3VB
FIRE Starters Global Summit: Dublin
This Next Gen event brings together the rising stars of Asset Recovery, Fraud & Insolvency to forge networks, discuss experiences and build their own personal brand, at an affordable price
26th - 28th February 2025, Conrad Hotel, Dublin, Ireland
2025 International FIRE Starters Speakers Include:
Romance Fraud Expert
'Professional time-waster', Author and Romance Fraud expert Becky Holmes is the creator of and voice behind the popular Twitter account @deathtospinach.
In 2020, having been on the receiving end of an annoying number of direct messages from online romance scammers, Becky Holmes started to enjoy wasting their time and publicly ‘outing’ their accounts. Four years later she is now a well-known expert on romance fraud, called upon by both professionals and the media.
No other woman has had so many online romances – from Keanu Reeves to Brad Pitt to Prince William and she is a firm favourite with brave US peacekeeping soldiers and oil rig workers who desperately need iTunes vouchers or Amazon gift cards.
Using humorous examples of her conversations with online fraudsters, Becky shines a light on the darkest corners of the world of romance fraud, looking at the similarities between romance fraud and domestic abuse, coercive control and confirmation bias, gaslighting and shame. She then talks about the even lesser-known sides to this crime: human trafficking,voodoo and scammer pyramid schemes.
Her engaging way of presenting has an audience looking at all aspects of romance fraud, from the heartbreaking to the hilarious, the academic to the anecdotal and discusses where we're going wrong when dealing with those affected and how the effects of these scams are more far-reaching than it would first appear.
Becky's book, Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You, has received outstanding reviews from critics, journalists, comedians, counter-fraud professionals and everyday readers.
Becky Holmes has become a regular guest on radio and podcasts around the world where she talks about all things romance fraud, whether that be with a light-hearted touch such as Richard Herring’s Book Club podcast or with a more serious tone as on Jeremy Vine’s BBC radio 2 show.
Romance Fraud Expert
Olympic Ski Jumper (GB)
Michael Edwards, better known as Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards, was the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic Ski jumping. Despite not winning in his sport, Eddie's heroic failures won the hearts and minds of the public.
With a love of skiing and stunts from a young age, Eddie started out in downhill skiing but switched to ski jumping when he realised that this sport had no other UK competitors. Holding the record for stunt jumping but with only a small jump under his belt, two years before the Olympics he began training. After representing Great Britain at the 1987 World Championships, and ranking 55th, Eddie qualified as the sole British applicant for the 1988 Winter Olympics. He was working in difficult circumstances however - he had no financial support for training and had to wear his glasses at all times, which fogged up to such an extent that he couldn’t see while he was jumping. Eddie came in last in both the 70m and 90m events but he succeeded in winning hearts around the world. He became a popular celebrity, appearing on talk shows around the world and gaining the affectionate nickname ‘Mr Magoo’ from the press.
In the midst of his public glory, he released a book and several songs (including in Finnish). Since then, he has done a synchronised dive with Tom Daley on ITV’s Splash, taught celebrities to ski-jump on The Jump, danced as Rubber Chicken on The Masked Dancer, and competed on Dancing on Ice in 2024. His story was made into a biographical film ‘Eddie the Eagle’ in which he was portrayed by Taron Egerton. He remains one of the best loved athletes today.
Olympic Ski Jumper (GB)
Senior Associate
Khodeir & Partners (UAE)
Mostafa Abdelhamid is a distinguished cross-border dispute resolution lawyer, renowned for his expertise in managing complex disputes within the local courts of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, as well as on the international stage before arbitral tribunals. His practice is deeply rooted in commercial dispute resolution, investment treaty claims, and international law, where he has represented international clients with unwavering success.
His experience spans a broad spectrum of arbitral institutions, including the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution – American Arbitration Association (ICDR-AAA), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), and the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
In addition to his contentious work, Mostafa is equally proficient in non-contentious and advisory roles. His expertise encompasses bankruptcy, restructuring, corporate insolvency, debt collection, asset recovery, and liquidation prevention, making him a versatile and strategic advisor in the legal landscape.
Khodeir & Partners (UAE)
Barrister
3VB
Devon’s practice encompasses the full range of commercial litigation, arbitration and advisory work. Devon has experience working in counsel teams of various sizes and in appearing as sole counsel in the County Court and High Court. Devon has a particular interest in matters concerning Banking and Finance, Civil Fraud, and Commercial Dispute Resolution. Recent highlights include:
Gibson v TSE Malta LP t/a Betfair: representing the defendant gambling operator (led by Sarah Tulip and Jonathan Davies Jones KC) in a two-week trial for a claim for breach of contract, breach of statutory duty, negligence, knowing receipt and unjust enrichment.
G I Globinvest Ltd (& Ors) v XY ERS UK Ltd (& Ors): acting for defendant companies in a €47m claim for conspiracy to defraud arising out of investments made in an alternative investment fund.
Equity Real Estate (Bracknell) Ltd & Ors v Capstan Capital Partners LLP & Ors: assisting the claimant SPVs in a complex property fraud, including claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duties, dishonest assistance and knowing receipt.
In addition to her busy court practice, Devon writes on commercial law topics. Recent and forthcoming chapters include: Politics, Policy and Private Law (Hart Publishing, December 2023); Fraud and Risk in Commercial Law (Hart Publishing, June 2024); and Mandatory and Default Rules in Contract and Commercial Law (Hart Publishing, 2025). Devon has also co-edited the chapter on ‘Financial Regulation in Commercial Disputes’ in the forthcoming edition of Walker, Hodge and Purves’s Financial Services Law alongside Farhaz Khan KC. She is currently co-authoring ‘A Practical Guide to Financial Ombudsman Service Claims’ alongside Adam Temple.
Devon is a Bye-Fellow in Law at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, where she supervises Equity and Trusts.
Prior to joining 3VB, Devon worked at Goldman Sachs where she supported the EMEA CEO and Chairman in matters concerning regulatory affairs, business strategy and client relations.
Devon studied Law at the University of Cambridge, graduating with First Class Honours and ranking 3rd out of 212 students. She is a scholar of Lincoln’s Inn and achieved a Distinction in her bar studies.
3VB
Partner
Global Advocacy (UAE)
Hana Al Khatib is a highly accomplished Partner with a strong legal background. She became a member of the Jordanian Bar Association in 2012. Hana’s expertise also extends to Legal Project Management, earning her certification through the IILPM in Australia in 2022. Throughout her career, she has excelled in litigation, arbitration, and general advisory services, skillfully guiding clients through various civil and commercial litigation matters and has acted on several high-profile, high-value cases in the UAE.
Hana is highly experienced in employment related matters, and helps clients from various sectors with their day to day issues arising in the workplace, including onboarding processes, Emiratization rules, applicability and interpretation of employment laws and regulations, termination procedures, non-compete and non-disclosure agreements, pensions, end of service, and arbitrary dismissals, in addition to supporting HR and legal departments in developing policies and handbooks in line with the applicable laws.
Hana has extensive experience in bankruptcy and insolvency, working on high level complex cases in the Middle East.
Hana is also the MENA Regional Coordinator at the International Association for Young Lawyers (AIJA) and delivered several trainings and seminars in UAE and outside UAE on Labor laws, MeToo movement, unlawful competition by employees, UAE Labor law amendments in 2022, and discrimination in the workplace.
Global Advocacy (UAE)
Senior Associate
Kingsley Napley
Katie is a Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolution Team at Kingsley Napley. She has a wide-ranging commercial practice with particular interest and expertise in complex civil fraud and asset tracing investigations, boardroom and shareholder disputes, and breach of contract claims, acting for both claimants and defendants.
Katie has a particular interest in Crypto and ESG disputes, is a member of the Firm’s Entrepreneurs Group, and a committee member of the Young Fraud Lawyers Association
Kingsley Napley
Partner
Buis Bürgi (Switzerland)
Luca Angstmann is a partner with the law firm Buis Bürgi in Zurich, Switzerland. He specializes in domestic and international commercial litigation and represents clients in a broad range of matters, including complex contract, financial services, corporate and fraud litigation. He holds a PhD from the University of Zurich and an LL.M. degree from the LSE. Besides his work, he regularly speaks at conferences and publishes articles on civil litigation and enforcement matters.
