslaughter)
- R v M: instructed to lead at first instance and on appeal (in which the CA held that it is open to a jury to convict of a lesser included conspiracy)
- R v X: instructed to lead at first instance and on appeal in a case involving the theft of trading algorithms worth in the order of $100m
- R v H: instructed in relation to a fraud on the Ministry of Justice by a CPS employee
- Re W: instructed to advise in the aftermath of a failed prosecution for fraud in relation to a company listing
- R v U: instructed as first junior on a $175m fraud on a Russian investment bank
Education
Taunton School, Somerset
Birmingham University (1983 BA English)
Inns of Court School of Law (1995 Barstow Law Scholarship)
