The members of XXIV Old Buildings are well-equipped to handle corporate, commercial, and finance-based disputes, including fraud and insolvency matters, before the courts of Gibraltar, Bermuda, BVI, the Cayman Islands, and the Crown Dependencies, including Jersey and Guernsey. Stephen Moverley Smith KC specialises in restructuring, fraud, and insolvency work, as well as cases surrounding allegations of corruption. He represented the successful respondent in the Cayman Court of Appeal in a case which saw, for the first time, an appellant decision confirming the jurisdictional power and scope of the Grand Court when considering injunctions in support of foreign arbitrations (Minsheng Vocational Education Company Limited v Lead Education Holding Limited and Others). Francis Tregear KC has recently been active in major liquidation cases in Cayman, and David Brownbill KC is skilled in fraud and asset recovery claims. He is representing the defendant in the Gibraltar-based case of Ambra and Others v Fiman Limited and Others, which concerns allegations of breaches of statutory, fiduciary, and tortious duties which are said to have caused substantial losses to several offshore companies. International disputes specialist Steven Thompson KC is active in the BVI, where he has appeared before the Court of Appeal and Privy Council. A key junior, Bajul Shah boasts company, commercial, and insolvency expertise.
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Profile
Position
Stephen specialises in litigation and arbitration in the fields of commercial, company, trusts and business law.
With a background of high profile work for the DTI and Inland Revenue as junior counsel to the Crown (Chancery) prior to taking silk in 2002, Stephen has developed an extensive practice in the fields of hostile corporate and trust litigation, insolvency, civil fraud and joint venture disputes (in both a corporate and partnership context), often for private clients.
Stephen has practiced in the regulatory field for many years and was appointed a Joint Inspector by the DTI (now BERR) to investigate allegations of market abuse. His on-going regulatory work includes cases is in the area of collective Investment schemes and land banking.
Stephen has an extensive off-shore practice, particularly in the British Virgin Islands (since 1995) and Cayman Islands. He is regularly involved in multi-jurisdictional disputes, advising on global strategy, interim remedies, conflicts of law and asset recovery and appearing before courts and arbitral tribunals in a wide variety of jurisdictions.
Career
Called 1985, Middle Temple; junior counsel to the Crown, Chancery; called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean; Queens Counsel 2002.
Memberships
- Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
- Bar of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Chancery Bar Association
- COMBAR
- European Circuit
- Insolvency Lawyers Association
Education
- Pembroke College Oxford (MA)
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Very good. Paul Horsfield, Perry Brown, and Tommie Drury are excellent.'
- 'The clerks room are always professional and responsive. Paul Horsfield and Perry Brown stand out.'
- 'Very responsive and flexible. Paul Horsfield in particular often goes the extra mile to build and maintain relationships with instructing counsel.'
- 'Paul Horsfield, Perry Brown and James Ladbrook are a formidable team. They are organised and responsive and make for a seamless experience when instructing members.'
- 'Paul Horsfield, head of clerking, is excellent. Very approachable, always prepared to be commercial on fees, has an in-depth understanding of the work of chambers and looks to build relationships and make introductions wherever possible.'