England - London • Dispute resolution
Stephenson Harwood
The widely lauded team at Stephenson Harwood is described as ‘really experienced and technically excellent’ by one client, with the practice fielding particular strength in cross-border disputes. Large corporate, joint venture, and partnership disputes across the energy, financial services, shipping, aviation, and real estate sectors are mainstays of the practice. At leadership level, ’knowledgeable’ head of team Richard Garcia routinely ‘seeks to go the extra miles for his clients’. ’Force of nature’ Sue Millar is a key name to note, as are ‘absolute star’ Genevieve Quierin and ’extremely clever and astute’ Stephen Ashley, with Millar recognised for her impressive sanctions-related expertise. The team has grown significantly with the arrival with Dan Smith from Latham & Watkins in June 2022, Michael Bywell from Hausfeld & Co LLP in January 2023, and Peter Dalton from Herbert Smith Freehills LLP in February 2023.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The team are really experienced and technically excellent. They are responsive and diligent.’
'Richard Garcia is a knowledgeable partner who is on top of the issues and will seek to go the extra miles for his clients.’
‘Sue Millar is a force of nature. The inspiring leader and brilliant litigator Stephen Ashley is an extremely clever and astute lawyer.’
‘Genevieve Quierin is an absolute star with a remarkable appetite for detail while maintaining a clear sense of overall strategy.'
‘Stephenson Harwood is a premier city firm outstanding in all departments no doubt, but I have particular experience of them in commercial litigation, sanctions and banking.’
‘Clever, thoughtful people. Very responsive and down to earth. They make you feel like you're their most important client, even though they must have many more.’
‘Genevieve Quierin stands out as a first-rate lawyer.’
‘Sue Millar and Stephen Ashurst are stand out practitioners - responsive, strategic and technically excellent.’
Key clients
- Multiple group claimants including Bet365, the Intercontinental Hotel Group, Hilton Hotels Levi Strauss
- Primer Design Limited
- XiO Cayman Limited
- Alpha Bank Cyprus Ltd, Bank of Cyprus Public Company Limited
- Former majority shareholders of Yukos
- Igor Mints
- Anglia Maltings (Holdings) Limited
- British Polythene Industries Limited
- Peak Hotels and Resorts Limited (in liquidation) and its Joint Liquidators
- RCI Financial Services Ltd
- Civica UK Limited
Work highlights
- Represent over 1,600 corporate claimants within the financial services, hospitality, leisure, retail, arts, ticketing, online betting, financial services and several other sectors in Europe-wide group claims brought against Mastercard and Visa.
- Acting on behalf of Primer Design Limited and its listed French parent company, Novacyt S.A. in defending a contractual claim brought by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and pursuing our client's counterclaim to recover sums. Both claims arise out of a +£150m commercial contract to supply Covid-19 testing kits, instruments and other services.
- Acting for XiO Cayman Limited, an entity within the XiO Group. The XiO Group has been the subject of multiple proceedings in Hong Kong, Cayman, Nevis and London relating to corporate control and ownership of the group, the source and beneficial ownership of the assets held by the group and the contractual entitlements of the managers, employees and service providers.
Lawyers
Rising stars
Leading individuals
Sue is an experienced and well-respected litigator whose expertise is recognised in the leading directories. Her practice is broad, encompassing finance litigation, sanctions, civil fraud and corporate and commercial disputes. Clients value her responsiveness and her commitment to finding solutions to complex problems. She leads the firm's sanctions practice and co-heads the firm's "technically strong" finance litigation team. Sue is recognised as a leading individual for commercial litigation and banking litigation in Legal 500 2023. Clients have described her as 'a very experienced litigation partner, with the magical combination of being a tough litigator while also being easy and fun to work with!’ and as 'a force of nature and a brilliant litigator. While she has excellent common sense and an instinctive grasp of the commercialities of a case, she is also a talented lawyer and team leader.’ (Legal 500 2023). Meanwhile, she is described as "excellent" in Chambers UK 2023. Sue also leads the firm's sanctions practice, having practised sanctions law for over 14 years. She advises on a range of contentious and non-contentious issues arising in relation to the Russian, Iranian, Libyan and Syrian sanctions regimes. There are very few firms in the City which can match Stephenson Harwood's experience in this area.
Genevieve acts for corporate and individual clients in a broad range of commercial disputes. She frequently represents companies in the banking and finance, private equity, hospitality and leisure, retail, media and telecoms sectors. Her expertise spans pre-action strategic advice to directors, shareholders and company founders through to high value, multi-jurisdictional High Court litigation. Genevieve has a leading banking and finance litigation practice as well as a specialism in competition private enforcement actions, and is currently representing over 1,000 companies in group claims against Visa and MasterCard. She is equally at ease acting for claimants and defendants, and frequently works with third party litigation funders. Recent work includes: strategic advice to founder of high profile media business involving breach of directors’ duties and unfair prejudice to minority shareholders; defending a £50m+ breach of warranty claim; breach of contract and rectification action acting for PE fund; advising US hedge fund in relation to material adverse effect clause; acting for a major global trust company in several multi-jurisdictional actions involving allegations of fraud; advising corporate director in relation to round tripping allegations; providing advice on potential liabilities arising from the Grenfell Tower Fire to global bank. Genevieve is co-chair of the Cambridge Forum on European Collective Redress, a member of the International Bar Association and a frequent conference speaker.
Next Generation Partners
Guy is a litigator specialising in corporate and finance disputes. He is recognised for his expertise in a broad range of contentious matters, with a particular emphasis on claims arising from the private equity, professional services and fine art sectors. Clients value Guy's tenacity, attention to detail and focus on results. The subject matter of the claims that Guy handles is diverse and includes contractual and shareholder disputes, fraud and professional negligence claims against lawyers. He has a track-record of formulating effective strategies to win multifaceted cases in a cost-effective manner.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Richard Garcia