Buis Bürgi (Switzerland)
Partner
Schwärzler Attorneys at Law (Liechtenstein)
Hannah Blecha is a Partner at Schwärzler Attorneys at Law, practicing in Liechtenstein.
Having represented parties in numerous cases, Hannah has particular expertise in trust litigation, asset tracing and asset recovery, white collar crime and international sanctions. Additionally, Hannah has significant experience in data protection law.
Hannah holds a PhD and is a lecturer at the University of Liechtenstein where she teaches courses in sanctions law and trust litigation.
Schwärzler Attorneys at Law (Liechtenstein)
Lawyer
Bonifassi Avocats (France)
Stéphane Bonifassi’s litigation practice, both commercial and white-collar criminal, has an international focus on complex business crimes involving fraud, corruption, money laundering and asset recovery. Often, required to effectuate mutual legal assistance and cross-border discovery.
Bonifassi regularly represents victims of, as well as those accused of, business crimes (fraud, breach of trust, misuse of corporate assets, corruption, money laundering, etc.) and has expertise in the French law concerning procedures to obtain information concerning the debtor's assets during the pre-trial and trial phase. Bonifassi also has expertise in the field of confiscation and forfeiture, freezing orders, attachments and similar measures mostly involving international parties and raising issues such as, among others, transnational enforcement of judgments, arbitral awards and piercing the corporate veil. He is also active in the field of sanctions.
He is one of three co-founders of the International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators, a collaboration of experienced public and private litigation professionals and distinguished academics working with the Basel Institute on Governance to expand worldwide access to solutions in economic crime cases.
Bonifassi Avocats (France)
Associate
Archipel (France)
Déborah Bur practices international business law and international litigation.
Admitted to the Paris Bar, Déborah practices international litigation and has a significant experience in enforcement of arbitral awards and recovery of sovereign debts. Déborah joined the firm as an associate in 2017. Before that, she trained at Archipel in 2015 and with an international firm in Paris.
Déborah holds a Master’s Degree in Private International Law and International Commercial Law and a Master in English and North-American Business Law from Paris-I University (Panthéon-Sorbonne). She also studied at the Universities of Nancy and Lund (Sweden).
Déborah practices in French and English.
Archipel (France)
Senior Associate
Kingsley Napley (UK)
Laurence is a senior associate in the Dispute Resolution Team. He has broad experience as a general commercial litigator with a focus on complex large scale civil fraud and financial disputes. He often works as part of a team of global professional advisors on matters with multi-jurisdictional elements.
Laurence has also worked on contractual and Intellectual Property disputes, acting for both claimants and defendants. He also has experience of acting for clients in relation to Search Orders, Norwich Pharmacal Orders and Delivery-Up Orders.
Kingsley Napley (UK)
Partner
Rajah & Tann (Singapore)
Josephine has been involved in a broad range of disputes and advisory work, focusing on white collar financial crimes, investigations work and regulatory offences.
Josephine has been recognised as a Next Generation Partner for White Collar Crime by The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific (2024). Clients lauded that she “has the capacity to grasp complex transactions and evaluate these in light of the law”, “is good at drawing a line between a crime and commercial dispute” and “very capable and quick to react”. She was also identified as one of Asia’s Super 50 Disputes Lawyers by Asian Legal Business (ALB) (2022).
Josephine regularly advises and acts for both individuals and corporations in complex criminal matters involving securities fraud such as market manipulation and insider trading, major financial and compliance offences and corporate breaches under the Companies Act. Her portfolio also encompasses advising financial institutions and corporations on enforcement proceedings initiated by regulatory bodies including the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Exchange and the Ministry of Manpower.
In recent times, she has been involved in several landmark decisions that have shaped Singapore’s legal landscape. These include offences involving proceeds of crime under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking & Other Serious Crimes Act, offences under the Casino Control Act, and market manipulation offences under the Securities and Futures Act.
Rajah & Tann (Singapore)
Partner
WH Partners (Malta)
Davinia Cutajar is a partner at WH Partners and the international secretary of the Malta Chamber of Advocates (Il-Kamra tal-Avukati). Her main areas of practice are dispute resolution and corporate law. She also assists on private client matters and advises on AML compliance.
At WH Partners, Davinia assists individuals and corporates on complex civil, commercial and regulatory disputes. She regularly advises on cross-border matters, particularly in the EU, and is used to co-ordinating and co-operating with teams in multiple jurisdictions. Throughout her career, Davinia has settled a number of high-profile claims for damages linked to negligence or breach of law.
Before joining WH Partners, Davinia was the Managing Partner of a law firm in Malta focusing on corporate law and financial services, employment law, relocation services and yacht and trademark registration.
Her legal career started as a litigator with a well-respected law firm in Valletta. She later moved to corporate, trustee and compliance law, fulfilling the role of Money Laundering Reporting Officer and Compliance Officer for a corporate and trustee services provider in Malta, before taking on the role of director.
Davinia was admitted to the Malta Bar in March 2006, and has been a member of the Chamber of Advocates since. She was elected international secretary of the Chamber of Advocates in 2023. Davinia is a member of the Institute for Financial Services Practitioners (IFSP) and forms part of the IFSP's Sub-Committee on Compliance.
Davinia read law at the University of Malta and was conferred a B.A. in Legal and Humanistic (European) Studies in 2003, a Diploma of Notary Public in 2004, and a Doctorate of Laws in 2005, after successfully completing an ERASMUS program at Tor Vergata University in Rome, Italy, in the same year.
She is fluent in English, Maltese and Italian, and has a basic knowledge of French.
WH Partners (Malta)
Senior Associate
Monfrini Bitton Klein (Switzerland)
Evin Durmaz holds a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Lausanne as well as a master's degree in international law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. She obtained a certificate of specialization in legal profession from the University of Geneva in 2018.
After having worked as a legal associate in an international company active in the field of social, emerging and sustainable investment, Evin Durmaz completed her legal internship within a large firm in Geneva before being admitted to the bar in 2020.
Evin Durmaz joined MONFRINI BITTON KLEIN in September 2020. She is a Senior Associate since January 2024.
She focuses on civil and criminal litigation. Her training in international law and her professional experience in the corporate world enable her to approach international mandates in a practical, multidisciplinary and multicultural manner. Her main areas of practice are international asset recovery, white-collar crime, international investment law and mutual assistance. She acts in complex cases involving individuals, companies and States.
Monfrini Bitton Klein (Switzerland)
Partner
Tanner De Witt (Hong Kong)
Ian De Witt, a partner and founder of Tanner De Witt, one of Hong Kong’s largest and most renowned independent law firms, boasts an impressive legal career spanning three decades. His focus includes cross-border commercial litigation, insolvency, and restructuring matters. As co-head of the Restructuring and Insolvency Practice, his involvement in major restructurings and insolvencies across the region and the development of the law in Hong Kong in many areas has positioned him as a leading disputes lawyer and a prominent figure in the legal field. Notably, Who’s Who Legal recognizes him as an Elite Thought Leader and a standout professional in the Hong Kong market. His reputation as a top-tier lawyer is well-established, with consistent recognition from legal publications such as Chambers Asia Pacific. Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Benchmark Litigation, IFLR and GRR.
Ian serves as a trusted advisor to distressed companies and individuals, leveraging a robust network of professionals both locally and abroad, including offshore jurisdictions. He advises a diverse clientele, including officeholders, shareholders, multinational corporations, high-net-worth individuals, and listed companies. Beyond insolvency matters, Ian handles a wide array of commercial and contractual disputes, including partnership and shareholder conflicts. His practice also encompasses high-value fraud cases, debt recovery, asset tracing, and judgment enforcement. Ian’s extensive experience also extends to investigations, regulatory matters, and prosecutions conducted by authorities such as the Police, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), the Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB), and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Ian recently penned the Hong Kong chapter of the commercial litigation & cross border enforcement law guide.
