Stephenson Harwood

Commercial litigation

Donna advises on a broad spectrum of commercial and financial disputes. She has experience across a wide range of financial products and markets as well as with disputes involving shareholders, partnership joint ventures, acquisitions and investments.

Donna is particularly skilled at dealing with disputes involving very complex issues or very technical concepts.  She also advises on disputes arising out of tax structures/products.

She frequently advises clients in relation to disputes arising when contracts, trades or transactions have been derailed because of unexpected events including issues relating to business interruption, problems with performance of contracts, issues with counterparties, aborted transactions, loan defaults, margin calls, issues with collateral posting and valuation, close outs and erroneous trades or prices.

Donna advised on the litigation arising out of the high profile collapse of Arch Cru investment fund. She acted for the new board of the Guernsey investment cell structure in relation to claims in excess of £150 million against a range of parties across a number of jurisdictions.

She acted for a bank in a dispute over trade prices which had been executed in a volatile market following the depegging of the Swiss Franc from the Euro and also acted for the liquidators of a hedge fund in relation to the close out by five banks of the fund’s repo positions resulting in a series of disputes with the banks across multiple jurisdictions and a mix of litigation, arbitration and mediation.

Donna is ranked in the Legal 500 UK as a next generation partner (banking litigation – investment and retail) with sources noting that she ‘provides thoughtful advice’.