Stewarts Law LLP

Clive Zietman

Partner Clive is a well-known commercial litigator who has been involved in a wide range of complex and high-value claims including a number of high-profile frauds, insurance coverage disputes, professional negligence claims and banking disputes. His work regularly involves an international dimension. Over the past few years, he has been involved in several actions against banks, a task that most central London law firms are unable to undertake as a result of conflicts of interest. Clive also acts as a supervising solicitor appointed by the court in search order cases. He has been involved in several high-profile search order cases including the Ferrari secrets case and the Elton John stolen refuse dispute. Clive has acted in several well-publicised cases, including: Acting for 83 bankers in a case against Commerzbank regarding unpaid bonuses The RBS shareholder litigation concerning the 2008 right issue The high-profile diamond business dispute between Lev Leviev and Arcadi Gaydamak

Elaina Bailes

Partner Elaina is an experienced commercial litigator who has acted on a number of high-profile and ground-breaking cases in the High Court and in leading offshore jurisdictions, including Cayman and the BVI. Elaina acts for companies, financial institutions, states and state-entities and high net worth individuals on a wide range of high-value commercial disputes. Her main practice areas include banking and securities litigation, complex fraud and asset tracing, insolvency claims and commercial disputes relating to sanctions (particularly relating to the Middle East). Key cases include: Acting for a financial institution in a dispute concerning the validity of corporate actions under the Cayman Islands sanctions regime Acting for a large number of institutional investors in their claims against RBS relating to its rights issue of April 2008 (The RBS Rights Issue Litigation [2016] EWHC 3161 (Ch)). This was the first group litigation in the financial services sphere and one of the recent leading authorities on the application of legal advice privilege Acting in a €500m claim against an investment bank for breach of fiduciary duty arising out of market manipulation in respect of complex credit-linked note transactions, and related offshore insolvency proceedings

Lucy Ward

Lucy is a commercial disputes expert specialising in banking and financial services litigation and fraud. She has particular expertise advising institutional investors in complex securities litigation and high value disputes. Lucy is ranked in the Legal 500 as a 'Next Generation Partner'. She was the lead partner in one of The Lawyer’s top 20 cases for 2020 and described as a “heavy hitter”. Lucy co-heads the commercial litigation department. Lucy’s clients include institutional investors and financial institutions, corporates, high net worth individuals and sovereign wealth funds. Her experience covers complicated multiparty cases (including group litigation) in relation to mis-selling of complex financial products, s90 FSMA, professional negligence, breach of contract and fraud.  With experience acting for and against banks, Lucy is able to anticipate opponents’ strategy.  Her work often involves multi-jurisdictional issues. A selection of Lucy’s key cases include: Acting for 313 institutional investors in the first group securities litigation of its kind in England in a claim against RBS regarding its 2008 rights issue. Acting for Portigon AG (a legacy entity of WestLB) against RBS in a claim for breach of contract, negligence and misrepresentation in relation to CPDO notes. Acting for the investment authority of Ras Al Khaimah (RAKIA) in a claim against a businessman for fraudulent misrepresentation, conspiracy and breach of contract and defending allegations of hacking and abuse of process. Acting for RAKIA in RAKIA (& Ors) v Bestfort Development LLP (& Ors) [2017] EWCA Civ 1014, in which the Court of Appeal clarified the test required for the existence of assets in an application for a worldwide freezing order. Acting for an IT services company in a contractual dispute. Acting for 83 bankers in a successful claim against Dresdner Kleinwort and Commerzbank over unpaid bonuses (Attrill & others v Dresdner Kleinwort and Commerzbank [2012] EWHC 1189 (QB)). Acting for the successful defendant in a claim relating to an alleged written agreement (Gaydamak v Leviev [2012] EWHC 1740 (Ch)).