Tanner De Witt (Hong Kong)
Partner
PCB Byrne (UK)
Catherine is an experienced civil litigator, working on high profile multi-jurisdiction asset recovery and fraud cases. She is also experienced working on enforcement proceedings and commercial contract claims. Catherine’s clients include listed companies, nation states, as well as high-net worth individuals. She also has experience obtaining urgent injunctive relief, such as freezing and search orders, as well as applications for strike out and summary judgment.
PCB Byrne (UK)
Partner
A.G. Erotocritou LLC (Cyprus)
Andreas’ practice focuses on cross border litigation. He specialises in various fields of commercial and corporate litigation and regularly appears before the district courts and Supreme Court in Cyprus representing prominent local and international clients, mostly in complex disputes with an international dimension. Andreas has vast experience in corporate fraud and asset recovery, shareholders’ disputes, recognition and enforcement proceedings as well as in corporate insolvency and restructuring. He also has significant expertise in obtaining and defending interim injunctive relief in support of proceedings in Cyprus and elsewhere.
Andreas is consistently ranked and recognised as a leading practitioner in the dispute resolution arena by the leading international directories such as Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal. Andreas has been described as one who “fulfils all the clients’ needs in a competent and professional manner”, as a lawyer who was “perfect and performed beyond expectations”, “dynamic & methodical”, “accurate in the execution of his work”, “a strategic thinker” and having “great commercial awareness”.
Andreas is a fellow of the International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators and as of 2023, an officer of the Asset Recovery Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA).
Andreas is a Barrister of the Middle Temple, and a member of, amongst others, the Cyprus Bar Association, the International Bar Association and the Honourable Society of Middle Temple. Andreas has authored numerous articles for publications on various topics relating to international cross-border litigation and arbitration and is a lecturer at the law department of Frederick University in Cyprus. In the past, Andreas has worked for Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP in London.
A.G. Erotocritou LLC (Cyprus)
Partner
Faneca Advogados (Brazil)
Faneca Advogados in São Paulo/Brazil.
Brazilian Lawyer specialized in Asset Tracing and Recovery with over 10 years of experience in the field, acting on behalf of creditors rights on the major Insolvency cases where fraud has been identified in Brazil.
Professor for several institutes on the Cross-border Insolvency regulations.
Co-founder of the fist Network in Latin America for INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S INSOLVENCY & RESTRUCTURING CONFEDERATION (IWIRC), served as Chair from 2018/2020 and currently serves as Latin America Regional Director. Appointed as IWIRC´s Rising Star Semi-Finalist in 2020.
Beatriz also seats at IWIRC´s UNCITRAL Committee for WG V in support of the Asset Tracing and Recovery Toolkit in development.
Member of IWIRC and INSOL.
Faneca Advogados (Brazil)
Partner
Cooke, Young & Keidan (UK)
Recognised by The Legal 500 as a “rising star” “headed for the very top”, and by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Elite Thought Leader for both Asset Recovery and Commercial Litigation, Jon specialises in high-value, complex international commercial disputes with particular expertise in civil fraud, enforcement and asset recovery (including both commercial and sovereign debt), and he has obtained a number of ground-breaking orders in this regard. Chambers & Partners describes Jon as “incredibly impressive” and “an incredible tactician”, recognising him for his civil fraud work. The Legal 500 has called Jon a “bright young gun with a shrewd mind and a calm approach” and states there is “complete trust and faith in Jon’s advice and his expertise”, recognising him as a leading individual for civil fraud, a next generation partner for banking litigation, and recommending him for premium commercial litigation, international arbitration and commodities disputes. Jon has an international practice with clients including states, financial institutions, corporate clients, high-net-worth individuals and insolvency practitioners, and has acted on a number of complex and high value Russian/CIS cases.
Cooke, Young & Keidan (UK)
Senior Associate
Abreu Advogados (Portugal)
Luís Froes is a Senior Associate at Abreu Advogados since 2023, working mainly in the areas of Litigation and Arbitration and Economic-Financial Criminal Law, Administrative Offences and Criminal Compliance.
He has particular intervention in civil and commercial litigation matters, advising national and international companies in the retail and distribution, textiles industry, insurance and construction sectors.
He also has experience in domestic and cross-border disputes involving athletes’ image rights.
He has been providing legal advice to individuals and corporate bodies in criminal proceedings, with a focus on economic and financial crime and matters related to cybercrime (fraud) and asset recovery.
In addition, he has been involved in supporting legal entities in administrative and judicial proceedings, particularly in the retail and distribution, audiovisual and construction sectors.
Furthermore, he provides day-to-day legal advice to athletes, in particular football players.
Abreu Advogados (Portugal)
Barrister
Twenty Essex (UK)
Edward has a broad practice in commercial litigation and arbitration, spanning the range of Chambers’ work. He has particular expertise in high value, complex disputes relating to civil fraud, banking, international trade and energy and commodities. Edward is comfortable working as part of counsel teams of different sizes and is regularly instructed as sole counsel in the Commercial Court and Chancery Division.
Edward acted for the Republic in The Republic of Mozambique v Credit Suisse and others; Commercial Court proceedings worth at least US$3 billion concerning the enforceability of sovereign guarantees in the wake of the ‘Tuna Bond’ scandal, raising issues of conspiracy, bribery, dishonest assistance and knowing receipt, and state immunity. The three-month trial of the dispute was one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases for 2023.
From January to April 2020, Edward worked as a judicial assistant in the Commercial Court to Mr Justice Andrew Baker and Mr Justice Foxton. He worked on a variety of interlocutory and injunctive hearings as well as applications under the Arbitration Act and a full trial (e.g. Pipia v BGEO Group [2020] 1 WLR 2582; Mohamed v Breish [2020] EWHC 696 (Comm), School Facility Management Ltd v Governing Body of Christ the King College [2020] PTSR 1913). He has also spent six months on secondment at a leading City litigation boutique.
Twenty Essex (UK)
Barrister
Twenty Essex (UK)
Sam specialises in complex, high-value commercial litigation and arbitration. His practice has a particular focus on civil fraud / asset recovery, technology, energy / environment, banking, company, insolvency, and international trade. He acts as sole counsel (often against KCs) and as part of larger counsel teams.
Sam has experience of substantial litigation before the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. He is regularly instructed (both led and unled) on interim applications such as freezing orders, search orders, prohibitory injunctions and Norwich Pharmacal/Bankers Trust relief. He acts in international arbitrations under a variety of rules (LCIA, ICC, SCC, LMAA etc.) as well as in English court proceedings in aid of arbitral proceedings and concerning the enforcement of arbitration award (frequently for, or against, sovereign states). He has a particularly strong civil fraud practice, having acted in several multibillion dollar fraud claims over the last few years.
Sam acted as a co-opted member of the Service Sub-Committee of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee and worked on the October 2022 revisions to the gateways for service out of the jurisdiction. He is a founding member of both ‘ThoughtLeaders4 FIRE Starters’ (an industry group for fraud, insolvency and asset recovery practitioners) and ‘CFAAR’ (the first global network for professionals working in the crypto-fraud field), and sits on the editorial committee of the ‘Tech Disputes Network’.
Twenty Essex (UK)
Head of Corporate Legal and General Counsel
CDB Aviation (Ireland)
CDB Aviation (Ireland)
Barrister
3VB
Emma’s practice spans a diverse range of complex commercial disputes both in litigation and in arbitration across 3VB's practice areas.
Emma has considerable experience in aviation, civil fraud and banking and financial services disputes. Her recent and current instructions include large multi-party disputes and matters raising conflict of laws issues.
Emma was shortlisted as Shipping, Commodities and Aviation Junior of the year for the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2023. Emma is ranked by Legal 500 as a ‘Rising Star’ in Aviation and recommended for being “very calm”, her “thorough” and “excellent” written work,” and her ability to “digest large volumes of documents at speed” and “add strategic value to cases”. Emma has experience as an advocate appearing as sole counsel before the English High Court, and being led in multi-counsel teams.
