Ben Summers

Barrister

Ben Summers has a practice in business crime, professional discipline, public inquiries and inquests, and regulatory matters, with specialist experience in data protection issues.

Ben was called to the Bar in 1994 and following a civil pupillage, he joined QEB Hollis Whiteman where he was in independent practice for eight years. He then joined leading white collar solicitors firm Peters & Peters in March 2003 and transferred to become a solicitor in November 2004; he was appointed as a partner in November 2007. In May 2009 Ben resumed independent practice at the Bar.

In 2019, Ben was named by the Legal 500 as the ‘Crime Junior of the Year’. Between April 2020 and August 2021 Ben worked at Hogan Lovells LLP where he practised in the firm’s Litigation and Arbitration group; his experience working closely with his instructing solicitors means that he can provide a first class service to both his professional and lay clients.

Serious Crime

Ben acts in a wide variety of cases involving allegations of serious criminal offending, including murder and serious violence, rape and other serious sexual offences, firearms and drugs offences. He combines the attention to detail and thorough preparation for which he is known in other areas of his practice, with excellent advocacy (with both juries and judges), and a first–rate service to his lay and professional clients.

Business Crime

Ben is instructed and advises in a wide range of fraud and anti-trust/cartel investigations and prosecutions brought by a range of bodies including the SFO, OFT/DOJ & SEC/EU, SOCA, DBIS, CPS and HMRC. Also experienced in cross-jurisdictional investigations and mutual assistance requests made by, and of, the UK.

Financial Services

Ben advises both corporate and individual clients subject to FCA enforcement activity and in relation to non-contentious FSMA issues including advice on RTC and RDC decisions. Ben has provided advice to, and worked with, the FCA in relation to criminal matters and proceedings before the RDC relating to allegations of insider dealing and market abuse, and matters arising from its investigation of allegations of LIBOR manipulation.

Bribery & Corruption

Ben has acted for national and multi-national corporates and individuals in anti-bribery investigations and enforcement proceedings. He also gives advice on compliance policy and implementation in order to comply with UK, USA and supranational (OECD & UN) obligations.

Inquests & Public Inquiries

Ben has a wealth of experience acting for a range of core participants and witnesses before public inquiries, and for interested parties in Article 2 and non-Article 2 inquests.

Data Protection

Ben provides advice on the drafting of policy, ongoing implementation and training to businesses concerned to comply with their GDPR and DPA 2018 obligations. He has also acted for individuals and corporates in Information Commissioner’s Office investigations including matters involving high profile losses of data by public bodies and where data protection issues arise in the context of criminal or regulatory investigations and proceedings. He regularly acts for the ICO and has acted in some of the most significant cases of the last 20 years including the Cambridge Analytica investigation, the first prosecution for conspiracy to commit offences under the DPA 1998, the first prosecution of enforced subject access and in the Public Inquiry into Undercover Policing. Ben has also advised government departments and public bodies on Freedom of Information Act 2000 matters.

Memberships

Association of Regulatory & Disciplinary Lawyers
CBA
IBA
South Eastern Circuit

Education

Inns of Court School of Law (1993-1994)
LLB (Hons), University of Sussex (1990-1993)

Publications

Data Protection training tailored to suit, and delivered to, city law firms
Author of data protection content provided by Practical Law and Lexis Nexis
Bribery & Corruption Study Pack, College of Law

Appointments

Advocacy Trainer, Inner Temple (2017-)
Authorised Pupil Supervisor
Chairman of the Fraud Advisory Panel’s Data Protection Sub-Committee

