FIRE UK: Welcome Back Summit

I was awarded my PhD in 1991 at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and came to the UK in 1994, when I joined the Psychology Department as a Senior Lecturer. In 1996 I was promoted to Reader and in 2000 to my current position: Professor of Applied Social Psychology.

My main research interest is deception, resulting in almost 600 publications and more than 25,000 citations. I received grants from British Research Councils, Trusts and Foundations, Insurers, Federal Bureau of Investigation and American, British, Dutch, and Singapore Governments, totalling > $11,000,000.

I work closely with practitioners (police, security services and insurers) in terms of conducting research and disseminating its findings. My book Detecting Lies and Deceit: Pitfalls and Opportunities (published by Wiley) is a comprehensive overview of research into (non)verbal and physiological deception and lie detection.

In 2016 I received the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iiiRG) Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of my significant contribution to investigative interviewing. 

Dan is a multi-award winning investigative journalist. His work for the Financial Times has helped expose accounting problems and fraud at several listed companies, most recently Wirecard. Formerly the Editor of FT Alphaville, over his 13 year career at the FT he’s also run part of the newspapers markets team, worked as the FT’s Investment Correspondent in New York and for the Lex Column. Dan’s previous experience includes four years in Citigroup’s equity research department. 

His reporting on Wirecard has been recognised with the Impact Award for distinguished financial journalism from the New York Financial Writers' Association, the Ludwig Erhard Prize for economic journalism and an honorary Helmut Schmidt Journalistenpreis. 

Jane Colston's practice focuses on complex and high-value commercial banking, contract and tort disputes as well as company, shareholders and partnership disputes.

Jane has acted in numerous complex fraud cases and has extensive experience of forensic investigations, most of which have involved working with teams of investigators and accountants, and coordinating lawyers in multiple jurisdictions to trace and freeze assets. She has managed numerous cases involving freezing, search, disclosure, gagging and delivery up injunctions as well as breach of confidence claims. 

Tatiana is a partner in the litigation and arbitration team at Withersworldwide and focuses on disputes involving the CIS.

She is an experienced commercial litigator, working on both court cases and arbitrations, with market-leading experience in complex cross-border disputes. She has worked on a range of high profile cases for both corporates and high net worth individuals. Some recent individual instructions include representing a Lichtenstein foundation in discharge of Receivership Order application (in both High Court and Court of Appeal proceedings), representing a state-owned company in a multi-jurisdictional construction dispute in the ICC arbitration claim, acting for a company in arbitration claim challenging $72 million LCIA Award and representing a shareholder in an LCIA dispute and a related application for injunction in the High Court.

Tatiana qualified as a Solicitor – Advocate with Higher Rights of Audience, Civil Proceedings (England and Wales). She is also qualified as a Russian Advocate and was called to the Moscow City Bar in 2002.

Recognised as a leading lawyer in fraud investigation and litigation, asset recovery, banking litigation and commercial litigation, Anthony has deep expertise gained over a 30 year career in handling complex cross-border disputes. Strategically-minded and a source of astute, commercially-focused advice, Anthony has an established practice acting for financial institutions, major international organisations and high net worth individuals. The most recent directories describe Anthony as having “remarkable litigation instincts”, “a powerhouse who is approachable and sees the shape of issues from a client’s perspective. He is solution-oriented in a truly unusual way” and “absolutely the man you want representing you as he will leave no stone unturned, looks at every angle and understands immediately the opposition’s weak points and leverages them” with “a wealth of unique experience in his field.” In 2021, he was named as one of Britain’s most sought after lawyers by TheTimes following his successful representation of Tatiana Akhmedova in what is reported to be the UK’s largest ever reported divorce award and one of the 100 Hot Lawyers by The Lawyer Magazine. He is the English representative of Fraudnet, the ICC’s global network of asset recovery specialists and a founding member of the Commercial Fraud Lawyers Association. Anthony was both the Managing Partner and Senior Partner at PCB Litigation and following its merger with Byrne & Partners in April in 2021 is now its Senior Partner. The firm is described as having the “intellectual ability, experience and sheer grit to hold their own against any rival” and “the lawyers there handle cases which other firms cannot.”

Rachael is a commercial litigator who specialises in large scale, complex financial disputes and civil fraud claims. Her work usually has an international aspect and often involves working as part of a team of global advisors. Her experience includes asset tracing, forgery and enforcement issues.

Prior to joining Grosvenor Law, Rachael worked in the London office of an international law firm specialising in complex commercial litigation. During that time, she spent 9 months in the Cayman Islands representing the Plaintiff in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands’ longest ever trial and one of the largest fraud trials ever litigated worldwide.

