Howard Rapke

Howard has more than 30 years’ commercial dispute experience and is the firm's state managing partner for Victoria.

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 been involved in nine Royal Commissions and Commission of Inquiry and has lead 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 also has substantial experience in advising on and acting in anti-bribery, anti-money laundering and anti-corruption matters. Over the last nine years, he has been closely involved in the only prosecution brought in Australia under its foreign bribery laws.

Howard is also involved in class action litigation in both the Federal Court of Australia and 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 joined as co-defendants.