PCB Byrne

Olga is a Partner specialising in all areas of commercial litigation and arbitration with an emphasis on complex fraud. She has represented clients in disputes in all divisions of the High Court, the Court of Appeal and pursuant to the rules of many arbitration institutions. Olga also has a wide range of experience of litigating in offshore jurisdictions, such as the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus.

Partner specialising in the defence of corporate fraud, business crime and regulatory work. Emma has acted in various high profile and international investigations brought against individuals by the SFO, CPS and HMRC as well as other regulatory bodies and prosecution agencies. She acted for the directors of Soma Oil and Gas in relation to the much publicised corruption investigation by the SFO. Emma also defended one of the individuals prosecuted by the SFO for LIBOR fixing. She is also known for her skill and expertise in regulatory work, in particular representation of solicitors who face criminal allegations as well as representing those solicitors in regulatory proceedings instigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Emma has also appeared regularly as an advocate defending solicitors in front of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Other regulatory experience includes defending medical professionals in proceedings brought by the General Medical Council and General Dental Council.

Simon is an extremely versatile and experienced commercial litigator, having worked in the London market for over thirty years where he has been recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a notable practitioner in litigation and dispute resolution with particular areas of expertise including contentious insolvency, professional negligence and fraud .He uses his wealth of experience to guide clients towards cost-effective and practical solutions which align the client's attitude to risk and cost with their commercial objectives to determine the best strategy. He is a proponent of well-timed ADR, without diluting his rigorous and committed approach to formal litigation. Simon has handled a wide variety of cases for clients ranging from large multinational corporations to private individuals.

Ben Davies is a commercial litigation partner at PCB Byrne LLP – a specialist disputes firm focused on commercial fraud, asset recovery, white collar crime and regulatory investigations. He works principally on high-value, complex fraud claims in the Commercial Court, which often involve ancillary proceedings in other jurisdictions. Ben is currently acting for one of the main defendants in the US$830 million breach of duty claim brought by Russia's Trust National Bank, which will involve a complex, cross-border asset tracing exercise. Other recent cases of note include acting for a high-profile investor in a US$40 million joint venture dispute and acting for a property investment fund in a £20 million management buyout dispute. Ben also took a lead role in businessman Abdourahman Boreh’s successful defeat of the US$130 million Commercial Court proceedings brought against him by the Republic of Djibouti. He has particular experience in the obtaining, policing and discharging of freezing orders.

Catherine Eason

Catherine was promoted to Partner in 2023. She has extensive experience in large scale fraud cases and asset recovery and is an up-and-coming leader in the area. Catherine has been involved in a number of the firm’s largest and most high-profile cases, and acts for a range of clients from around the world, including high-net-worth individuals, banks and sovereign states. She has a breath of experience in both obtaining and resisting urgent injunctive relief, as well managing significant cases through to trial and enforcement. Catherine joined PCB Litigation (as it then was) in November 2017 after working in the litigation team of a large UK bank, advising on banking and general commercial issues. Prior to that Catherine was a civil litigator and Crown prosecutor for the Office of the Crown Solicitor, Auckland. She also has experience in regulatory prosecution and has conducted jury trials and other criminal hearings. Catherine was admitted to the bar in New Zealand in 2013 and is enrolled as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. She has acted and appeared as both junior and sole counsel in the New Zealand District Court, High Court and Court of Appeal. Catherine holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Politics from the University of Otago, and spent a semester studying at the University of St Gallen, Switzerland.

Matthew Frankland

Matthew Frankland is a Founding Partner at PCB Byrne (as well as previously Founding Byrne and Partners). He specialises in the defence of national and international fraud investigations and prosecutions and has done for over 30 years. He acts on behalf of corporate and individual clients with a particular emphasis on avoiding prosecutions wherever possible and challenging the conduct of prosecutors pre charge. He has advised at government level in connection with many matters, including a major UN criminal investigation, disputes arising within the oil industry, major bribery allegations, financial services and complex fraud cases. Matthew has conducted many investigations and prosecutions with multi-jurisdictional issues including Greece, Ukraine, Russia, Somalia, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Iraq, the UAE and the USA. The latter leading him to have substantial interaction with, and knowledge of, the US Department of Justice and FBI. He consequently advises in large restraint and money laundering investigations with extensive experience of Crown Court and High Court confiscation, restraint, receivership and forfeiture proceedings.

Trevor Mascarenhas

Trevor Mascarenhas is a partner, specialising in commercial fraud and dispute resolution. His practice focuses on complex, high-value international commercial litigation and arbitration. Experienced in coordinating large teams of lawyers and other professionals in various jurisdictions to freeze assets simultaneously, as well as in obtaining search and disclosure orders, many of Trevor’s cases are at the cutting edge of the law, involving decisions by the appellate courts in England and elsewhere. He has particular expertise in developing and implementing multi-jurisdictional asset recovery strategies, jurisdiction challenges, and the cross-over between fraud and insolvency.

Tom is a partner in our civil litigation team and has been described as a “stellar lawyer” in the Legal 500. He has over a decade of experience acting in major fraud cases in the Commercial Court and has successfully represented high-profiles clients from around the world. Tom specialises in complex, multi-jurisdictional fraud claims, often involving assets freezing orders. He also works across a wide variety of other commercial disputes, including arbitration, contentious insolvency, and shareholder disputes. Tom acts for both Claimants and Defendants in asset recovery cases involving all manner of asset classes, including cryptocurrency.

