Michael O'Kane

Michael is Senior Partner at Peters & Peters Solicitors LLP. He has acted in many of the most high profile and sensitive business crime cases of the last 25 years, at Peters & Peters and as a prosecutor.

Michael was called to the Bar in 1992 and, prior to joining Peters & Peters, was a senior specialist prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Headquarters. There, he was a key member of a small specialist unit responsible for the prosecution of serious and high-profile fraud, terrorist, state-security and special interest criminal matters, including the Stansted Airport Afghan airline hijacking and the prosecution of Paul Burrell (Princess Diana’s butler).

Since joining Peters & Peters, Michael has acted for companies, senior executives and HNW individuals in many of the most high-profile and complex national and international business crime cases. He has particular expertise in sanctions, international corruption, criminal cartels, INTERPOL, extradition and private prosecutions.

He has been recognised twice in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 (2009 & 2017) being described as being ‘top of the referral lists of many City firms for independent advice for directors’. Michael has also been recommended as a 'leading individual' on International Sanctions by Who's Who Legal Trade & Customs 2021: "The excellent Michael O'Kane ranks highly among peers thanks to his impressive work on export controls and international sanctions".

In 2011, the Financial Times recognised him as one of the UK’s most innovative lawyers and he is listed by Who’s Who publication as one the world’s leading investigative lawyers.

He is described in the most recent legal Directories as:

“exceptionally knowledgeable and calming. He is fantastic in dealing with clients; his clarity of explanation is incredibly high and the level of service is very good.”

“a superb lawyer and has wonderful strategic sense”, “an outstanding lawyer with wonderful good sense and the knack of doing just the right thing” , "highly regarded by his peers” and “one of the best strategic-thinkers.” 

Michael regularly appears in the media to discuss sanctions and his other specialist areas and he is the author of the leading textbook on the UK Criminal Cartel Offence: The Law of Criminal Cartels – Practice and Procedure (Oxford University Press).