Sinead Harris > Withers LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Withers LLP Offices

Withers LLP
20 Old Bailey
LONDON
EC4M 7AN
England
Visit website +44 20 7597 6364 +44 20 7597 6543

Living Wage

Sinead Harris

Sinead Harris photo
020 7597 6269 sinead.harris@withersworldwide.com View profile

Work Department

Litigation and arbitration

Position

Sinead is a dual qualified and practising lawyer (England & Wales and British Virgin Islands). Sinead advises in a wide range of commercial disputes in litigation and arbitration, with a particular focus on disputes involving contentious insolvency, fraud, asset recovery and enforcement.

Sinead’s work includes shareholder and joint venture disputes, creditor claims and enforcement actions, asset tracing and recovery matters – frequently involving elements of dishonesty, fraud or breaches of fiduciary duties. She also advises a range of clients including companies, officeholders, creditors, and directors in relation to all aspects of contentious insolvency and non-contentious insolvency and restructuring. Working collaboratively with colleagues, Sinead draws on the firm’s expertise in a range of disciplines such as corporate law, wealth planning and employment law to develop creative strategies and solutions to resolve disputes.

She is particularly well-versed in the strategic use of tools such as freezing orders, receiverships and other officeholder appointments, disclosure orders and Norwich Pharmacal relief to maximise prospects of recovery. Sinead has also frequently acted for respondents to similar applications, successfully achieving discharges and setting aside interim orders.

Most of her cases include a cross-border element, with particular expertise in British Virgin Islands law and a broad familiarity with offshore practice. Sinead has worked for a range of both UK and overseas clients in international disputes before an array of arbitral tribunals and courts including the English High Court and Court of Appeal, the UK Supreme Court, the Commercial Court of the Virgin Islands, Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. She has also worked collaboratively with foreign lawyers on disputes before the Courts in a range of jurisdictions as diverse as the US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Russia and various offshore jurisdictions (such as the Channel Islands, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus and many others).

Prior to joining Withers in 2017, Sinead worked at an offshore firm in the British Virgin Islands. In that role, she worked on a number of high profile commercial disputes and contentious insolvency proceedings – most notably the ground-breaking Fairfield Fund liquidations in the BVI (and related Ch 15 proceedings in the US), recovering money for the benefit of victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme.

Career

Partner

Memberships

Recovery and Insolvency Specialists Association (BVI) Limited

Lawyer Rankings

London > Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: mid-market

Withers LLP‘s commercial litigation practice covers asset recovery and enforcement work, contract and company disputes, financial services claims, fraud, and white-collar defence and investigations. The team also acts in professional negligence, insurance, and restructuring and insolvency-related litigation. Global dispute resolution CEO Peter Wood ‘always attracts the big cases and the big clients‘; Roberto Moruzzi is a renowned international commercial litigator; and Tatiana Menshenina is experienced in disputes involving Russia, Ukraine and the CIS. Also key to the practice, Andrew Wass acts in financial mis-selling claims; and civil fraud head Stephen Ross is ‘great with clients‘; Eleni Polycarpou co- heads the firm’s international arbitration group; Lesley Timms is ‘an excellent lawyer‘; and Sinead Harris is a specialist in disputes involving contentious insolvency, fraud, asset recovery, and enforcement issues. Financial services disputes partner Henry Farris joined from Mishcon de Reya LLP in March 2023.

British Virgin Islands > Dispute resolution

With ‘truly global coverage’, the team at Withers ‘has an excellent ability to coordinate between jurisdictions, involving, for example, the BVI, London and Singapore offices‘, acting on the full gamut of constitutional cases, trust and probate claims, and large-scale complex commercial disputes. Leading the team, Sara-Jane Knock is ‘superb with clients, a confident advocate, and approaches legal problems with an abundance of energy’, appearing regularly as an advocate in complex matters, including before the BVI Commission of Inquiry and in the Court of Appeal. London-based Sinead Harris is particularly well-versed in the strategic use of freezing orders, receiverships, and other office holder appointments, while associates Lauren Peaty and Martha Eker-Male, both dual-qualified in England and Wales and the BVI, are also recommended.

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Top Tier Firm Rankings

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