Before coming to the Bar, Emma studied law at the University of Cambridge graduating third in her year and receiving university prizes for Constitutional Law, EU Law and Conflict of Laws. Emma then read for the BCL at the University of Oxford where she was awarded a Distinction and the Peter Birks Restitution Law Prize. Emma subsequently taught Contract Law at St Hilda’s college (Oxford) and worked as a research assistant for Professor Chen-Wishart.
Emma maintains an academic interest in the law. Emma’s recent publications include a contribution to Rethinking Unjust Enrichment (OUP) (co-authored with Professor Chen-Wishart) which considers the law of unjust enrichment from a doctrinal and theoretical perspective.
Notable and recent cases include:
Farol Holdings Ltd et al v (1) Clydesdale Bank plc (2) National Australia Bank Ltd – acting for over 800 claimants in group litigation against two banks concerning misrepresentation, negligence, contractual and unjust enrichment claims arising out of the sale and termination of fixed rate tailored business loans (led by Andrew Onslow KC, Lisa Lacob and Liisa Lahti).
An ICC Arbitration concerning contractual claims relating to the sale of pharmaceutical products (led by Ali Malek KC).
Acting for a defendant in proceedings in the English commercial court concerning claims in fraud, contract, unlawful means conspiracy and accessorial liability (led by Ali Malek KC).
Day v FXCM [2023] EWHC 14349 (Comm) - acting for the defendant spread-betting firm in proceedings involving contractual and breach of statutory duty claims and allegations concerning the FCA’s Conduct of Business Sourcebook (led by Daniel Warents (XXIV Old Buildings)).
Optimares S.p.A. v Qatar Airways Group Q.C.S.C. [2022] EWHC 2461 (Comm), [2022] EWHC 2507 (Comm) - acting as junior counsel (led by Edward Cumming KC (XXIV Old Buildings)) for the successful defendant airline, Qatar Airways, in proceedings concerning the airline’s decision to terminate programmes for the design and manufacture of business class and economy aircraft seats for B787, A321 and B777 aircraft and involving contractual and restitutionary claims. Emma attended various interlocutory hearings as sole counsel.
Invest Bank v El-Husseini & others [2022] EWHC 894 (Comm): acting as junior counsel (led by Daniel Warents (XXIV Old Buildings)) for defendants on a jurisdiction challenge in proceedings concerning claims to enforce foreign judgments, declarations concerning beneficial ownership and claims under sections 423-425 Insolvency Act 1986.
3VB
Partner, Attorney at law
Motieka Audzevicius (Lithuania)
Justinas works as lead counsel in complex cross-border and national commercial litigation and arbitration.
Justinas’ recent experience includes working as a lead counsel for the biggest group of companies within the Baltic States with a yearly turnover of EUR 5 billion in damage litigation. Lithuanian Court of Appeals awarded a record amount in Lithuanian history that exceeds EUR 100 million.
As a sworn member of the New York State Bar and a graduate of Harvard Law School (a unique combination in the Baltic States), Justinas is a respected expert in US-related legal matters.
Justinas successfully develops financial service disputes practice, including regulatory litigation against supervisory body Bank of Lithuania, contractual disputes, damage litigation as well as fraud and asset recovery related disputes.
He recently was appointed to act as lead litigation counsel regarding the improper application of EU sanctions for major Lithuanian holding energy company with subsidiaries in Poland, Latvia and Estonia and major Lithuanian wind electricity producer.
Justinas is officer of Asset Recovery Committee of the International Bar Association. He is recommended by Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal Commercial Litigation and Arbitration as well as is ranked as Global Elite Thought Leader.
Motieka Audzevicius (Lithuania)
Partner
Russell Cooke
Simon heads the restructuring and insolvency team, advising insolvency practitioners, directors, charity trustees, companies, investors and high net worth individuals on a wide variety of insolvency matters. He regularly advises clients on their rights against counterparties that are in liquidation or facing financial difficulty, and has been involved in some of the most high-profile insolvencies in recent years. He frequently advises boards of directors and charity trustees on their duties and obligations, particularly in an insolvency context. Simon also has particular expertise in complex contentious insolvency matters, often involving concurrent proceedings in multiple jurisdictions and the recovery of assets based overseas. He has substantial experience of disputes before the English courts, in addition to litigation and arbitration in key venues around the world.
Often writing and speaking on ‘hot topics’ in the insolvency market, Simon has been cited in Sealy & Milman’s Annotated Guide to the Insolvency Legislation. He regularly deals with funded cases and advises on how best to finance disputes.
Described as "hard-working, approachable, and strategically astute", and providing "clear, prompt, and decisive advice", Simon is deemed by his clients as "a pleasure to deal with". Recognised as "a truly standout individual in this field", he possesses "an impressive, in-depth knowledge of insolvency law and practices and has an exceptional ability to think strategically and provide pragmatic, effective, and cost-efficient solutions".
Simon qualified in 2010 and joined Russell-Cooke in 2024. He is also a Solicitor Advocate qualified in England and Wales and admitted to practice in the British Virgin Islands.
Russell Cooke
Managing Associate
Magnusson (Estonia)
Marek is a skilled dispute resolution attorney leading the asset recovery team at Magnusson Estonia. He specializes in civil proceedings, with a specific focus on cross-border litigation and corporate insolvency. Marek’s expertise extends to commercial disputes and debt collection proceedings, including matters related to crypto assets, cross-border asset recovery, and combating international investment fraud. Marek is also a member of ICC FraudNet.
Magnusson (Estonia)
Attorney at Law
Paragraph 7 (Liechtenstein)
Paragraph 7 (Liechtenstein)
Attorney-at-law
Kocks & Partners (Belgium)
Kocks & Partners (Belgium)
Partner
WongPartnership (Singapore)
Lionel LEO is a Partner in the Restructuring & Insolvency and Special Situations Advisory Practice.
His main areas of practice involve commercial litigation, international arbitration and restructuring and insolvency. Lionel routinely acts as lead counsel for a variety of clients, including financial institutions and multi-national companies, in court and arbitral proceedings, with a particular focus on complex, high-value and cross-border matters that involve restructuring, insolvency, banking and finance. In recent years, Lionel has also accumulated significance experience in contentious restructuring and insolvency matters involving cryptocurrencies and digital assets, as he acts as lead counsel in court for the joint liquidators of Three Arrows Capital Ltd (the US$10 billion cryptocurrency hedge fund that went bankrupt) and the interim judicial managers of Hodlnaut Pte Ltd (one of Singapore's leading digital assets borrowing and lending platforms that collapsed).
Lionel has been recognised both for his expertise in commercial litigation and restructuring and insolvency. He is the inaugural winner of the prestigious Joseph Grimberg Outstanding Young Advocate Award, and has been ranked as a Litigation Star in Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2023 and as a Future Leader in Commercial Litigation in Who’s Who Legal 2021-2023. He has been recognised for his expertise in insolvency and reorganisation law in IFLR1000 2023, AsiaLaw 2023, and Best Lawyers 2022-2023. He is also a Chartered Arbitrator, and was awarded the Excellence in Advocacy Award by the Singapore International Arbitration Academy in 2019.
Lionel graduated with First Class Honours from the National University of Singapore, and obtained his BCL Master's degree with Distinction from the University of Oxford. Prior to joining private practice, Lionel served as a Justices' Law Clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Singapore and as an Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court of Singapore.
Lionel is a member of the Singapore Academy of Law’s Commissioning Advisory Panel, and has published various books, book chapters and academic articles, including one of Singapore’s leading textbooks on evidence law, which has been cited by Singapore’s highest court and which is currently in its third edition. He was placed on the Supreme Court’s Young Amicus Curiae roll from 2012-2014 and was appointed by the High Court as amicus curiae in two cases. He is also one of the co-founders of the Singapore Management University’s highly successful mooting program, and has taught as an adjunct faculty at the Singapore Management University for many years.
WongPartnership (Singapore)
Founding Partner
E2M – Etude Max Mailliet (Luxembourg)
Max specialises in international litigation with a focus on fraud and asset tracing, white collar crime, commercial and shareholder litigation as well as employment law. Max is also very active in the area of corporate & transactional work.
