Alexander Riddiford

Alex specialises in insolvency/restructuring law, commercial dispute resolution, banking and finance (including structured finance) and offshore commercial litigation.

His recent notable instructions include the longstanding Business Mortgage Finance litigation in the High Court and Court of Appeal (most recently a committal application before Mr Justice Miles, led by Anna Dilnot Q.C.); acting for Mr Carlos Ghosn and others (led by Blair Leahy Q.C.) in B.V.I. proceedings brought by Nissan (a civil fraud/ asset recovery claim concerning a luxury yacht); and acting as sole counsel for the joint administrators of the Nortel companies in various applications before Mr Justice Snowden (as he then was). Alex is frequently instructed in litigation with multi-jurisdictional aspects. He also has a special interest in the law of cryptoassets and smart contracts and welcome the opportunity to speak on these topics to firms or at conferences.

Before coming to the Bar Alex completed a DPhil in Classics at Oxford University where he held various teaching positions in Latin and Greek language and literature, including an appointment as a lecturer at Magdalen College in 2008. In 2013 he published a critically well-received book on Bengali literature with Oxford University Press.

French (conversational); Spanish (good reading knowledge); Italian (good reading knowledge); Bengali (good reading knowledge)

• 2001 – 2005: BA Classics with Sanskrit – Magdalen College, Oxford – Double First (4th in year)
• 2005 – 2006: MSt Classics – Magdalen College, Oxford – Distinction
• 2006 – 2009: DPhil Classics – Magdalen College, Oxford – Pass (thesis published by Oxford University Press in 2013)
• 2009 – 2010: GDL – City University – Commendation
• 2009 – 2010: BPTC – BPP – Very Competent