Rita Mitchell is a partner in Willkie’s Compliance, Investigations & Enforcement and White Collar Defense Practices in London. Dual-qualified in the US and UK, her practice includes advising and defending corporations in a variety of criminal and civil investigation and enforcement matters, conducting complex, worldwide internal investigations in relation to bribery, corruption, money laundering, sanctions and fraud, advising on and developing and benchmarking compliance programs, conducting pre-merger and third party due diligence, and providing day-to-day counseling and training on compliance with U.S., U.K. and other anti-corruption laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and U.K. Bribery Act 2010 (Bribery Act), as well as financial crime compliance initiatives more broadly.
She started her legal career at Willkie 20 years ago and after several years in the DC and NY offices moved to London in 2011 where she has helped to grow Willkie’s London office and cross-border investigations practice. Ranked by both Chambers and Legal 500 in the area of Corporate Crime and Investigations, Rita is described by clients as “simply fantastic,” a “great strategic thinker”, and “a stellar lawyer with global knowledge, gravitas, and a calm, unflustered manner.” Rita became the co-leader of the London Chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association in January 2020.
Outside of playing detective in her investigations work, Rita is a keen golfer (playing off a single figure handicap), theatre-goer, music-lover and amateur historian.