E2M – Etude Max Mailliet (Luxembourg)
Partner, Head of Cross-Border Litigation
INTEGRITES (Ukraine)
Dmytro Marchukov is the partner with Integrites in Kyiv, Ukraine, and co-leads the firm’s Cross-Border Litigation and Private Client teams. During his career, Dmytro has represented sovereigns, corporates and private clients in close to every kind of dispute resolution including national and cross-border litigation, transnational insolvency and receivership, asset tracing and recovery, fraud investigation, enforcement of mortgages and pledges (including against shareholdings in Ukrainian companies), contentious inheritance and divorce, commercial and investment arbitration under the major institutional and ad hoc rules, as well as recognition and enforcement of foreign judicial and arbitral awards. He has sat as an arbitrator and is instructed on a regular basis as the Ukrainian law expert having acted in such capacity in civil and criminal proceedings in the US, the UK, British Virgin Islands, Monaco, Cyprus and Switzerland, as well as in the arbitration proceedings under the ICSID and LCIA rules.
INTEGRITES (Ukraine)
Barrister
Serle Court
Max is a commercial chancery barrister with a particular focus on civil fraud, company and insolvency disputes. He appears in some of today’s most high-profile commercial litigation and in precedent-setting commercial and chancery cases. He is regularly instructed to appear as sole counsel in the High Court of England and Wales and has assisted as junior counsel with cases in the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales and appeals to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. In 2024, Max was appointed to the UK Attorney General’s Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown. He is also developing a practice in the Middle East, focusing on the DIFC and ADGM. He is a Registered Part II Practitioner before the DIFC Courts and has appeared as sole Counsel in the DIFC Court of First Instance in addition to acting as junior Counsel on appeal to the DIFC Court of Appeal. Before transferring to the Bar, Max qualified as a solicitor and worked as a judicial assistant at the UK Supreme Court.
Serle Court
Partner
LALIVE (Switzerland)
Benoît specialises in litigation, including civil, criminal and regulatory litigation before all Swiss courts and authorities.
He frequently acts in both domestic and cross-border commercial disputes and fraud litigation, typically dealing with both the civil and criminal litigation streams. An important aspect of this is formulating an efficient litigation strategy to maximise respective benefits, also providing external communication support when needed.
As Benoît’s cases usually include an international component, he is used to coordinating actions and proceedings across various multiple jurisdictions, involving several legal teams.
Benoît also has a keen interest in asset recovery and insolvency matters as well as enforcement proceedings. He regularly domesticates foreign judgments, awards and orders, particularly in cross-border insolvency matters. Where required, he also advises on asset protection strategies before, during and after litigation.
LALIVE (Switzerland)
Founder
MDU Legal (Panama)
David M. Mizrachi is the Founder of MDU Legal in Panama, Republic of Panama. He is admitted to practice law in Panama and the United States (Florida). Mr. Mizrachi’s practice focuses on complex international dispute resolution and business transactions. His law firm has handled some of the most complex cross-border asset recovery cases involving Panamanian entities and Panamanian law. It routinely deals with provisional measures and evidentiary disclosure issues in the context of international litigation and arbitration. Mr. Mizrachi is also a university professor, the author of many scholarly works and a sought-after international speaker. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), Tulane University School of Law (JD cum laude) and Columbia University (ELLM in Global Business Law) and is a Senior Fellow of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School of Harvard University.
MDU Legal (Panama)
Director
Grant Thornton (UK)
Grant is a Director in the insolvency and asset recovery team, specialising in international asset tracing, recovery and enforcement, often using insolvency as a tool to trace and recover assets.
He has extensive experience in pursuing and recovering assets both onshore and offshore, such as the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and the US. Grant has been developing asset recovery strategies and working alongside lawyers to obtain and enforce judgments in the Middle East, India and the BVI
Grant Thornton (UK)
Barrister
Twenty Essex (UK)
Karen is a commercial barrister with specialist experience in insolvency and company law. She is most often briefed in large international commercial litigation and arbitrations involving complex financial structures.
Karen holds a Master of Corporate Law (First Class) from the University of Cambridge, where she was awarded a Jennings Prize for first class performance in the final examinations. She holds a Bachelor of Law (First Class) and a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Prior to coming to the bar, Karen was a solicitor at Allen & Overy LLP in London and New York.
Karen is admitted to practise in England and Wales, all Australian jurisdictions and is registered as a foreign lawyer of the SICC.
Twenty Essex (UK)
Associate
Michael Kyprianou & Co (Cyprus)
Eleana is an Associate in the Dispute Resolution Department of Michael Kyprianou & Co LLC in Limassol.
Her main areas of practice are Asset Recovery, Cross-Border Commercial Litigation, International Arbitration and EU Competition Law.
Eleana is recommended as a ‘Rising Star’ for Dispute Resolution in Cyprus in The Legal 500 EMEA 2023 and 2024 editions and has also been recognised as a key lawyer in the practice area of EU and Competition. Clients praised her as being ‘highly motivated and fully aware of the laws and the legal system’ and for ‘possessing great analytical skills’.
She has experience in high value, complex fraud and asset recovery litigation and has acted in several cases involving world-wide freezing orders, disclosure orders and other injunctions. She has been involved in a number of cross-border cases of a commercial nature.
She is also involved in cases seeking the recognition of foreign court judgments and arbitral awards in Cyprus.
She is a member of the Cyprus Bar Association and a member of the Cyprus Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution as a qualified Arbitrator.
She also contributed in legal journals such as the European Competition and Regulatory Law Review and worked at the UK Government as a Policy Advisor in EU Exit Legislation and more specifically on drafting primary Brexit legislation.
Eleana holds a Law Degree (LLB) with First Class Honours from the University of Southampton and a Master of Laws (LLM) in Competition Law from King’s College London.
Michael Kyprianou & Co (Cyprus)
Founding Partner
Costa Passarella & Accioly Advogados Associados (Brazil)
Maria Tereza Costa Passarella is a founding partner of Costa Passarella & Accioly Advogados Associados. She is a Brazilian lawyer with 23 years of practice and with experience in the Brazilian’s Superior Courts and Supreme Court. She has been a lawyer for the largest Brazilian public company for 14 years. Maria Tereza is member of Legal Hackers Brasilia, a global movement born in 2012 in New York City, of lawyers, legislators, designers, technologists, and academics that explores and develops creative solutions around different issues that intersect law and technology. She is a Counselor of Casa Thomas Jefferson, a binational American-Brazilian cultural center in Brazil.
Costa Passarella & Accioly Advogados Associados (Brazil)
Partner
Friedman Kaplan (USA)
David Ranzenhofer is a litigation partner at Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins LLP in New York. He represents major public and private companies as well as individuals in the financial services and other industries in connection with complex commercial litigation and arbitrations, as well as in connection with government and internal investigations and white collar matters. His civil practice includes all types of commercial disputes, including contract, fraud, intellectual property, securities, breach of fiduciary duty, employment, and related matters. He is a member of the firm's eDiscovery Committee.
Prior to joining Friedman Kaplan in 2016, Dave practiced with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. He is a graduate of Stanford Law School and received his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from Duke University.
Friedman Kaplan (USA)
Partner
Skrine (Malaysia)
Aufa Radzi is a partner at the firm, specializing in litigation and dispute resolution with a focus on breach of contract, tort, and commercial disputes. She possesses extensive experience in handling appeals, judicial reviews, and applications for setting aside and stay orders in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, including proceedings related to arbitration.
Throughout her career, she has advised and represented various multinational corporations, banks, and both local and overseas companies in debt recovery cases, from initial proceedings to execution. Her current practice encompasses banking and finance litigation, restructuring and insolvency, land disputes, commercial litigation, and arbitration.
She spent 4 years in Ankara, Turkey and obtained a Master’s degree in International Relations from Hacettepe University under the Turkish Government scholarship. She speaks Turkish having obtained a C1 Certificate from the School of Foreign Language (TOMER), Hacettepe University, Ankara.
