Mohsin Zaidi

6KBW

At the start of 2020, 6KBW’s Mohsin Zaidi was gearing up to release his memoir, A Dutiful Boy, where he explores his journey to acceptance as a working class Muslim who comes out as gay and becomes a barrister. The book was released in August 2020 to critical acclaim. In it, Zaidi tells his story of growing up in a devout community and how he grappled with his sexuality.

However, what really stood out last year was the former Linklaters associate’s work with the SFO on two high-profile cases. Zaidi was instructed on the prosecution of Anna Machkevitch, who was found guilty in January 2020 of failing to supply documents to the SFO in relation to its investigation into the Eurasian Natural Resources Company.

In February, Zaidi and the SFO team celebrated a successful settlement with Airbus. He was instructed on the matter in 2017 as a disclosure junior and was later promoted to the main team. It was the first time he had worked on a case like this as a barrister but was able to use his experience from Linklaters to help the SFO agree on a deferred prosecution agreement with Airbus.