33 Chancery Lane

Armando’s practice spans the full spectrum of commercial and international disputes, including complex civil fraud, international arbitration, asset recovery and enforcement, and cross-border and offshore litigation.

He has particular experience of banking and finance, energy and natural resources, and shareholder and joint venture disputes, along with significant international arbitration expertise, having acted as counsel in a number of institutional and ad hoc commercial and investor-state arbitrations over many years. Armando is often instructed on matters involving a jurisdictional or conflict of laws element or where there are contested allegations of civil fraud and misrepresentation, corruption or money laundering.

Armando is currently instructed as junior counsel for one of the individual defendants in Public Institution for Social Security v Al Rajaan & Ors, a case brought by Kuwait’s national pension fund. The dispute involves bribery and money laundering claims (under Kuwaiti, Swiss and English law) valued by the claimant at over £2 billion. It is one of the largest and most complex fraud disputes ever to be heard in the Commercial Court and was recently featured as one of The Lawyer’s ‘Top 20 Cases’ for 2025.

Other matters on which Armando is currently instructed include a complex shareholders’ dispute before the Commercial Court, an ICSID arbitration on behalf of an investor, and a proceeds of crime matter. Additionally, Armando has an active pro bono practice, having recently appeared on that basis as junior counsel for the successful appellant in the Court of Appeal in 159-167 Prince of Wales Road RTM Company Ltd v Assethold Ltd, in which the Court commended “the very thorough manner in which the appeal was prepared” and the “significant assistance” provided to the Court.

Prior to joining 33 Chancery Lane, Armando was an experienced arbitration and commercial litigation practitioner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in London and, before that, McDermott Will & Emery LLP and Watson Farley & Williams LLP. Before moving to the Bar, he was a recommended lawyer for both international arbitration and commercial litigation in The Legal 500 (UK) 2023, where he was profiled based on client feedback as a “superstar” with “extraordinary” intellectual capabilities. Armando began his career more than a decade ago at a leading New Zealand law firm, Chapman Tripp, where he often appeared as counsel before the New Zealand courts, including appearing successfully before the Court of Appeal.

As a former experienced solicitor, Armando is approachable and user-friendly, understands the demands clients place on professionals in law firms, and is adept at working collaboratively within a team structure.

Armando graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand with a Bachelor of Laws with Honours (First Class) and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international relations. He featured on the Dean’s List for Academic Excellence for law and was one of the top graduating students in his year in both law and arts.

Armando also holds a master’s degree in law from Columbia University Law School in New York, where he graduated as a James Kent Scholar (equivalent to a distinction) in recognition of “outstanding academic achievement” and ranked first in class in several subjects. His academic focus was on international commercial and investment arbitration, the interplay of civil and criminal law (with his dissertation supervised by the Hon. Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York), and commercial remedies. Armando was also a student editor of The American Review of International Arbitration and a research assistant to Professor George A. Bermann.

Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales – 2018 (non-practising) (with Higher Rights of Audience – Civil)

Enrolled Barrister & Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand – 2012