Skrine (Malaysia)
Counsel
Sekri Valentin Zerrouk (France)
Sekri Valentin Zerrouk (France)
Partner, White Collar Crime
Lefosse (Brazil)
Coming from the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF), Marcelo has experience in handling complex cases covering various aspects of Corporate Criminal Law, which includes multi-jurisdictional investigations, proceedings related to crimes that occur in the business environment, such as corruption, money laundering, environmental crimes, crimes against the economic and tax orders, financial system and capital markets, among others. Marcelo also develops the activities international cooperation measures and asset recovery. He also has experience in civil disputes, acting before higher courts and regulatory agencies, as partner responsible for Brasília. Throughout his 16 years at the MPF, Marcelo Ribeiro has held several important positions, having been a member of the staff of the General Prosecutor’s Office before the Supreme Court and one of those responsible for the investigation and trial of criminal cases before that Court. He was also a member of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office Money Laundering Group, the Permanent Advisory Committee on Leniency and Collaboration and the Working Group on Cryptoactive Securities.
Lefosse (Brazil)
Senior Associate
GPD (Italy)
Emanuele serves as a Senior Associate at GPD in alliance with Troutman Pepper, where he advises domestic and international clients on a range of transactional and litigation matters. His practice encompasses complex corporate transactions for private equity, venture capital, corporates and family offices, while also overseeing intricate commercial disputes both nationally and across borders. Drawing on substantial international experience, Emanuele has collaborated with prominent law firms in the United States, Brazil, and China, equipping him to manage global transactions and multifaceted litigation.
At GPD, Emanuele is the reference professional for the firm’s Innovation Practice and is an adjunct professor in LLM programs at LUISS School of Law.
He holds a law degree from Roma Tre University and an LLM from LUISS School of Law, with additional research experience at Shanghai International Studies University and the University of Washington. Emanuele has also contributed to research projects for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), bringing a depth of academic and practical insight to his diverse practice.
GPD (Italy)
Senior Associate
Charles Russell Speechlys
Abigail specialises in advising on commercial disputes for high net worth individuals and corporate clients. She advises on a range of commercial disputes including, breaches of contract, breaches of warranty, shareholder disputes, misrepresentation, civil fraud and professional negligence. Her work often has an international element and she has experience of multi-jurisdictional High Court litigation. Abigail has completed a secondment with Debenhams Retail Plc where she worked on a variety of commercial claims.
Abigail is admitted to practise in England and Wales.
Charles Russell Speechlys
Head of Debt Structure
eNor (Brazil)
Juliana graduated in Law and IT Management. She specializes in Distressed Assets and Special Situations, with extensive experience in debt structuring and restructuring, as well as collection and asset tracing. Over the past three years, she has focused on digital assets, particularly in fraud detection and asset recovery. Most recently, as Head of Debt Structure at eNor, she has specialized in structured debts on blockchain (RWA).
eNor (Brazil)
Barrister
3VB
Gretel is quickly developing a varied practice, focusing on commercial litigation with related interests in civil fraud, insolvency, art law and cryptoassets. Since taking tenancy in October 2022, Gretel has been led in an appeal in the Supreme Court on standing in bankruptcy law and in two High Court trials (a 7-day art law trial in the Wemyss case and a 5-week trial concerning a joint venture and allegations of fraud). Gretel also welcomes instructions unled and is currently instructed in several matters as sole counsel including providing advice, drafting pleadings, and appearing in the County Court. She volunteers with the Chancery Bar Association’s CLIPS scheme, representing litigants in person in the High Court (and received a Pro Bono Champion Award for 2023).
Gretel is a former solicitor with a keen academic interest in the Law. In 2020-2021, Gretel was the judicial assistant to Lord Briggs in the Supreme Court where she was exposed to a wide variety of cases including researching points of general commercial, trusts, tax, public and shipping law. Gretel enjoys writing articles and is available to give talks.
Gretel trained as a solicitor at Slaughter and May (2016-2018) with a secondment to Hengeler Mueller in Düsseldorf (2017), and qualified into the Disputes and Investigations team (2018). She was part of the data protection working group and is interested in innovation and emerging technologies.
3VB
Partner
Schoenherr (CEE)
Katarzyna Szczudlik has been a partner at Schoenherr since 2024. Her main areas of practice are data protection, IP, IT & technology and financial regulation. She excels in advising innovative FinTech companies, especially from the blockchain and payment industries, on their entry to and expansion in the European Union. She has a strong track record of advising on the implementation of GDPR-readiness and data breaches for international companies, IT contracts drafting, negotiations and implementations, cloud computing, IP litigation and IP strategy creation. She also has wide experience of AML-related issues, including audits and representation of clients before supervisory authorities. She frequently represents clients in proceedings before the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority. Katarzyna is regularly ranked in the top tier of Poland's leading FinTech practitioners by Chambers & Partners and as a leading data protection and TMT practitioner by Legal 500. She is a member of the Warsaw Bar and a graduate of Wroclaw University (Dr iur, 2012), Tilburg University (LL.M. in International Business Law, 2013) and Geneva University (Masters in International Dispute Resolution, 2014). Before joining Schoenherr, she worked at an international law firm in Warsaw and at several renowned Polish law firms. She is an active member of the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) and International Technology Law Association (ITech) and a regular speaker at Polish and international conferences and seminars. She has also published more than 100 articles on topics related to new technology law. Katarzyna works in Polish, English and French.
Schoenherr (CEE)
Founding Partner
MB Scanlon (USA / Brazil)
Gabriela, the founder of the firm, focuses her practice on government enforcement defense matters, internal corporate investigations and complex cross-border civil litigation, with a focus on Latin America. She represents clients in all aspects of offensive and defensive litigation matters brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and other investigative agencies related to allegations of financial fraud and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Gabriela has also extensive experience with the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards in the U.S., as well as related cross-border asset tracing and recovery.
As a dual-qualified lawyer, admitted to practice in New York, Washington, D.C. and Brazil, Gabriela is able to efficiently navigate different legal systems and provide clients with innovative legal strategies and techniques.
Before founding the firm, Gabriela practiced at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in São Paulo, where she handled corporate matters, Kobre & Kim in both New York and Washington, D.C., and Paul Hastings in Washington, D.C., where she handled Latin America-focused litigation and government enforcement.
MB Scanlon (USA / Brazil)
Partner
Stiffler & Partner (Switzerland)
Tobias Schaffner is an experienced asset recovery specialist and partner at Stiffler & Partner in Zurich, Switzerland. He represents and advises victims of financial crime in both civil and criminal proceedings, as well as in matters of contentious insolvency. Tobias has acted in cases concerning civil liability for money laundering, churning, and the liability of directors and banks in the context of Ponzi schemes and crypto broker scams. He is well-versed in securing interim measures in cross-border high-net-worth (HNW) divorce proceedings, the recognition of foreign bankruptcy decrees, and attachment applications.
Tobias is fluent in German, English and French. He holds a Licence en droit of the University of Geneva as well as an LL.M. (Hons.) and a PhD (Yorke Prize) from the University of Cambridge. He is the co-founder and co-director of the Private Plaintiff Network, a network of Swiss lawyers dedicated to strengthening the legal representation of victims of crime. Tobias regularly publishes in law journals on topics within his areas of expertise and is co-lecturer in a practical course on criminal law for master’s students at the University of Zurich.
Stiffler & Partner (Switzerland)
Lawyer and Founder
Stadtmüller Dispute Consulting (Germany)
As the founder of Stadtmüller Dispute Consulting, Jens Stadtmüller specialises in conducting and guiding complex commercial litigation and arbitration. As a lawyer and former partner of various international commercial law firms, he has been representing national and international clients in civil-law disputes, as well as arbitration proceedings, for over fifteen years. Jens Stadtmüller is experienced in the use of alternative dispute resolution techniques, such as in- or out-of-court mediation, and also acts as an arbitrator. As a litigation and arbitration specialist, he also regularly assists and advises, behind the scenes, on current and impending lawsuits.
The focus of Jens Stadtmüller’s work is on the areas of commercial and contract law, corporate law, liability and insurance law as well as banking and capital markets law.
