Malcolm Harris Senior Consultant Solicitor Advocate

Malcolm is a tenacious and assertive commercial litigator. He also has very substantial experience over many years of very serious fraud matters. His work can also involve civil, criminal and insolvency proceedings. He also deals with complex probate matters.

He regards himself as a problem solver, not just a lawyer. He believes the difference between winning and losing can often be in the fine detail and leaves no stone unturned in investigations and preparation for cases he takes on.

Malcolm also undertakes serious business disputes and complex matters as well as contentious and non-contentious probate matters.

Malcolm was born in London, and graduated from the University of Birmingham and started his legal career in Birmingham with a major litigation firm. Following qualification, he undertook a very heavy caseload of civil and criminal cases over the next decade before eventually moving to and settling in the city of Bath where he managed and grew a substantial regional practice as well as continuing with serious fraud and heavyweight commercial litigation.

In 1995 Malcolm was awarded his Higher rights of audience qualification enabling him to subsequently appear as Advocate in criminal proceedings in cases at the Old Bailey, the Court of Appeal and many other courts across the country from Manchester in the north, Birmingham in the midlands and Portsmouth Crown Court in the south.

Many cases have had an international element and have involved substantial investigation or tracing of assets.  Above all Malcolm has been ready to move fast to obtain injunctions and freezing orders to protect a client’s position.

Malcolm is used to advising businesses on regulatory matters and has undertaken company director disqualification proceedings, as well as Vat and Tax enquiries and is experienced in dealing with corporate and individual insolvency matters.

Many of Malcolm’s cases have been reported in the national press and between 2011 and 2013 he was seconded to work in house for an IT company in a multi-million-pound dispute with Airbus in the Bristol Mercantile Court regarding civil fraud, procurement, breach of fiduciary duties and civil conspiracy.

Between 2017 and 2019, Malcolm represented a senior Director in the Rolls Royce international bribery and corruption SFO investigation and has subsequently dealt with other cases involving the aircraft industry as well as Proceeds of Crime matters (POCA) and asset forfeiture issues.

He also undertakes in depth investigations involving forensic accounting enquiries and allegations of forgery.

Malcolm gives 100% when working on a client’s case looking for pragmatic solutions and offering real support to clients -not just legal, but pastoral care and understanding too. 

Malcolm has many interests including writing, history, Russian and Ukrainian  language and culture,  football and other sports, as well as genealogy. 

Areas of practice

Commercial litigation, fraud and investigations,  POCA, confiscation  and asset forfeiture matters,  dispute resolution, probate and winding up estates, Business and regulatory law, HMRC disputes, Insolvency

He continues to practice across a wide geographical area but focuses on London, the M4 corridor , Bristol and Bath.

Geographical  areas covered

London and the south east,  Thames valley, south midlands, Bath and Bristol