Directory Recommendations

"He is the complete counsel." Chambers UK 2025, Crime
"A real heavy-hitter, Ben is as adept in serious fraud as he is in serious crime." Chambers UK 2025, Crime
"Ben Summers is an excellent advocate, great to work with and brilliantly clever." Chambers UK 2025, Crime
"Ben is superb with clients and meticulous in his preparation and fine detail." Chambers UK 2025, Crime
"Ben is a really safe pair of hands." Chambers UK 2025, Police Law: Mainly Defendant
"Ben is an absolute powerhouse. He has understated class and a total command of his brief. He is capable of conjuring results from the least promising cases." Legal 500 2025, Fraud: Crime
"An absolute powerhouse counsel, capable of conjuring results from the least promising cases. Understated class. He has a total command of his brief, is easy to work with and always driving the defence team forward. Ben has razor sharp intellect and superb client care skills." Legal 500 2025, Business Crime and Regulatory (including Glibal Investigations)
“… a master tactician and a class act in complex cases. His attention to detail is impeccable, his written submissions are outstanding and he has a commanding presence before any tribunal.” Legal 500 2024, Fraud: Crime
“Ben Summers is a great individual and a charismatic advocate.” Chambers UK 2024, Financial Crime: Corporates
“Ben is very bright and makes reasonable submissions no matter the difficulty of the case.” Chambers UK 2024, Financial Crime: Corporates
“He is exceptionally good with vulnerable clients.” Chambers UK 2024, Financial Crime: Corporates
“Ben benefits from having been a solicitor and has a very empathetic client approach.” UK 2024, Financial Crime: Corporates
“… very cerebral. He’s diligent, knowledgeable and a hard-working counsel.” Chambers UK 2024, Professional Discipline
“Very good at getting straight to the point.” Chambers UK 2024, Professional Discipline
“… a strong profile in the financial crime space.” Chambers UK 2023, Financial Crime: Corporates
“… very prepared and persuasive.” Chambers UK 2023, Financial Crime: Corporates
“… is very clever and utterly charming. He has a really lovely manner that panels really warm to.” Chambers UK 2023, Professional Discipline
“He is a bright and very confident advocate.” Chambers UK 2023, Professional Discipline
“He has brilliant judgement and is a great advocate.” Chambers UK 2022, Financial Crime
“Ben is an experienced and calm advocate and a fantastic negotiator. He is very client focused and gives a lot of thought to strategy.” Legal 500 2022, Crime
“Very cerebral and an effective cross-examiner.” Legal 500 2022, Police Law
“A very smooth advocate.” Chambers UK 2022, Professional Discipline
“He is very good on the technical detail on the law and a very good advocate.” Chambers UK 2021, Financial Crime
“He is very bright, hard-working and an excellent barrister.” Chambers UK 2021, Financial Crime
“He combines practicality with deep insight, making him a natural choice for difficult cases.” Legal 500 2021, Business & Regulatory Crime
“He has a meticulous eye and is great with technical cases.” Legal 500 2021, Fraud: Crime
“He is very client-focused, has a calm demeanour and good judgement, and is very dedicated to ensuring he gets the best possible results in any case.” Chambers UK 2021, Financial Crime
“He is very bright, hard-working and an excellent barrister.” Chambers UK 2021, Financial Crime
“He combines practicality with deep insight, making him a natural choice for difficult cases.” Legal 500 2021, Business & Regulatory Crime
“He has a meticulous eye and is great with technical cases.” Legal 500 2021, Fraud: Crime
“Very cerebral and an effective cross-examiner.” Legal 500 2021, Police Law
“An extremely good choice for heavyweight white-collar fraud, he’s a superb strategist and a highly skilled forensic cross-examiner … very good technically on complex legal arguments and impressive in front of a judge.” Chambers UK 2020, Financial Crime
“A very smooth and rounded advocate, liked by judges and juries.” Legal 500 2020, Business & Regulatory Crime
“Very cerebral and an effective cross-examiner.” Legal 500 2020, Police Law
“He performs at silk level and has been for some time.” Legal 500 2019, Business & Regulatory Crime
“His background of having been a partner in a major white-collar practice means that he understands the problems that a solicitor faces and has a much better client manner than many of his peers. It is not just that he is good in conference, he really thinks strategically about the case from day one and maximises the client’s position at an early stage.” Chambers UK 2018, Financial Crime
“A highly competent and well-organised barrister with laudable experience of advising on bribery, fraud and regulatory issues.” Chambers UK 2018, Financial Crime: Corporates
“He is exceptionally solicitor and lay client friendly.” Legal 500 2017, Police Law
“A star of the future.” Chambers UK 2017, Financial Crime
“The go-to counsel for defending criminal data protection cases.” Legal 500 2017
“Good on the detail, and tenacious.” Legal 500 2016, Fraud
“A smooth and able advocate, who has a nice touch with clients.” Legal 500 2016, Business & Regulatory Crime
“A realistic and empathetic advocate.” Chambers UK 2016, Financial Crime

