Maurice is of counsel in the white collar defence and investigations team, primarily focusing on UK tax investigations.
His work includes business and personal tax investigations on behalf of high profile individuals as well as corporations which face either civil or criminal investigation. He frequently handles complex, multi-jurisdictional disputes, working with clients across the full spectrum of tax and investigations – and especially voluntary disclosures. He often works in conjunction with leading accountancy firms to minimise the client's risk of prosecution and the amount of tax properly payable.
Described as having 'great depth and breadth of experience' in tax investigations, 'extremely calm and a huge benefit to clients' and with 'no problem he hasn't solved before', Maurice has been involved in many of the major cases of the past twenty years, although by working closely with our media and reputation team these have rarely resulted in publicity.
Maurice has been consistently recognised in the leading legal directories. He is currently ranked in Band 1 in Chambers UK Tax: Contentious Fraud and in Chambers High Net Worth Tax: Private Client, where as former head of Withers' Tax Investigations team he led the team to achieve Band 1 recognition.
Recent recognition
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Me in a minute
I passionately believe that having greater powers brings a duty to be open and fair so that the individual has a chance to argue on a level playing field
I knew since I was about 11 that I was someone who felt strongly about fairness. Arguing the case for myself or others came easily and it was a natural progression to becoming a solicitor at 23.At 24, I fell into white collar litigation and tax investigations by chance, when one senior lawyer was too busy and the second fell ill and I was asked to represent a man accused of the largest tax fraud the UK had ever known. I was hooked.
The case I am probably proudest of was representing an elderly accountant, on the verge of retirement and with a distinguished career behind him, who was wrongly accused of helping a client to hide income offshore. The former Inland Revenue was open with its concerns and evidence, and even before they came to interview my client I carried out our own investigation which showed the allegations were false. I still have the client's letter of thanks 25 years on.The powers of investigatory authorities can be overwhelming. I passionately believe that having greater powers brings a duty to be open and fair so that the individual has a chance to argue on a level playing field.Being a life-long follower of Watford Football Club sits well with someone who supports the underdog. Many years ago, I was invited to play in a trial and, who knows, if things had gone better my career may have proceeded on another kind of level playing field.