Global law firm White & Case LLP has expanded its White Collar Practice with the addition of Sophia Habbe as a partner in Germany to be based in Frankfurt. Sophia joins White & Case from Noerr, where she was a partner and co-head of the compliance & investigations practice group.
“White collar is of strategic importance to the Firm’s major clients globally and we are expanding our practice to ensure that in all relevant jurisdictions we have the expertise to provide clients with a premium, value-add service that is best placed to advise on their most complex regulatory, compliance and white collar matters,” said White & Case partner Joel M. Cohen, Global Head of the Firm’s White Collar Practice. “As a major economy, Germany is a key market for us and our clients and the addition of Sophia, a leading compliance and investigations partner with a proven track-record, is an important step in our global expansion.”
Sophia advises German and international companies on complex regulatory, criminal and internal investigations and on process and crisis management post-investigation. Her experience includes conducting complex cross-border investigations in the context of ESG and diversity and inclusion compliance, and corporate and capital markets legal issues, including handling legal disputes before supervisory authorities and courts. At White & Case she will lead the German internal investigations team.
“Sophia has extensive civil and regulatory internal investigations, compliance and corporate governance experience, including ESG,” said White & Case partner Markus Langen, Regional Section Head, EMEA Disputes. “In addition, her crisis management response expertise means she has credibility and a strong network across corporates in Germany. Sophia will work closely in Germany with partner Daniel Zapf, and together their complementary areas of work will cover the full breadth of white collar, investigations and compliance expertise needed by our clients.”
White & Case partner and Vice Chair Oliver Brettle said: “We continue to invest in building a broad and deep white collar practice globally, not surprisingly as the growth of regulation and the enforcement of regulation shows no signs of abating. Sophia’s addition follows the arrival in 2024 of white collar partners Ladan Stewart in New York, Neill Blundell in London and Rachel Rodman in Washington, DC, as well as commercial litigation partners Kami Haeri and Alexandre Kiabski in Paris and Darryl Bernstein in Johannesburg, all of whom have strong white collar crime and investigations experience.”
