Disputes & investigations

Marcus is the Head of Disputes & Investigations at S-RM, overseeing the firm’s intelligence work in support of litigation and international arbitration as well as internal corporate investigations.

Marcus specialises in finding creative solutions to intelligence problems, and his clients include some of the world’s most prestigious law firms, multinational corporations, and private clients. He leads a team with advanced capabilities in open source and digital investigations, human intelligence gathering and digital forensics. Client say that “The team who work with him are clearly highly motivated under his leadership.”

Marcus has been ranked by Chambers and Partners and recognised as an Asset Recovery Expert by Who’s Who Legal since 2021. Clients say that “Marcus is regarded as one of the most trusted operators in the market.” They describe him as “entirely unflappable, ferociously intelligent, and able to grasp the nuances of complex and sophisticated matters.” A leading law firm partner says that “Marcus is masterful when leading investigations and commands the confidence of clients finding themselves in the most challenging situations.” 

Marcus has worked in investigations for over a decade, prior to which he spent time working in India both as a speechwriter and aide to a Minister in the Indian government and for McKinsey in Mumbai. He read Sanskrit at Balliol College, Oxford, and has an MA in Modern Indian politics from King’s College London. 

Email Marcus: M.Fishburn@s-rminform.com 

Philippa joined the Disputes & Investigations team from the MENA regional desk. She has experience leading litigation support and asset tracing investigations associated with complex corporate disputes, as well as managing internal investigations. Philippa has spent several years living and working in Europe and the Middle East, including in Spain, Tunisia and the UAE. She previously worked as a journalist covering finance and infrastructure, in the GCC and wider Middle East, and subsequently covering European infrastructure funds. Philippa has an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the School of African and Oriental Studies, and a BA in Modern Languages from Durham University, and is a fluent Arabic, Spanish and French speaker.

Based in New York, Sam lead’s S-RM’s Corporate Intelligence practice in the Americas. He has over 13 years of industry experience leading professional services teams; supporting clients in complex crises; and conducting and managing investigations. Sam specializes in multi-jurisdictional investigations, proxy fights, asset tracing, litigation support, and complex transactional investigative due diligence. He works closely with counsel, compliance units, and deal teams to advise clients on investigative strategy, how to best approach challenging jurisdictions, and answer specific questions.

Sam specializes in the US and Latin America, but has worked on global engagements touching Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Sam spent eight years at Kroll where he led the North American research practice and co-led the monitorship of a bank fined for violating US sanctions law. Prior to joining S-RM, Sam worked for a Big Four accounting firm and later managed investigations at a boutique litigation support firm focusing on cross-border cases in Latin America.

Septimus is a Director at S-RM. He specialises in gathering intelligence to support complex, multijurisdictional disputes globally. His clients include government agencies, global corporations, leading business figures and family offices. He regularly works in, and helps assemble, multidisciplinary teams comprising outside counsel, funders, expert witnesses, communications experts, digital forensics investigators and cyber practitioners.    

Since 2021, Septimus has been recognised by Chambers & Partners as one of the UK’s leading corporate investigators. Clients have praised him for his “incredible networks on the ground”, “ability to deliver game-changing intelligence” and “consistently high-quality, thoughtful service”.

Septimus has wide-ranging experience of gathering intelligence and evidence in the most challenging environments, using a combination of OSINT, human intelligence, eDiscovery and digital forensics. He works across EMEA, APAC and the Former Soviet Union. He has particular expertise in disputes involving parties from the Former Soviet Union and regularly supports clients in contentious situations relating to the region. Recently, he has advised numerous businesses affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, particularly in the insurance sector. Septimus’ work has been used to support litigation and arbitration relating to JV disputes, sanctions, fraud, asset recovery, ESG issues, contentious insurance claims and investor-state disputes. He has also managed internal investigations into employee misconduct, IP theft and insider threats.

His analysis of current affairs has been published by the Financial Times, Newsweek, the World Economic Forum, BNE IntelliNews and the Moscow Times. Septimus has also appeared on Bloomberg Daybreak: Europe to discuss the commercial impacts of the War in Ukraine. He has a BA in Russian Studies from University College London and speaks Russian.

Richard Blaksley has 30 years of experience in the investigations and business intelligence sector. After 15 years at Kroll, rising to head its EMEA and subsequently Asian regions, he was then an initial partner of GPW & Co. His work has covered multiple jurisdictions on behalf of leading law firms, multinational corporations, private clients and foreign government agencies. Notable cases in which he has taken a lead have been the identification of assets misappropriated by the Bhutto family of Pakistan, the large-scale privatisation frauds of Viktor Kozeny in Azerbaijan and elsewhere, and an early role in the ongoing 1MDB investigation.