Jo Torode is an England & Wales qualified barrister and member of Ropes & Gray’s Litigation and Enforcement Group. Her practice covers the spectrum of regulatory investigations, business crime and commercial litigation with a particular focus on the conduct of high profile, cross-border matters.
Jo also has deep experience in advising on international business risk and corporate governance, including anti-bribery, fraud, sanctions, anti-money laundering and modern slavery. She is adept not only at designing and implementing policy but also at helping companies to effect behavioral change.
Jo regularly carries out internal investigations for financial institutions and corporate entities and advises on their potential criminal and regulatory exposure, with a particular focus on anti-money laundering. She has an active pro bono practice and works closely with international NGOs on multiple matters relating to international human rights and modern slavery.
Jo is a regular market commentator who is sought out for her views on trends, issues on legal developments in all her areas of expertise. Jo is also considered a thought leader in the area of cryptocurrencies and the law and regularly asked to commentate in publications to share her knowledge in this new and developing area. She is one of the editors of “Mitchell Taylor and Talbot on Confiscation and the Proceeds of Crime”, the leading practitioners text in this space, and lectures in the areas of financial crime and asset recovery on a national and international basis.
Jo was previously a barrister in independent practice, and has acted on some of the UK’s largest and most high profile investigations, including Operation Weeting, (the investigation into allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World), Operation Elveden, (the linked investigation into inappropriate payments to public officials) and the global, criminal and regulatory investigations into allegations of manipulative and collusive conduct in FX markets.. She also has extensive experience of prosecuting and defending trials involving allegations of fraud, corruption, money laundering and corporate criminality having acted both for and against government agencies such as the Serious Fraud Office, the National Crime Agency and HM Revenue and Customs.
Jo is committed to promoting diversity and the next generation of lawyers and sits on the Ropes & Gray Women’s Forum Committee, both in London and globally. Jo is also a trustee of the charity Women and Children First (UK), which works to develop and share best healthcare practices to improve maternal and newborn health in poor communities. She also coaches and mentors other lawyer on a volunteer basis.