Howard Rapke is a leading name in the Australian market thanks to his superb handling of criminal regulatory investigations.
Howard has more than 28 years’ commercial dispute experience. He is the head of Australian law firm Holding Redlich’s dispute resolution and litigation practice, and is also the firm’s Melbourne managing partner.
He has an active practice in complex commercial litigation and in significant white-collar criminal investigations and prosecutions involving a wide range of commercial criminal matters, regulatory investigations and large-scale inquiries, including Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry.
Howard has acted in numerous Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry. He is currently leading his team in acting for four parties involved in the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess; and as solicitors assisting the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants.
Howard is also involved in class action litigation in both the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Victoria. In particular, he has acted on behalf of directors and officers of public and private companies in defending claims brought against them when they are joined as co-defendants.
Howard also has substantial experience in advising on and acting in anti-bribery, anti-money laundering and anti-corruption matters. Over the last six years, he has been closely involved in the only prosecution brought in Australia under its foreign bribery laws.
Howard is recognised in the business crime, investigations and asset recovery chapters of WWL: Australia; and is named as a leading Australian practitioner for litigation and criminal defence by The Best Lawyers in Australia. He has also been listed in Doyle’s Guide as a leading Victorian commercial litigation and dispute resolution lawyer since 2017.