One of the founding partners and the senior partner of Byrne and Partners. Nicola is a commercial litigator with expertise in City fraud, financial services, trust disputes and complex fraud and asset tracing matters. Nicola's practice focuses on multi jurisdiction litigation, often involving CIS and African parties and off-shore jurisdictions. She acts for high net worth individuals, legal and financial services professionals, corporates and hedge funds. She has extensive expertise and experience of interlocutory injunctive measures, particularly Freezing Orders and all issues relating to money laundering. Current cases include Tatneft-v-Bogolyubov and others, NTB Bank-v-Yurov and a high value BVI case involving Kazakhstan and complex trust issues, as well as a very substantial UK based fraud matter. Nicola is a Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Criminal and Civil Proceedings). Before Byrne and Partners Nicola worked at Dechert, the FSA and Clyde & Co.
England - London • Crime, fraud and licensing
PCB Byrne
PCB Byrne is ‘one of the leading civil fraud outfits in the London market’, and is ‘easily capable of going toe-to-toe with the largest firms’. A particular strength of the practice lies in asset recovery, with niche specialisms including advice to international companies and institutions in relation to the impact of sanctions on asset recovery, as well as recovering assets in ultra-high net worth matrimonial cases. The team is headed by ‘great strategist’ Anthony Riem and ‘one of the best solicitors in London’, Nicola Boulton; it also includes Trevor Mascarenhas, who has ‘a huge intellect with unrivalled knowledge of the law in this area’. Nick Ractliff ‘is most adept at dealing with highly complex and valuable international litigation involving serious allegations of dishonesty and corporate wrongdoing’ and Elizabeth Seborg is noted for her asset recovery and interim injunctions work. Charlotte Bhania was promoted to partner in April 2022, while Catherine Eason and Tom McKernan both made partner in July 2023. Neil Micklethwaite and Olga Bischof joined the firm in mid-2023.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘One of the leading civil fraud outfits in the London market. Easily capable of going toe-to-toe with the largest firms in the market.’
- ‘Excellent team of litigators with an impressive track record in cross border commercial disputes and at the top of their game for international fraud and asset recovery. Anthony Riem, Trevor Mascharenas, and Nick Ractliff, are all absolutely brilliant, committed, creative, and commercially savvy.’
- ‘The quality and reputation of the practitioners at PCB Byrne is second to none. They are regularly sought after on a wide range of matters. Their reputation has only been enhanced by the combination between PCB and Byrne, with their joined up offering difficult to beat.’
‘Nicola Boulton - brightest solicitor I have ever encountered, incredibly articulate and always spots the best points. Anthony Reim - great strategist, great with clients, and great sense of humour, which is invaluable. Nick Ractliff - just a huge amount of common and commercial sense, which is a much underrated quality, particularly in this area. Catherine Eason - just been made a partner: Bright, unflappable, pragmatic and clients really rate her. She is clearly seen by clients and colleagues as a key member of the team.’
‘PCB Byrne is well-established as a leader in fraud litigation. The team has excellent experience and depth of knowledge of the area. The firm regularly goes up against much bigger firms and wins.’
‘Trevor Mascarenhas - a huge intellect with unrivalled knowledge of the law in this area. Anthony Riem - a dynamic force who knows how to lead a team and get results.’
- ‘Nick Ratcliff is another excellent partner. Nick is most adept at dealing with highly complex and valuable international litigation involving serious allegations of dishonesty and corporate wrongdoing.’
- ‘Outstanding boutique law firm. By specialising in high level civil fraud work it has developed experience and expertise ahead of many major magic circle firms. Its way of working - with strong partner-lead teams, where fee earners at both partner and associate level have genuine expertise and work closely with the bar, it is very effective and instructed in many of the top cases.'
Key clients
- Balda Foundation & Nysco Management Corp
- United Company Rusal
- Republic of Cuba & Banco Nacional de Cuba
- ABFA Commodities Trading Ltd (formerly VTB Commodities Trading Designated Activity Company)
- Nikolai and Vera Kazakov
- Lopag Trust Reg and others
- Invest Bank PSC
- Muna Al Wazzan
- His Excellency Saeed Alqebaisi and Mr Khaleefa Almuhairi
- Mr Abdulrida
- Darren Lui, Ace City Holdings
- South Bank Hotel Management Lt.
- PJSC PhosAgro
- Cheong Choo Young and others
- Hangzhou Jiudang Asset Management Co. Limited and Hangzhou Biaoba Trading Co. Limited
- Dmitry Tsvetkov
- Banco de Sabadell SA
Work highlights
- Acted for the Balda Foundation and Nysco Management in their court victory against a $2.3 billion claim by Vale, a metals and mining multinational.
- Acted for Rusal in USD 3-5 billion claim against Vladimir Potanin which included allegations of asset stripping, self-dealing and environmental negligence.
- Successfully challenged jurisdiction on behalf of the major shareholders in NMC Healthcare, in a $1 billion Commercial Court claim concerning allegations of deceit involving Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.
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Next Generation Partners
Ben Davies is a commercial litigation partner at PCB Byrne LLP – a specialist disputes firm focused on commercial fraud, asset recovery, white collar crime and regulatory investigations. He works principally on high-value, complex fraud claims in the Commercial Court, which often involve ancillary proceedings in other jurisdictions. Ben is currently acting for one of the main defendants in the US$830 million breach of duty claim brought by Russia's Trust National Bank, which will involve a complex, cross-border asset tracing exercise. Other recent cases of note include acting for a high-profile investor in a US$40 million joint venture dispute and acting for a property investment fund in a £20 million management buyout dispute. Ben also took a lead role in businessman Abdourahman Boreh’s successful defeat of the US$130 million Commercial Court proceedings brought against him by the Republic of Djibouti. He has particular experience in the obtaining, policing and discharging of freezing orders.
Elizabeth Seborg is a partner in the commercial litigation department at Byrne and Partners, focusing on high-value and multi-jurisdictional disputes. She acts for both claimants and defendants in commercial litigation and civil fraud matters, with particular expertise in cases that span both civil and criminal proceedings. She advises on interim relief, asset tracing, freezing orders and contempt of court proceedings. Elizabeth also represents clients in civil asset forfeiture proceedings and regulatory investigations.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Anthony Riem, Nicola Boulton