Gábor Damjanovic has been a partner with Forgó Damjanovic & Partners Law Firm (Forgó, Varga & Partners Law Firm prior to 2010) since 2003; he is co-managing partner of the firm. He heads the Dispute Resolution Practice Group and handles complex, high-value commercial court cases and arbitrations, as well as fraud cases; almost always with a cross-border element. Gábor is frequently nominated as an arbitrator, both as wing and chair and has represented clients/acted as arbitrator under a number of different institutional rules, as well as under the UNCITRAL rules. According to Legal 500: “Gábor Damjanovic stands out for his ‘impressive practical knowledge in court cases and arbitration’”.

He has helped his clients in enforcement of court decisions and arbitral awards, assisted them in fake president fraud cases and in FCPA investigations.

Gábor has a niche expertise and understanding of the gambling industry.He and his firm also assists clients in corporate transactional matters, labour employment issues and general commercial matters.

Professional Memberships: Budapest Bar Association; IBA (Gábor is Secretary-Treasurer of the Professional Ethics Committee of the IBA and Hungarian rapporteur for the IBA Subcommittee for International Arbitration Case Law); Luxembourg Arbitration Association; Scottish Arbitration Centre; Hungarian Arbitration Association; ICCA (International Council for Commercial Arbitration); Listed by a number of arbitral institutions worldwide (London, Vienna Seoul, Belgrade, Warsaw, Budapest).

As a Senior Associate at Edmonds Marshall McMahon, London, Jane is primarily focused on leading investigations and prosecutions of fraud, bribery and corruption, and other related dishonesty offences. Jane’s current work includes leading large-scale anti-corruption and fraud investigations and prosecutions of corporates and high net-worth individuals in the UK and abroad (on behalf of both UK and foreign entities) and cross-border asset tracing.

Prior to joining the firm, Jane was a Senior Lawyer at the Serious Fraud Office in the bribery and corruption division, working on the global investigation and prosecution of Rolls Royce; one of the largest bribery and corruption cases in UK history. As part of the small team focused specifically on the Energy Division (Oil and Gas) of the Rolls Royce case, Jane worked closely with:

• foreign governments in furthering the global investigation into the alleged bribery and corruption; and • the US Department of Justice in securing charges against several former employees of Rolls Royce.

Other experience includes working as in-house legal counsel and commercial manager for a London-based technology company which included advising on multi-million dollar software licence agreements in Asia and the USA, and prior to that, practising as a civil and criminal litigation lawyer (as both prosecution and defence) at a leading law firm in New Zealand.

Partner

Miguel de Avillez Pereira is a founding partner of AvillezCastro, a law firm with emphasis on high-end transactions and complex multijurisdictional litigation, fraud and asset recovery. Before founding AvillezCastro, Miguel spent over 35 years as partner with top tier international and Portuguese law firms. He specializes in corporate, commercial, insolvency, fraud and asset recovery. Miguel assists on a regular basis financial institutions and multinational companies on several complex and high-value cases. In recent years, Miguel has advised on a number of high-profile cases in connection with fraud and asset recovery involving domestic and international companies with assets in Portugal and elsewhere. He is currently assisting several groups of creditors in connection with the collapse of the Espirito Santo Group and Banco Espirito Santo. Miguel holds an LL.M. from the University of Edinburgh (1992) and a Law Degree from the University of Lisbon (1989). He is co-author of a number of articles and books and a regular speaker at conferences.

Anthony (Tony) is the Senior Partner of PCB Byrne LLP, a specialist international asset recovery and dispute resolution practice. It has been described by The Times as “operating across a global landscape, recovering and protecting clients’ assets over borders and through multiple jurisdictions” as well as “solicitors to the banking community”.

The firm has an unparalleled reputation in civil fraud and asset recovery as is apparent from its consistent top-rankings in Chambers, the Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal and the various accolades it has received. By way of example, these have included: ‘They are always imaginative and proactive in every situation, and will always give the client various options to choose from.’ ‘Under considerable time pressure, they still have this calm, quiet confidence which is very reassuring. They are very capable, pragmatic, astute individuals.’ ‘Simply outstanding’, extremely skilled’ and ‘real quality’.

As for Anthony, he is recognised as a leading lawyer acting for government agencies, public and private financial institutions and corporates in fraud investigation and litigation, asset recovery, banking litigation, insolvency, money-laundering, and bribery and corruption cases.

Anthony is consistently ranked by the Legal 500 and Chambers in the top tier of civil fraud lawyers and by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Thought Leader and one of the most highly recommended asset recovery lawyers in Europe. Plaudits have included a “stellar practitioner”, “superb lawyer” “shrewd tactician and a great fighter” who “navigates complex structures and transactions with ease”, is “wonderful to work with” and a “wonderful operator with particular expertise dealing with, and against, offshore firms”.