Jens Stadtmüller conducts and guides lawsuits between shareholders, including measures of interim relief, as well as shareholder actions for an annulment of decisions taken in a general meeting, with post M&A disputes being his primary focus area. He regularly represents high-profile clients in matters concerning D&O/management liability and the professional liability of members of the advisory professions, such as auditors, tax advisers and lawyers. Jens Stadtmüller is experienced in the legal assistance of internal investigations. In addition, Jens Stadtmüller has many years of experience in banking and capital markets law litigation on behalf of renowned banks and companies, including class actions and proceedings under the German Capital Markets Test Case Act (KapMuG). He has litigated hundreds of cases before courts across Germany
Since 2020: lawyer and founder of Stadtmüller Dispute Consulting
2018–2019: lawyer and partner at Ihrig & Anderson Rechtsanwälte, Dispute Resolution practice
2012–2018: lawyer at Schmitz & Partner in Frankfurt am Main, Litigation & Arbitration practice
2008–2012: lawyer at Salans LLP (today: Dentons) in Frankfurt am Main, Dispute Resolution practice group
Stadtmüller Dispute Consulting (Germany)
Senior Associate
Collas Crill (Jersey)
Karen joined Collas Crill in March 2022 and is a Senior Associate in the Insolvency and Corporate Disputes team in Jersey. She has a broad practice in the fields of commercial litigation, insolvency and contentious trust litigation.
Karen has significant experience in advising and representing clients in litigation proceedings in the Scottish courts, including Scotland's highest civil court. She has advised on commercial litigation matters involving professional negligence, product liability and construction disputes including:
- Assisting the lead partner in Scotland's highest value claim (Kidd v Paull & Williamson LLP) which involved complex issues of fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract.
- Advising a firm of accountants in relation to a claim by a former director, shareholder and creditor alleging negligence against them as liquidators.
- Acting on behalf of a firm of engineers in a complex claim arising from the construction of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
- Acting on behalf of a German bike manufacturer in successfully defending them following trial in respect of a claim for product liability.
Karen was admitted as a Scottish solicitor in 2000, and as solicitor advocate in 2014. She has worked in litigation throughout her legal career. Prior to moving to Jersey, Karen was a solicitor advocate with a Tier 1 Scottish firm based in Edinburgh.
Collas Crill (Jersey)
Founder & Principal
ŠunjkaLaw (Serbia)
Tomislav Šunjka is a founder and principal of ŠunjkaLaw, an independent, specialized, and focused law firm in Serbia, Western Balkans. He is a leading and unrivaled authority, a strategic thinker on complex investigation and litigation. His knowledge of foreign laws, anticorruption exterritorial laws, and resources for working internationally has validated his position as a top-class player. Tomislav is an extraordinary case manager and supervisor in multi-jurisdictional cases. Clients request him in this role even when Serbia is not one of the jurisdictions. Tomislav represents victims of fraud and acts on matters of bankruptcy; financial crime; corruption; civil and commercial issues; and high-level political and business crime, all in connection to asset recovery and anti-corruption. Mr. Šunjka is the current Co-Chair Asset Recovery Committee of the International Bar Association and former European representative in the IBA’s Anti-corruption committee. Tomislav is a certified auditor of ISO 37001 (Anti-bribery) and ISO 37301 (Compliance). Tomislav closely cooperates with UNCITRAL Working Group related to Asset Recovery in Insolvency; World Bank STAR Initiative (Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative); International Prosecutors Working Group, and with World Economy Forum Gatekeepers project.
ŠunjkaLaw (Serbia)
Counsel
Wolf Theiss (Austria)
Markus Taufner joined Wolf Theiss in 2012. He is member of the Dispute Resolution and Corporate/M&A teams and advises on all areas of corporate law, business law and litigation. His main practice area is corporate litigation with a focus on shareholder disputes and directors’ liability.
Wolf Theiss (Austria)
Senior Associate
Noerr (Germany)
Julian is a Senior Associate in Noerr’s Dispute Resolution team. He specializes in banking litigation and distressed disputes. His clients include leading private and public banks in Germany as well as international financial institutions. He recently handled a large cross-border fraud case with a focus on enforcement and recovery of crypto assets. In this context, he obtained one of the first decisions by a higher regional court in Germany on the seizure of crypto assets. He has also contributed an article on crypto assets in civil proceedings in WM, a leading German law journal for commercial and banking law.
Noerr (Germany)
Associate Director
Setia Law (Singapore)
Jason has a broad commercial and financial litigation and investigations practice. His keen interest in cybersecurity and cross-border commercial fraud matters has seen him act for the successful claimant in B2C2 Ltd v Quoine Pte Ltd, a landmark Singapore judgment involving cryptocurrency trades executed autonomously by algorithmic trading software. He was also part of the team that acted for the liquidators of Torque Holdings Ltd, a cryptocurrency investment fund, in successfully securing worldwide freezing injunctions exceeding $200 million in value against former company officers arising from the misappropriation of crypto assets.
Jason is a member of ICC Fraudnet Future, worldwide network of leading lawyers who specialise in asset tracing and recovery, and was selected to the Supreme Court Young Independent Counsel scheme in 2023. He graduated with First Class Honours from the University College London.
Setia Law (Singapore)
Senior Associate
Gasser Partner (Liechtenstein)
Marija Tosic is a Senior Associate at Gasser Partner. As a dual-qualified lawyer in Liechtenstein and Austria she focuses her practice on international foundation and trust law, tailored mostly towards HNWI in the private sector, supporting their asset structuring and protection endeavours. Her area of practice also includes commercial law and regulatory law where she provides ongoing advice to national and international clients on the evolving EEA regulatory framework.
Gasser Partner (Liechtenstein)
Director, Business Intelligence
DGA Group (UK)
Jessica has worked in the corporate intelligence industry for almost 11 years, where she has specialised in litigation support and asset recovery. Jessica has considerable experience in tracing and mapping assets owned by individuals, corporates or sovereigns across the world to help facilitate a potential claim or the enforcement of an existing judgement.
Prior to joining the intelligence industry Jessica worked in equity sales, specialising in the Central and Eastern Europe, former Soviet Union and MENA markets. Jessica holds a Bachelors in French and Russian; she also speaks Spanish and conversational Italian and Hungarian.
DGA Group (UK)
Partner
BSP (Luxembourg)
Fabio Trevisan is a partner and head of BSP’s Dispute Resolution practice. His practice focuses on a wide spectrum of complex commercial, corporate and financial litigation and arbitration.
He has played a role in a number of high-profile cases, with over two decades of experience in managing and conducting litigation for his clients in almost all sectors.
Fabio has experience of over 30 years in all forms of dispute resolution including litigation, mediation and arbitration as well as general banking, corporate and commercial dispute resolution. He has extensive experience of applications for enforcing and obtaining freezing injunctions in international arbitration, enforcements of ICSID awards, and more generally in the recovery of assets.
Fabio has further developed a reputation in real estate matters and commercial contracts.
BSP (Luxembourg)
Managing Associate
Wiersholm (Norway)
Ingrid specializes in insolvency and restructuring law, and has extensive experience and expertise especially within bankruptcy law. Ingrid holds an appointment as a trustee for bankruptcy, forced liquidation and forced dissolution estates at the Oslo District Court, and she is regularly appointed as a trustee in such cases. Her work experience includes handling a vast number of bankruptcy estates, including some of the largest bankruptcy cases in Norway over more than a decade, restructuring work (either acting on the administrator side, for the debtor or on behalf of creditors), advising companies in distress, as well as debt collection, credit and debt protection, security interests and enforcement. In addition to her long experience as a lawyer, Ingrid has done an internship for a bankruptcy judge in New York. Moreover, Ingrid has written several articles on Norwegian insolvency law, including in publications such as the Chambers Insolvency Guide, the International Insolvency Review, the International Restructuring Review, and Getting the Deal Through. She also gives talks for clients and organizations. She is further a member of the International Insolvency Institute's NextGen Leadership Program and of INSOL Europe. Ingrid is ranked as a "rising star" by Legal500 Insolvency and Corporate Recovery (2024).
