Rupert Lewis

Rupert heads the award-winning Banking and Financial Services Litigation practice in the UK and specialises in advising banks, other financial services firms and listed companies on a wide range of contentious issues.

He has led many high-profile cases, including defending one of the largest fraud claims brought against a bank before the Commercial Court in London and defending one of the largest securities class actions brought against a listed company in the Financial List in London.

He leads the Banking and Financial Services Litigation team which is tier one ranked in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. Rupert is himself ranked as "hall of fame" in Legal 500 UK, as well as a "Dispute Resolution Star" in Benchmark Litigation Europe. He is described as "a very dedicated, brilliant and adaptive in his approach." "Rupert is an excellent litigator." "A very straight-talking and calm operator." (Chambers & Partners 2021). "An undoubted star in financial litigation. Very clever. A good strategist and excellent client manager." (Legal 500 UK, 2022). A "top lawyer in his field" (Legal 500 UK, 2023). "Rupert has brilliant client skills and is a delight to work with; he's very thoughtful". "The perfect manager of a complex case" (Chambers & Partners 2024) "The perfect litigator. Hands on, a good team manager, strategically aware and client friendly." (Legal 500, 2024). "has excellent judgement, he's a great people person and is extremely effective at speaking to opponents and barristers" (Chambers UK, 2025). "has every quality of a commercial litigation partner. Great at team management, legal analysis, strategy and client management." (Legal 500 UK, 2025). "the ideal partner. Fully engaged and a pleasure to work with". (Legal 500 UK, 2026). "Is great to work with, charming, good at managing cases, thoughtful and bright." (Chambers UK, 2026).

Rupert’s expertise includes advising clients on mis-selling claims (in relation to a wide variety of investment products, including complex derivatives), securities class actions, fraud claims, banking confidentiality, contractual disputes, jurisdictional disputes and professional negligence claims. Many of the matters Rupert has worked on involve parallel regulatory and criminal investigations or proceedings.

He has first-hand knowledge of the inner workings of financial institutions having spent over a year in-house, including a senior secondment to the litigation team of a major UK bank.