Joanna Ludlam
Biography
Joanna Ludlam is co-chair of Baker McKenzie's Investigations, Compliance & Ethics practice. She has held this position since 2017, having previously led this group in the EMEA region. She is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution team in the London office, where she leads the Regulatory, Public & Media law team.
Joanna has extensive experience in leading complex investigations and pioneering compliance initiatives. She advises clients, including the C-suite, on corporate criminal liability, regulatory compliance, and crisis and reputation management. She also prepares senior executives for appearances at public inquiries and Parliamentary Select Committee hearings. Her expertise in administrative and public law and public procurement law complements her investigations practice.
Joanna co-authored the Firm's Connected Compliance thought leadership, which includes the world's first global compliance integration benchmarking tool.
Joanna is recognized in Chambers in which clients describe her as “strategically astute”, noting that her “combination of knowledge and calm, practical effectiveness made all the difference ” and in Legal 500, which highlights that she is “hugely impressive” and she “provides experience, sound judgement and strategic oversight”.
Joanna is also listed for Investigations in Who’s Who Legal and listed in Business Today’s Top Legal Eagles for Public Law. Joanna was the winner of the “Compliance Innovator of the Year for Connected Compliance” at the Women in Compliance Awards and the “Admin & Public UK Lawyer of the year” by ACQ5 in 2019. She was one of GIR's "Top 100 Women in Compliance” in 2018 and “Role Model in the HERoes Women Role Model Lists” in 2019.
Joanna designed the Firm’s innovative Investigations Academy, a comprehensive, state-of-the-art training programme for investigations practitioners within the Firm’s team and clients. She is also a member of the leadership team for BakerWomen, a key Baker McKenzie D&I focus group.
Practice Focus
Joanna advises clients in the areas of administrative and public law, procurement law, litigation and investigations. She has particular experience in sectors including media, financial services, healthcare, technology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, professional services, and consumer goods. Joanna handles all kinds of high court litigation as well as investigations, including into issues of bribery, corruption and fraud. She advises clients, frequently at board-level, on regulatory compliance and crisis and reputation management.
Joanna focuses on bringing practical solutions to client issues, and designed the Firm’s innovative Investigations Academy, a comprehensive and state-of-the-art training programme for investigations practitioners within the Firm team and our clients'.
Representative Legal Matters
Recent experience includes:
- Leading the team acting for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in its intervention in the litigation concerning the UK’s Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda in which the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision in finding the Rwanda policy unlawful.
- Acting for a FTSE 100 company in relation to a multi-jurisdictional government investigation into allegations of overseas corruption, which involved providing strategic advice on interactions with law enforcement agencies and government bodies.
- Conducting a high number of investigations concerning workplace culture for a household name in the UK and Ireland, providing associated reputation management advice.
- Supporting a multinational pharmaceutical company in connection with a regulatory audit following allegations of a failure to comply with industry regulations.
- Advising a professional services company on its participation in NHS England’s procurement of Federated Data Platform and Associated Services.
- Advising a global energy company in connection with a successful intervention in an appeal before the UK Competition and Markets Authority.
- Representing a global technology company in connection with an investigation and enforcement action by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Law Society of England & Wales
Admissions
- England & Wales~United Kingdom (1997)
Education
- College of Law at London (1995)
- King's College London (1994)
- University of Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne) (1994)
Languages
- English
- French