LAWYER
Evan Flowers
Partner | London
Evan Flowers

Evan Flowers is a disputes partner specializing in government enforcement and investigations. Originally a criminal defense lawyer, he advises individuals and multinationals in the highest stakes and most sensitive multi-jurisdictional enforcement, compliance and investigation matters in a broad range of industry sectors, including financial services, aerospace & defense, energy and commodities, healthcare and pharma, STEM, telecoms, big data, construction, gaming, and consumables. Mr. Flowers' matters often involve bribery and corruption, securities fraud, antitrust cartel, sanctions, money laundering, and market manipulation issues giving rise to multi-agency investigations.

Mr. Flowers also advises on harm minimization strategies and compliance risk for high-risk commercial transactions, JVs and strategic investments. He was a key member of the Airbus legal team that secured a landmark Deferred Prosecution Agreement – the first coordinated settlement between the UK, U.S. and French prosecuting authorities in history.

Mr. Flowers has a successful track record engaging with regulators and government agencies in the UK, UAE, U.S. and Europe, including the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), European Commission (EC), U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and regulated exchanges (CME, ICE, EEX).

He is currently the lead UK advisor to multiple traders in the highest profile energy market manipulation investigation involving UK citizens, as quoted in Bloomberg, Daily Mail and The Times.

Mr. Flowers also counsels professional athletes and sports governing bodies on crisis management, incident response and investigations drawing on his lived experience as a distinguished County League cricketer and former Premier League club captain.

Mr. Flowers is described by clients in Chambers UK as “extremely passionate and knowledgeable” (2024). The Legal 500 UK 2024 selected Mr. Flowers as one of ten “Next Generation Partners” in the UK market for Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime. He is also listed as a key lawyer for Fraud: White Collar Crime: Advice to Individuals. He was named as a white collar “Rising Star” by Euromoney in its 2021 Expert Guide, based on his outstanding reputation among clients and industry leaders.

Evan is a recipient of the Samuel E. Klein pro bono award for his support of the working group remediating the Windrush compensation scheme in response to the wrongful treatment and deportation of British citizens of Caribbean heritage by the UK Home Office.

  • Airbus SE in a global investigation into allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption, and subsequent coordinated settlements with the UK Serious Fraud Office, French Parquet National Financier, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of State.
  • Airbus SE – transactional review and compliance risk advice in relation to financing support applications from major airline customers to export credit agencies in UK, France and Germany.
  • Aer Lingus in a successful defense of Ryanair’s hostile takeover bids and related UK Competition Commission investigation into Ryanair’s minority shareholding in Aer Lingus. 
  • Pfizer-Wyeth acquisition – conducted transactional diligence on the largest pharmaceutical acquisition in history at the time of closure.
  • A major U.S. pharmaceutical company in various internal investigations into sales practices in Russia, Europe and Asia.
  • A UK listed pharmaceutical company in relation to sales practices in China.
  • A U.S. technology and outsourcing company with 100,000 employees in a major SEC accounting and securities fraud investigation which settled without prosecution.
  • Successfully defended corruption allegations against individual employees of a major automotive manufacturer in hearings before German prosecutors in dual US and German enforcement proceedings.
  • A major European investment bank in an internal investigation resulting in a self- report to multiple UK authorities with no charges brought.
  • Head of Trading at an UK-EU energy trading house – successfully settled regulatory and criminal investigations in Germany with no charges brought.
  • A group of independent proprietary energy traders in relation to matters arising from their  trading of WTI oil futures during the Covid-19 pandemic when oil traded below zero for the first time in history.
  • Airbus SE – oversaw the compliance and corporate remediation of a large high-value portfolio of 50 JVs and in-country investments in over 30 jurisdictions in consultation with enforcement agencies in UK, France and the US. This work was cited by Dame Victoria Sharp in the Airbus DPA judgment and is now a legal benchmark for "exemplary cooperation" in the UK.
Services
    • University of Newcastle, Bachelor of Finance, 2003
    • University of Newcastle, LL.B., 2005
    • King’s College London, Post-graduate Diploma, EU Competition Law, 2015
    • New South Wales