Stephen Moverley Smith

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.

Recent notable cases include acting for the successful claimants in Papadimitriou v Credit Agricole, a seminal decision of the Privy Council establishing a new test for constructive notice of beneficial interests; Re: China Shanshui, acting for the majority shareholders in successfully challenging the ability of directors to institute winding up proceedings without shareholder approval; Re Fairfield Sentry,  acting for members seeking to establish distribution entitlements in the liquidation of Madoff’s largest investor; TMSF v Merrill Lynch, a ground breaking decision of the Privy Council that a judgment creditor, for whom Stephen acted, could obtain the appointment of receivers over a power of revocation of a Cayman trust and for the Moscow patriachate in a dispute as to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in London.