Privacy Statement

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Serious Crime

R v DD (Basildon Crown Court 2024): Acting for a male accused of multiple offences of rape and sexual assaults of his daughter. This is a section 28 case.
R v BB (Reading Crown Court 2024): Acting for a man indicted with a conspiracy to transfer prohibited firearms (converted blank firing pistols) and ammunition.
R v DB (Kingston Crown Court 2024): Acting for a defendant charged with supply of class A drugs and money laundering of proceeds of that supply (circa £900k) over a number of years. The case was complicated by the fact that the defendant was already serving a 12-year sentence for another drugs offence to which the instant offences were related; abuse argument mounted on that basis.
R v PB (Isleworth Crown Court 2024): Acting for a young man charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition, bringing him within the mandatory minimum sentence provisions of section 311 of the Sentencing Act 2020.
R v RD (Basildon Crown Court 2024): Acting for a male charged with conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B drugs amounting (in the Prosecution’s estimation) to at least 208 kilos over a three month period.
R v SB (Southwark Crown Court 2024): Acting as leading counsel in an FCA prosecution of insider dealing.
R v FH (Kingston Crown Court 2024): Acting for a male in the Court of Appeal in the appeal against the sentence for his participation in a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
R v KW (Chelmsford Crown Court 2024): Acting for a defendant charged with conspiracy to import 400+ kgs of cannabis from South Africa
R v HG (St Albans Crown Court 2023): Acted for young male acquitted of a burglary and section 18 GBH (stabbing) during an admitted invasion of another young male’s home.
R v GR (Winchester Crown Court 2023): Acting for an 80 male charged with the murder of his wife. Advised on the availability of the defence of diminished responsibility and negotiated plea with prosecution. The defendant pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received a suspended sentence of imprisonment.
R v CS (Inner London Crown Court 2022): Acted for prisoner serving a sentence of life imprisonment in a gang attack section 18 GBH plea, leading to a range of complex sentencing issues.
R v SB (Isleworth Crown Court 2022): Acted for a male accused of meeting and grooming a younger male online and sending indecent images to him.
R v VD (Maidstone Crown Court 2022): Acting for a young man charged with murder and conspiracy to rob; the case arises from a raid by a group of men on a cannabis growing ‘factory’ during which a man was killed.
R v FL (Birmingham Crown Court 2022): Acted for a young man charged with a double attempted murder (by shooting), conspiracy to rob cash in transit deliveries and associated firearms offences.
R v VL (Snaresbrook Crown Court 2022): Acting for a man charged with an indecency offence with a child. The case has evidential and presentational difficulties because the defendant has already been convicted of a similar offence in relation to another child from the same family. This is a section 28 case.
R v NH (Ipswich Crown Court 2022): Acting for a vulnerable young man charged with the kidnap of another vulnerable individual and associated offences. The case is subject of the section 28 procedures.
R v FN (Chelmsford Crown Court 2022): Acted for a man charged with section 18 GBH and kidnap. The victim was severely beaten and described by the prosecution as having been ‘dumped and left for dead’ in a roadside lay-by.
R v SZ (Isleworth Crown Court 2021): Acting for a man charged with a double stabbing of two other males who he invited back to his house; the defence involved issues of involuntary intoxication and date rape.
R v YE (Portsmouth Crown Court 2021): Acted for a man charged in a conspiracy to cause GBH, arising from an alleged dispute between criminal groups involved in the theft of monies from gambling machines. Successfully argued that the case should be stopped as an abuse of process following disclosure failings.
R v NK (Snaresbrook Crown Court 2020): Acted for a young man charged with the rape of a girl at a party.

R v MN & Others: Acting for the defence in the FCA prosecution of a ‘boiler room’ land banking fraud.
R v RF & Others: Acting for the first defendant in a prosecution of a wine investment fraud.

Business Crime

R v JM: Leading for the first defendant in three month trial into an allegation that a team of cardiothoracic clinicians defrauded the NHS during their employment at Basildon & Thurrock University Foundation Trust Hospital over a four year period.
Torex Retail Plc: Acting for the group finance director in a three month SFO prosecution in Oxford arising from the collapse of the Torex group of companies in 2007. The trial focussed on detailed group accounting issues and treatment of revenues.
Vantis Tax Ltd: Acted for a company director in the HMRC prosecution of tax planning scheme operated by VTL

Undercover Policing Inquiry: Acting for the Information Commissioner’s Office in relation to the handling of personal data during the conduct of the inquiry.
Re J: Acting for officers in the inquest into the death of a young man on a moped following a police pursuit, and in associated judicial review proceedings.
Re R: Acting on behalf of the MPS in an inquest into the death of a man under the care of mental health services in central London.
Re B: Acted for a care home provider in the inquest into the death of elderly resident.
Baha Mousa Public Inquiry: Acted for the Commanding Officer of the Battalion which detained Baha Mousa.