Former Serious Fraud Office (SFO) director David Green QC has been awarded a knighthood in this year's Queen's birthday honours list.

Green, who is currently in talks over a move to magic circle firm Slaughter and May, led the SFO from 2012 until April this year, and has been recognised for services to the criminal justice system.

His tenure at the SFO included success such as overseeing a £497.25m deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with Rolls-Royce, which came about after a four-year investigation into false accounting and failure to prevent bribery. Earlier this month, Green was succeeded as SFO director by former FBI lawyer Lisa Osofsky.

Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC MP said: "I would like to congratulate Sir David Green on his knighthood – it's a recognition of his contribution and services to the criminal justice system and tackling economic crime in particular."

Green's potential move to Slaughters is currently being considered by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which vets new roles being taken up by former ministers, senior civil servants and other Crown servants. Green, who is 64, could join the magic circle firm as a consultant due to Slaughters' mandatory partnership retirement age of 60.

Meanwhile, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's chief of staff and global head of responsible business, Fiona Treharne, has been awarded an MBE for services to business and to charity.

Treharne, who has been at the magic circle firm for more than 16 years, holding roles including international development manager and senior manager for global corporate strategy and development, is currently chief of staff to senior partner Edward Braham.

She is the founder of the Renaissance Photography Prize, which raises money for the Lavender Trust at Breast Cancer Care, while in recent years she has also played a key role alongside Braham as part of the Professional Business Services Council's Mutual Market Access Group, which is part of the effort to ensure market access for professional and business services in the wake of Brexit.

Other legal professionals honoured on the list include Blackstone Chambers' James Eadie QC, who has been knighted for services to the law and to government. Since 2009 he has been first Treasury counsel, the government's go-to barrister for major litigation, and has taken a string of high-profile roles including advising on the Leveson Inquiry and the inquest into the 2005 London terror attacks.

Sir Christopher John Greenwood, a former judge at the International Court of Justice, was also knighted for services to international justice.

Brick Court Chambers' David Anderson QC, who between 2011 and 2017 was the UK's Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, was awarded a KBE for services to national security and civil liberties, while Sonya Bedford, head of energy at regional law firm Stephens Scown, was awarded an MBE for her services to community energy.

Bedford, who sits on the board of five community energy groups, including Exeter Community Energy, and Bath and West Community Energy, said: "I was astonished when I found out I was to receive this honour. My first thought was for my family and how proud this will make them.

"My work and voluntary commitments mean a lot of work in the evenings and at weekends when I've been away from them, and to have that hard work recognised in this way means a great deal. The communities I support have achieved so much and it is a pleasure to volunteer with them."