He is the founder and former chairman of the Commercial Fraud Lawyers Association.

William is a litigation partner at New Zealand’s largest litigation firm, Meredith Connell. He specialises in cases involving suspected corporate fraud, investment disputes, professional negligence, and other white-collar matters.

He has made hundreds of appearances at every level of the New Zealand courts, for public- and private-sector clients. He conducts jury trials on behalf of the New Zealand state.

In 2015, William graduated Master of Laws from the University of Cambridge, with first-class honours and a Leonard Coling scholarship.

Between 2015 and 2019, he worked as an attorney in the London office of an American law firm, in one of the world’s top white-collar-crime practices.

In 2017, he was admitted to the English Bar and is a member of Middle Temple. In 2023, he was admitted to the Bar of the Pitcairn Islands.

William is a former editor-in-chief of the Auckland University Law Review. He is the current author of the New Zealand chapter in J. Seddon et al (eds), The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations (GIR, Sixth ed. 2022). His published articles have appeared in the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal (UK), the New Zealand Business Law Quarterly, the New Zealand Law Journal, the Supreme Court Law Review (Canada), the Journal of Civil Litigation and Practice (Aus) and the Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice (Aus).

Examples of past cases are:

Counsel for one of New Zealand’s largest construction companies in investigating and freezing the assets of past employees and contractors suspected of a long-running, multi-million-dollar invoicing fraud (see e.g. THL (2005) v JDR Ltd [2022] NZHC 3627).

Advisor and counsel for the New Zealand subsidiaries of a large multinational company through a major internal investigation and subsequent high-profile litigation against its former directors and auditor in one of the largest alleged revenue frauds in New Zealand history (see e.g. Fujifilm Business Innovation New Zealand Limited v Whittaker [2021] NZHC 3292).

Overseeing the successful application to the English High Court to release two high-net-worth individuals from a world-wide-freezing order because of non-disclosure, with indemnity costs obtained (see Banca Turco Romana SA v Cortuk [2018] EWHC 662 (Comm) (28 March 2018)).

Advising a state government on a multi-jurisdiction investigation of historic fraud and corruption involving alleged losses of over US$1 billion, including regulatory and asset-recovery advice and engagement with US and Swiss law-enforcement agencies.

Representing a high-frequency trading firm facing charges of market manipulation in China following the 2015 Chinese futures crash, in a high-profile and politically significant case.

Advising and representing an international financial institution in litigation involving allegations of suspected money-laundering by its customers.

Daniel Ştefănică is a partners of bpv GRIGORESCU STEFANICA, with over 25 years of experience as a Romanian qualified lawyer. Daniel heads the firm’s Dispute Resolution practice. He has a wealth of experience in private domestic and international litigation and arbitration, including in ICC and ICSID arbitration cases.

Daniel also has substantial experience in criminal law, especially in connection with the prevention of and fight against of financial frauds in sectors like financial services, banking, insurance and cryptocurrency. Daniel regularly advises private clients and companies in complex recovery litigation that are a result of treaty shopping abuses or financial crime. His tax law expertise combined with knowledge of offshore jurisdiction systems allow him to understand the diversity of fraud methods.

In addition, Daniel advises both domestic and international clients on taxation matters such as avoidance of double taxation, tax structures, and transfer pricing issues.

He has experience also in advising power companies, owners, developers and off-takers on investment and operations in power-generation capacities, power grids, renewable energy projects and emissions-trading-scheme transactions. His expertise extends to the public sector, advising both private sector and state-owned institutions on public procurement of work and goods, concessions and PPPs, utilities, and system assets.

Daniel maintains strong working relationships with associations of private investors as well as with government bodies and representatives with responsibilities in the financial services, energy, infrastructure and environment sectors.

bpv GRIGORESCU ȘTEFĂNICĂ is a business law firm with a full-service offering for complex projects and litigation and a unique combination of legal and tax advisory capabilities. Founded in 2006 the firm is known internationally for its focus on the technology sector and its practice in areas such as Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions, Taxation, Employment & Benefits, Procurement, Concessions & PPPs, Medical services, Energy and Infrastructure. bpv Grigorescu Ștefănică team is mentioned continuously among the recommended law firms by the most prominent international legal publications such as Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, IFLR1000, ITR World Tax.

bpv Grigorescu Ștefănică is a founding member of bpv Legal, an alliance of independent business law firms with offices in Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Prague and Vienna, offering cross-border legal advisory services.