Jonathan specialises in large complex commercial disputes, civil fraud and asset tracing cases with extensive experience in multi jurisdictional emergency procedures.

An experienced and skilled practitioner specialising in large complex commercial disputes, civil fraud and asset tracing cases, Jonathan has extensive experience in dealing with multi-jurisdictional emergency procedures including asset freezing and search and seizure orders. He has acted on a number of occasions as supervising solicitor upon the execution of search and seizure orders.

Jonathan’s work ranges from the conduct of internal investigations, competition litigation, advance fee frauds, the diversion of business opportunities and breaches of fiduciary duty to claims involving deceit, bribery and secret profits.

Jonathan’s international expertise was also identified in The International Who’s Who of Asset Recovery Lawyers: “Jonathan is a favourite with clients and a true expert specialising in multi-jurisdictional cases, asset freezing, and obtaining and executing search and seizure orders.”

In January 2014, Jonathan was recognised in The Lawyer’s Hot 100′ list in the litigation/regulation category. He is a Contributing Editor to Getting The Deal Through: ‘Asset Recovery’. Jonathan is regularly ranked as a Leading Lawyer by legal directories, Chambers and Partners research shows our clients praise Jonathan for his “calm and meticulous approach” and comment on his ability to provide “creative solutions ”. Jonathan Tickner is ‘a fabulous solicitor who quickly gains the clients’ trust’. Legal 500.

I practiced law from 2004 until 2020. I have significant specialist experience in international civil fraud investigation and asset recovery, finance and high value litigation.

I have acted for governmental bodies such as HMRC and for a range of private sector clients, including in the finance arena for Insolvency Practitioners and overseas investors/creditors. I have advised on a number of reported cases including through to the Supreme Court of England and have run cases where litigation has been conducted overseas. I became interested in cryptocurrency in 2018 and I obtained certifications in crypto investigations from CSI Tech (2019) and CipherTrace (2020) and spoke at seminars across the UK in 2019/2020 in my role as a director at Gateley Plc to raise awareness of the need to identify crypto in financial investigations. In January 2021 I was delighted to take up a different role at Chainalysis as a Training Specialist before moving into the role of Head of Global Asset Management in January 2022 which now allows me to facilitate solutions to enable more crypto asset recovery across both the private and public sector.

Tim has a strong commercial and chancery litigation practice, specialising in the areas of commercial fraud, shareholder disputes, court-appointed receiverships, financial services related claims and breach of confidence, ‘soft’ intellectual property and sports disciplinary disputes.

Tim has a particular expertise in worldwide freezing orders and search orders, and much of his work involves injunctions and/or complex jurisdiction and conflicts of laws issues in England and Wales as well as in a variety of common law jurisdictions. He has been instructed to advise and act in many high profile commercial cases, including acting for a number of the defendants in National Trust Bank v Yurov, and for the wife the high value divorce case Akhmedova v Akhmedov. He has been involved in a number of important recent cases in the developing area of receiverships by way of equitable execution and cross-border recognition of court appointed receivers, and he is the author of the chapter of Kerr and Hunter on Receivers and Administrators on Recognition of Foreign Court-Appointed Receivers (2020) dealing with cross-border recognition. He has also been involved in the leading recent cases on collective investment schemes in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. Most recently, during 2020 he has completed a course on Cryptocurrency and Disruption at LSE, has delivered a lecture on litigation involving cryptocurrencies and is currently instructed on a fraud claim involving the misappropriation of cryptocurrency.

Tim is called to the Bar in the BVI, and is currently instructed in various high value cases in the BVI, the Turks & Caicos Islands and the Cayman Islands.

Jessica Lee is a partner in the Firm’s Litigation & Arbitration Practice Group.

Jess acts for both corporate and individual claimants and defendants in complex and high value commercial litigation with particular experience in civil fraud and asset recovery actions, company and shareholder disputes, and crypto and blockchain matters. Jess was named a Rising Star for civil fraud in The Legal 500 2023 having acted on a number of significant civil fraud matters, many of which have also involved advising on freezing, proprietary, and disclosure injunctions. Jess is also part of Brown Rudnick’s Supervising Solicitors team and having acted  on obtaining and executing multiple search, delivery up and imaging orders. Jess has also advised on significant investigations and compliance matters including investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Serious Fraud Office. 

In The Legal 500 2023, Jess is described as having "a keen eye for detail, superb litigation knowledge and experience, and always the brightest attitude and mode of communication." She is also a recommended lawyer in The Legal 500 2023 in the categories of Commercial Litigation and Banking Litigation: Investment & Retail. Jess was also named as a future leader in commercial litigation by Who’s Who Legal in 2022.

