Eleni Polycarpou > Withers LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Withers LLP has ‘one of the preeminent art teams for the big cases’. The ‘extremely able’ Sarah Barker heads the department, and the ‘talented‘ team is skilled at advising on fine art sales and purchases, as well as art and heritage-related tax issues. Other areas of focus include advising on charity law relating to museums and art foundations, as well as art-related money laundering. The team also excels in handling complex matters with an international dimension. Eleni Polycarpoui is recommended for her work on stolen art cases, restitution cases, title disputes, authenticity disputes and consignment disputes. Key clients of the practice include artists, museums, art galleries, and private collectors.

Withers LLP‘s London team is particularly well known for international arbitration work involving Africa, Asia and the Middle East, along with Russia and CIS countries. The practice is co-led by Hussein Haeri KC, who is ‘a leading figure in international arbitration’, and Eleni Polycarpou, who regularly takes arbitrator appointments. The group further comprises Russia, Ukraine and CIS disputes expert Tatiana Menshenina, disputes head Peter Wood, and commercial arbitration specialist Roberto Moruzzi. Lesley Timms ‘ caseload frequently contains Italian elements, and public international law expert Geoffrey Cox KC and recently-promoted partner Robert Kovacs are other names to note. Camilla Gambarini and Ruzin Dagli are also key figures.

A ‘fantastic firm with quality from top to bottom’, Withers LLP is ‘very well placed to deal with commercial disputes’. The sizeable practice represents family offices, HNW individuals and large corporate entities in multi-jurisdictional disputes, including asset recovery and enforcement matters, and contract, company and financial services disputes. The team is also highly experienced in disputes involving fraud, white-collar crime, professional negligence, insurance, and insolvency. It is additionally experienced in challenging decisions through judicial review claims. Company disputes specialist Peter Wood is global dispute resolution CEO and the ‘excellent’ Stephen Ross is civil fraud head. Roberto Moruzzi is an expert in domestic and international contractual disputes, mis-selling claims, fraud and asset tracing and Andrew Wass is also experienced in financial mis-selling work. The practice further showcases Eleni Polycarpou, who acts in commercial litigation claims alongside her commercial arbitration work, commercial disputes practitioner Sinead Harris, and financial services, banking and corporate litigation expert Henry Farris. Lesley Timms is experienced in contractual and shareholder disputes, and fraud and asset recovery matters. ‘Great strategist’ Tatiana Menshenina is a specialist in disputes involving Russia, Ukraine and the wider CIS region. Daniel Gore, Joshua Swift and Ruzin Dagli are also experienced litigators.

The professional negligence practice at Withers LLP has experience representing both claimants and defendants. The team advises on claims against a range of professionals, including investment advisors, solicitors, architects, and accountants. The practice is co-headed by Caroline Thompson and Eleni Polycarpou. Owen Talfan Davies joined the firm in August 2023 from Fieldfisher; he is particularly experienced in handling professional negligence claims within the real estate sector.