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Sinead is a partner in the litigation and arbitration team.
She 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.
Recent Recognition
Experience
Track record
Burgess and Broadcasting Investment Group
Our clients were seeking to enforce an oral agreement, where various co-venturers agreed to transfer shares in technology companies to a single company that would act as a parent for the group. It later emerged that certain shares were never properly transferred to the putative parent company. The claim was initally struck out on the basis that it was barred, because it was purely reflective of a loss suffered by the company in which it is a shareholder. We successfully overturned the decision on appeal - a decision that will have wide-ranging consequences for investors seeking relief in circumstances where their own losses may overlap with those of the companies in which they have invested.
Defending PR firm, Metigen, and their client in breach of confidence claim with Credit Suisse
We acted for Metigen, a PR firm which created a campaign group to expose allegations of misconduct by Credit Suisse on behalf of its victims (including Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former PM of Georgia). We successfully obtained a release from an injunction Credit Suisse had obtained to restrain Metigen from publicising the findings of a report prepared by Swiss regulators (FINMA) following an investigation into a fraud committed by a former employee of Credit Suisse.
Multi-billion dollar liquidation
Acted for the joint liquidators of Fairfield Sentry Limited in relation to a multi-billion dollar ground-breaking liquidation, assisting the liquidators across a range of actions and disputes in major and substantial recoveries for the benefit of victims of the Madoff fraud.
Hong Kong Bankruptcy Trustees
Acted as the lead lawyer and advocate for Hong Kong Bankruptcy Trustees in achieving landmark first-of-its-kind recognition of a foreign insolvency proceeding in the British Virgin Islands.
Commercial and shareholder disputes
Acting for claimants and defendants in a range of commercial and shareholder disputes including a significant multi-jurisdictional unfair prejudice petition involving competing allegations of fraud.
Interlocutory relief
Advising and acting in relation to interlocutory relief in a range of scenarios including acting for applicants and respondents for freezing orders, various disclosure orders (including in relation to third parties) and anti-suit injunctions.
Breach of contract
Acted for the defendants in a US$2 billion claim for inducement of breach of contract in relation to a mining project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Telecommunications regulator
Acting for a telecommunications regulator in relation to several judicial review challenges of decisions in relation to competition regulation and spectrum allocation.
Insight
Admissions
England and Wales, 2010
British Virgin Islands, 2010
Education
Queens' College, Cambridge University, MA (Cantab) Law
Languages
- English
Memberships
Recovery and Insolvency Specialists Association (BVI) Limited
Key dates
- Year joined: 2017