Jess has a particular interest in digital asset disputes and is regularly invited to speak and write on issues including crypto fraud and blockchain disputes and regulation. 

Jess is a keen advocate for diversity and social mobility; she is part of the leadership team for the Firm’s Women’s Initiative and has mentored younger lawyers and law students, including on the IntoUniversity programme.

Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, Jess was an associate at Baker & McKenzie where she also trained. Jess has undertaken a number of client secondments including a major international telecoms provider and a leading global financial institution.

Lynne Gregory is a partner in the Jersey office of Baker & Partners, an offshore litigation practice. She is a senior litigator with over 20 years’ contentious commercial experience first in London and subsequently in Jersey.  She deals with a wide range of disputes but with a focus on complex multi-jurisdictional cases involving fraud and asset-tracing.   She has played a key role in many of the firm’s most complex and high-profile cases, most recently as counsel to the liquidators of the BVI and Cayman structures in relation to the well-publicised multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal.  Other notable cases include the long running Crociani dispute, which is currently in the Privy Council.

Lynne was recognised by the Legal 500 in 2021 as a Next Generation Partner.  She is qualified as a Jersey advocate as well as being an English solicitor.

Sam is a Partner at Cooke, Young & Keidan. Sam’s core practice is technology, banking and fraud. In technology, his experience includes crypto disputes, software licensing and development claims, and breach of warranty claims in an M&A context. His banking experience is broad and includes claims for negligent investment advice, benchmark manipulation and other market abuse, intercepted payments, guarantees, loans and derivatives. Sam also has deep and practical experience of acting on applications for injunctive relief.

Legal 500 names Sam as a Key Lawyer in Banking Litigation, where he is highlighted for fintech disputes, and Commercial Litigation (Premium) and Financial Services (Contentious). Sam “… has that sought after (and very hard to find) combination of technical skill, client care, and case management. He is an exceptional commercial disputes lawyer”.

Sam co-founded and runs the Tech Disputes Network, and spends his spare time pursuing amateur interests in distance running and psychology.

Dan McCourt Fritz has a broad commercial chancery practice with a particular focus on domestic and international commercial and commercial fraud disputes often involving alleged defaults by trustees or other fiduciaries. Dan has also developed specialist interests in civil contempt proceedings and breach of confidence claims.

Dan is recognised by the main directories as a leading junior in civil fraud, chancery commercial, and company and partnership law; Chambers & Partners 2021 describes him as “A rising star” and “brilliant at what he does”. The directories also emphasise Dan’s excellence in handling clients – “Clients absolutely love him” (Chambers & Partners, 2021); “he is superb with clients, which really marks him out” (Legal 500, 2021) – and his strengths as a team player (“an absolute pleasure to work with” (Chambers & Partners, 2021); “A collaborative team player who is great on detail” (Legal 500, 2021); “Fantastic to lead and work with” (Who’s Who Legal, 2020)).

Dan has substantial experience handling trials and heavy applications in both the Chancery Division and the Commercial Court as sole or lead counsel, complemented by a growing arbitration practice. He is also very comfortable as part of a larger counsel team and is currently working with a wide range of leaders, including in matters in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

An advertising executive turned barrister (called to the Bar in 2004), Stuart has pioneered a new kind of advisory role which combines both aspects of his background. Specialising in reputation management, Stuart helps to manage the communications around complex litigation, helping to guide and protect his clients during the most challenging of circumstances.

He has led a whole new approach to litigation communications and crisis management for major corporate clients drawing on his experience in international PR, eight years with Pump Court Chambers as a barrister and as a senior account handler with several top advertising agencies.

Bébhinn is an experienced commercial court litigator and her practice focuses on complex disputes with a cross border angle. She regularly advises on large scale disputes involving allegations of fraud, conspiracy, asset tracing and conflict of law issues.  She has extensive experience working with foreign counsel on such projects, including seeking orders in aid in Ireland and Norwich Pharmacal relief and advising on the EU Regulations governing jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, the Service Regulation, Lugano, the Evidence Regulation and Hague.

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

Natalia Hidalgo’s practice focuses on complex cross-border asset recovery, civil, insolvency and business crime litigation.

She acts in particular in banking law and business crime litigation, involving notably money laundering and bank fraud. Her activity also includes recognition & enforcement proceedings and international legal assistance in civil, criminal and tax matters.

Natalia Hidalgo joined the firm as an associate in May 2021. She is a senior associate since January 2022.

Natalia Hidalgo holds a Bachelor of Laws (2012), a Master in Civil and Criminal Law (2014) and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Legal Professions (2015) from the University of Geneva. Having a special interest in international law, she also obtained a Certificate in Transnational Law (2014) from the University of Geneva.