Chadwick Lawrence

Chadwick Lawrence has brought together its team of in-house regulatory experts to create a new regulatory department following significant changes to the law in 2016.

The new department is made up of Howard Willis, a partner in the personal injury team, Nils O’Donoghue, an associate in sports law and health and safety, and Joshua Smith, a paralegal. Its areas of expertise include health and safety, trading standards, HMRC investigations, environmental health, coroner’s inquests, sports, fire safety and cyber law. 

The creation of the regulatory department comes as UK businesses face big regulatory changes. From February 2016 there are stiffer sentences for businesses breaching health and safety rules. Under the new sentencing guidelines those prosecuted can now expect to receive a hefty fine, which is significantly more than under the previous system.    

Nils O’Donoghue says: “It makes sense to take the experience and expertise we already have here at Chadwick Lawrence and create this department. Whilst this is the first time we have acted as one team, we have represented substantial clients for years.

“We already understand the challenges and frustrations that businesses face and we offer pragmatic and commercial advice when businesses find themselves under investigation.”

On the impending regulatory changes, he says: “Regulators are becoming increasingly aggressive in their approach to their investigations and, from February 2016, the sentences now become even stiffer so that a company that would have been fined £125,000 for breaching health and safety rules previously, could now be fined up to £1.6m.

“Now, more than ever, there is a need to understand and stay on top of your regulatory obligations.”