Neil Micklethwaite

Neil is a market leading litigation and compliance lawyer with over 30 years as a partner in leading law firms handling large complex litigation and regulatory investigations. He acts for international corporations, asset managers and hedge funds, as well as representing UHNW individuals in large scale litigation cases and in defending regulatory investigations both in the UK and worldwide. Neil has extensive experience in complex disputes concerning civil fraud and asset tracing claims across multiple jurisdictions, including considerable experience of major litigation and arbitration relating to disputes in the Middle East, Russian Federation and other CIS states. Neil was head of litigation in London at DLA Piper, Bingham McCutchen and Brown Rudnick. Alongside his work as a practicing lawyer, Neil also acts as a Consultant to corporates, family offices and UHNW individuals in providing corporate governance, risk management and compliance advice.

Michael is a specialist in the defence of corporate financial crime and regulatory investigations and prosecutions. He has represented senior executives and other professionals in many high-profile domestic and international investigations and prosecutions conducted by the SFO, FCA, NCA and other prosecution/regulatory agencies. Michael also regularly advises and represents senior financial services personnel facing FCA/PRA and other regulator investigations and disciplinary action. He also advises and represents high-net-worth individuals facing revenue investigations and potential prosecutions. Michael has also been extensively involved in advising clients facing financial sanctions both domestically and globally with experience of sanctions regimes in a range of countries. His most recent experience includes representing high-net-worth individuals that are the subject of sanctions imposed by OFAC, OFSI and other foreign regulators, including challenging the 'designated' status of several high-profile Russian Oligarchs, and advising various Russian companies in a range of industry sectors on potential exposures arising from the evolving EU, US and UK sanctions regime. In addition, Michael advises both companies and professional firms on their anti-money laundering compliance. Michael is a Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Criminal and Civil Proceedings).

Nick is a partner who specialises in complex, high value and multi-jurisdictional litigation in a broad range of disputes involving civil fraud, asset recovery, enforcement of awards and foreign judgments, banking and financial services, arbitration, shareholder and director claims, and insolvency. He has extensive experience in managing and coordinating large teams of lawyers and other professionals across different jurisdictions and particularly accomplished in seeking freezing, search and disclosure orders both domestically and simultaneously in other jurisdictions. Recent cases in which he has acted include JSC VTB Bank v Pavel Skurikhin, Vneshprombank LLC v Georgy Bedzhamov and Others, KMG International NV v Melanie Chen & Others, BM Bank JSC (formerly OJSC Bank of Moscow) v Andrey Chernakov, Dar Al Arkan and Bank Alkhair v Majid Al Refai and Others, The Ritz Hotel Casino Limited v Al Geabury, and Jennington v the Assaubayev Family.

Anthony is a partner and a recognised expert on international asset investigation and recovery and international dispute resolution who provides creative and effective solutions. He acts for a number of government agencies, state owned companies, leading financial institutions and corporates across a range of industry sectors including banking, natural resources, and hedge funds. He has particular expertise in unwinding complex corporate structures and transactions used to hide assets, dealing with allegations of commercial blackmail, diversion of corporate opportunities, theft of assets, and breaches of directors’ duties. He also has experience in dealing with antiques fraud, money-laundering, and bribery and corruption. Anthony regularly obtains disclosure and freezing orders in England and abroad which often involves the management and co-ordination of proceedings in several jurisdictions at any one time. He has a particular expertise in executing and supervising search orders. Anthony has also defended a number of clients alleged to be involved in international fraud and corruption obtaining the discharge of freezing and restraint orders. A number of his cases have been high profile and ground-breaking both in England and abroad and reported in the legal press.

Sara Teasdale is the Managing Partner of PCB Byrne and a Partner in its Criminal Defence Practice. She is consistently instructed in some of the highest-profile and most complex white-collar crime and contentious regulatory cases and has extensive experience of cross border criminal and regulatory investigations and prosecutions brought by the SFO, FCA, ICAEW, MHRA, DOJ and CMA, acting primarily for senior, often high-profile individuals, as well as advising individuals in relation to internal investigations. Sara previously acted for a corporate defendant in Operation Holbein, the SFO investigation into alleged criminal cartel activity in the pharmaceutical industry. She has also acted for individuals in numerous SFO corruption cases, including the investigation into BAE Systems regarding South African arms deals; Sweett Group plc; and represented a senior individual in the SFO KBR/Unaoil investigation. Additionally, Sara acted for a UK based property developer charged with bribery relating to property dealings with the government ministers in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), which for the purpose of this case, she was sworn into the Bar of the TCI. Currently, Sara acts for a suspect in the Grenfell Tower criminal investigation. Sara’s other main practice area includes acting for individuals in the financial sector being investigated by the FCA. She acted for the former finance director of the main trading arm of Cattles PLC in the high-profile Cattles FCA case, and in the parallel FRC (formerly the AADB) regulatory/disciplinary proceedings. Sara represented a number of traders at a range of different banks in LIBOR-related investigations brought by SFO, FCA, DOJ and CFTC.

Matthew Wescott

Matthew is a seasoned disputes lawyer, with over 20 years' experience in commercial litigation and international arbitration. Valued by his clients as a commercially driven strategist who works tirelessly to protect their interests in the face of the fiercest opposition, he is experienced in a wide variety of commercial dispute resolution areas including: shareholder disputes; banking; financial markets (including ISDA transactions); fraud; insolvency; contractual disputes; international sale of goods and commodities disputes; insurance and reinsurance; professional negligence; regulatory and investigatory work. Matthew also handles reputation, privacy and defamation issues for a range of high-profile clients. He also has particular expertise in international arbitration and has advised on and conducted arbitrations under the arbitral rules of the ICC, LCIA, GAFTA, LME, LMAA, UNCITRAL and OHADA. Matthew's work often has an international element and he has advised clients across numerous territories in Europe, the former Soviet Union, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.