Wiersholm (Norway)
Partner
Florent (The Netherlands)
Kees van de Meent is one of the founding partners at Florent in Amsterdam. He heads Florent’s Asset Recovery team and is co-head of the Restructuring and Insolvency team. His practice focuses on restructuring and insolvency, cross-border asset tracing and recovery, and civil fraud litigation. He has over 30 years’ experience as an insolvency practitioner in a number of high-profile and complex cross-border insolvencies. He also acts as counsel to companies in financial difficulty. He has extensive experience in pre-insolvency (WHOA) restructurings, both as counsel to the company and as a court-appointed official.
Florent’s asset recovery team focuses on cases of cross-border asset recovery, fraud litigation (prosecuting civil claims for fraud) representing corporates, banks and court-appointed trustees in fraud-related bankruptcies in order to recover stolen assets for the estate as well as (groups of) individual victims of fraud. The team navigates complex legal issues such as private international law issues (regarding competent court, applicable law, recognition and enforcement) and multiple freeze actions.
Kees is frequently invited to lecture in the Netherlands and abroad on (cross border) restructuring and insolvency and cross-border asset recovery. He is the exclusive Dutch member of ICC’s FraudNet. Kees is also an officer of the Asset Recovery Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA).
Florent (The Netherlands)
Partner
Fichte & Co (UAE)
Prior to joining Fichte & Co., she has worked for few major investment conglomerates in the region and gained valuable experience while heading the corporate and commercial practice of several law firms in Dubai. In her over 17 years career span, she acted across various jurisdictions in the European Union, having a recognized experience in advising high net worth individuals or working at the crossroads of multiple systems of Law. In addition, she has worked for governmental institutions and for intergovernmental organizations as well.
She holds a master’s and a PhD in International Law and has studied in prestigious institutions across Europe and Asia. Laura has a keen interest in niche areas of Law, such as the Law of the Sea, Outer Space Law or in the legal aspects of disruptive technologies such as blockchain or technology, where she is currently specializing.
She is a book author and university lecturer in the field of Law. She is also a habitual contributor to various legal publications and legal training programs.
She is fluent in English, French, Spanish & Romanian.
Fichte & Co (UAE)
Attorney at law
act legal (Germany)
Dr Michelle Wiesner-Lameth, LL.M., CFE joined ACT as equity partner in 2022 after spending several years as equity partner at a White Collar boutique law firm. She has extensive experience in advising corporate clients on national and multinational investigations as well as in conducting internal investigations and asset recovery. She also regularly advises in connection with the development, implementation and review of compliance management systems.
Michelle completed her formal law training in Germany with the First and Second State Exam (2012 and 2015). She further holds an LL.M. degree in General European Law from the University of Luxembourg and a Ph.D. (doctor iuris) from the University of Dusseldorf. In 2019 she was certified as Fraud Examiner by the ACFE.
Michelle is Vice President of the Business Crime and Civil Fraud Commission of the international lawyers' network AIJA and Officer of the Labour Criminal Law Working Group of the German Association for Commercial Criminal Law.
Michelle has been recommended by Legal500 for white-collar criminal law and for compliance as well as been selected as one of Germany’s best lawyers in the „Best Lawyers“ ranking.
act legal (Germany)
Partner
Barandun (Switzerland)
Daniel S. Weber is a partner at the Swiss law firm Barandun specialising in banking, financial regulatory and FinTech matters, as well as internal, criminal and regulatory investigations, including whistleblowing proceedings. As a former deputy head of investigations at a major Swiss bank and a secondee in the enforcement division of the Swiss regulator FINMA, he has broad experience in solving complex white-collar crime and compliance matters, as well as in conducting high-profile investigations. He also serves as prosecutor of the Swiss Military Justice where he is a department head and co-chairs the working group on investigations & compliance of the Zurich Bar Association.
Barandun (Switzerland)
Partner
CRIDO (Poland)
Katarzyna is a partner at CRIDO and an attorney with a PhD in law, specialising in White Collar Crime and civil and commercial litigation. She provides support both for private clients and for Polish and international organisations.
Proceedings handled by Katarzyna involve real estate market and capital market crimes as well as bribery and corruption cases. She has also dealt with a number of complex civil and commercial law disputes concerning e.g. multi-faceted investments in the real estate market or directors' liability towards the organisation. Katarzyna has experience in international disputes, including in jurisdictions other than Poland.
Katarzyna’s team has received several The Legal 500 recommendations; in 2023, both the team collectively and Katarzyna individually were recommended in the White Collar Crime category. Furthermore, in 2023 Katarzyna’s team was featured in the White Collar Crime category of Poland’s Best Law Firms list prepared by Forbes Poland. Katarzyna was also short-listed for Woman in Business Law in White Collar Crime Lawyer of the Year and Litigator of the Year categories. In 2015, she was awarded the prestigious Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund scholarship, while in 2016 she won the Rising Stars Lawyers - Leaders of Tomorrow award.
Katarzyna is a graduate of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and a member of the Kraków Bar Association. She passed her doctoral exam with distinction in 2017, presenting her dissertation entitled "The trial model versus the justice, fairness, and efficiency of a criminal trial". She has written over a dozen academic publications and sector-specific articles.
Her clients appreciate Katarzyna for her businesslike approach, approachability, and quick reactions. Trial strategies proposed by Katarzyna and her team are often non-standard, but an individual approach proves to be the best solution in numerous instances.
CRIDO (Poland)
Senior Associate
Mori Hamada & Matsumoto (Japan)
Midori Yamaguchi is a Japanese attorney qualified in Japan and New York. She has been practicing especially in the Dispute Resolution areas and the Restructuring and Insolvency areas, both domestic and international, since she joined Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, one of the four biggest Japanese corporate law firms. Midori has strength in asset recovery through judicial proceedings including cross-border matters. In the insolvency area, Midori has presented numerous parties in the in-court/out-of-court debt restructuring. Midori's work frequently focuses on cross-border situations, with her work experience in the Singapore office of Mori Hamada & Matsumoto and a US law firm after her LL.M. Midori holds a Bachelor of Laws from Hitotsubashi University, a Juris Doctor from Hitotsubashi University Law School, and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from New York University School of Law. Midori has been recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Japan in Arbitration and Mediation since 2022.
Mori Hamada & Matsumoto (Japan)
Legal Director
Asserson
Lynn is a Legal Director within the Disputes Resolution practice with a specialism in Civil Fraud. Lynn also heads the China Business Team and assists a number of clients across Hong Kong and China, utilising her mandarin language skills and knowledge of local business practices.
Lynn acts on a number of high-value, complex litigations and arbitrations and has a broad commercial practice advising both claimants and defendants. Lynn’s cases are often of general public interest and she is often instructed to assist with guiding the direction of public relations.
Lynn is ranked as a Key Lawyer in disputes resolution (mediation and international arbitration) by the Legal 500 EMEA Guide and has close, trusted relationships with clients. She is praised for her strategic thinking and practical advice, helping clients to achieve their aims effectively and efficiently.
Examples of recent work:
- Acting for a Defendant in complex US$3 billion litigation with cross-jurisdictional satellite litigation, delivering strategic advice for England and Wales while coordinating strategic cross-jurisdictional issues.
- Advising a Claimant in an LCIA international arbitration dealing with construction delay issues for 4 strategic construction projects.
- Advising a Claimant in an LCIA arbitration in respect of a negligence claim valued at over US$10 million.
- Acting for a high-profile claimant in relation to a circa £90million claim involving a range of financial dishonesty offences including allegations of fraud and conspiracy. This case was widely reported in national and international press and Lynn was also required to manage publicity around the litigation.
- Advising on an £80million pharmaceutical dispute, defending against allegations of breach of contract, economic duress, conspiracy and intimidation.
- Defending a group of companies against public interest winding up petitions presented by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Lynn also assisted the client companies with reputation management work, including work in defamation, after settlement.
- Acting on a £250million cross border dispute arising out of a fatal accident, defending the client against allegations of fault in respect of product liability.
- Advising on a £3 million dispute, defending against allegations of misrepresentation arising out of the sale of an unregulated investment.
- Acting on litigation arising out of professional negligence.
- Leading on an international reputation management project for a client across 8 different jurisdictions.
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