Dispute Resolution

Partner and Co-Head

Tony Heaver-Wren is a Partner and Co-Head of the Dispute Resolution practice group in the Cayman Islands.

Before joining Appleby in 2008 Tony practised as a Senior Associate at leading firms in England and Australia.

Tony heads both the Insolvency and Restructuring and the Merger Disputes teams in Cayman. He has led teams in the most significant Cayman Islands corporate restructurings, appeared frequently as counsel in schemes of arrangement hearings and conducted numerous appraisal claim proceedings on behalf of dissenting shareholders following Chinese take-private statutory mergers. Tony also has extensive Fund Dispute experience, for stakeholders and managers and is involved in a number of disputes and restructurings in connection with digital assets.

Tony’s practice is richly diverse and he intersects frequently with colleagues on complex questions arising in Private Equity, M&A, Banking and Finance, Structured Finance and Fund Finance. His 28 years of experience includes advising major lenders, bondholders, insolvency officeholders, fund managers, investment fund shareholders and boards of private and publicly listed companies in all aspects of corporate governance, directors duties, minority shareholders’ rights, secured and unsecured creditor enforcements.

Tony has acted as an expert witness on numerous occasions, providing evidence of Cayman law to courts in the United States, Germany, Hong Kong and Australia, and to an arbitration tribunal in the People’s Republic of China.

Tony is consistently recognised by leading directories. In 2023 Chambers Global described him as ‘Very careful: he has navigated clients through some tricky applications.  He is very bright and a very calm litigator.’ In 2022 they described him as ‘An insolvency expert with a well-established reputation in the market. Tony provides very clear thinking and excellent strategic input.’ He is very experienced and provides a balanced, big-picture view.’  In 2021 they described him as a ‘Very thoughtful and a highly skilled international insolvency specialist.’

Tony was also identified by Legal 500  in 2021 as a ‘Key Lawyer’ and an ‘Exceptional performer on account of his excellent commercial judgment and first-rate interpersonal skills.’ Clients describe him as ‘Identifying the key aspects of a dispute and providing several potential solutions’ and  as having a ‘Well established reputation in the market, particularly with insolvency matters. He provides very clear thinking and strategic input.’

Tony has been published extensively and is the author of the Cayman chapter of ‘Cross Border Insolvency’ and ‘The Art of the Ad Hoc.’