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.

Karel Frielink is the managing partner of BZSE Attorneys at Law Curaçao. He has been an attorney as from 1989. Karel is admitted to the Dutch Caribbean bar and thus licensed to practice in Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba.

Karel is an experienced litigator, specializing in finance law, corporate law and corporate governance. He is very knowledgeable in the areas proving fraud, asset location and recovery techniques. Karel not only dealt with highly complicated, multi-jurisdictional fraud cases, he also lectured on fraud, bribery and corruption at training seminars organized by the Dutch Institute of Chartered Accountants (NIVRA-VERA).

As of its incorporation, BZSE Attorneys at Law and Tax Advisers has been active throughout the Dutch Caribbean. Independence and integrity are paramount to the lawyers of BZSE. They operate and litigate in an open, transparent and independent manner in order to represent the best interests of their clients. This has provided the lawyers of the firm with a strong reputation, notably among local and international corporate clients.

Karel has (co-) authored over a hundred seventy books and articles on various aspects of Dutch and Dutch Caribbean law. He is the author of the leading textbook on Dutch Caribbean law: Kort begrip van het Nederlands Caribisch Rechtspersonenrecht (A concise understanding of Dutch Caribbean corporate law; 1st edition 2017; 375 pages) and of Karel’s Legal Blog (http://www.curacao-law.com).

Hazim has over thirty years of experience as counsel in high profile, multi-million-dollar dispute resolution litigations and international commercial and investor state arbitrations, including appearances before the CRCICA, ICC and ICSID. Hazim is also a recognized arbitrator by the Egyptian Ministry of Justice.

He has extensive experience as an arbitrator and in advising and representing states, banks, and companies in international commercial and investment disputes covering a wide range of industries including, among others; construction, telecommunications, oil and gas, hotel management, waste management, tenders and capital markets.

He has also represented clients in the setting aside, as well as, the enforcement of numerous, high profile, arbitral awards.

In addition to his work in arbitration and litigation, Hazim is an accredited mediator by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (“CEDR”) in London and has represented clients in several mediations.

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.

Héctor Sbert is a Spanish commercial litigator specialized in enforcement proceedings, distressed debt settlement, asset tracing & recovery, commercial fraud and contentious insolvency.

His Ph.D. thesis dealt with an analysis of civil procedural remedies for asset tracing and recovery in Spanish and comparative law.

He is Partner at ECIJA, a full-service, Ibero-American firm particularly recognized in the areas of TMT, Data Protection, M&A, Tax and Dispute Resolution.

Héctor Sbert has developed a strong practice in the enforcement of national and foreign judgements, arbitral awards and other enforceable titles, insolvency-related litigation (particularly in cases of fraudulent bankruptcy), fraud-related civil and commercial litigation, as well as assistance to foreign officeholders in the protection of insolvent estates.

He is also a commercial dispute resolution attorney acting as counsel in cross-border litigation and international arbitration matters, particularly in the areas of construction, real estate, banking, insurance, M&A, transport and distribution and agency contracts.

He is admitted as an insolvency practitioner at the Barcelona Commercial Courts and is former Chair of the Insolvency Law Commission at AIJA-International Association of Young Lawyers (2016-2019).

He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London (MCIArb.) and a registered commercial mediator at the Spanish Ministry of Justice.

He is also a member of IBA and INSOL EUROPE.

Héctor Sbert works in Spanish, English, French, German and Italian.

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.