Fiona Stewart
Partner in the Commercial Litigation Department, Stewarts Law LLP
Specialisation
Fiona has successfully represented many leading UK and international companies, banks, other financial institutions and major international brands, as well as two Middle Eastern governments. She has a wealth of experience in all aspects of commercial dispute resolution, with particular expertise in:
- international litigation
- financial and banking disputes
- civil fraud and asset tracing
- injunctions
- arbitration
- disputes involving complex accounting issues
Fiona has acted for numerous corporate victims of fraud and has extensive experience of forensic investigations, most of which have involved working with teams of investigators and accountants, and coordinating lawyers in multiple jurisdictions to trace and freeze assets.
Fiona also has extensive experience of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, such as arbitration, mediation and negotiating settlements, and has conducted a number of arbitrations in the ICC and LCIA. She has conducted advocacy for her clients, including in the Commercial Court and Companies Court in England and Wales.
Some of Fiona's recent cases include:
- advising a group of hedge funds in respect of a dispute for over €15 million arising out of the insolvency of a major foreign manufacturing company. The matter involves complex issues of English and foreign law relating to secured lending and insolvency;
- advising a UK garment company in a claim against its former directors for fraud and breach of fiduciary duties in which freezing injunctions were obtained;
- representing a major Turkish exporter in High Court disputes with Morgan Stanley worth €100 million and with Barclays Bank worth £14 million, involving trade financing facilities and loan agreements;
- advising an Italian consumer finance company in relation to a dispute with Barclays Capital over an aborted £300 million receivables loan facility deal;
- advising a foreign telecoms company in relation to a claim against a UK telecoms company and its director for fraud and breach of contract including investigating assets in the UK, UAE and Pakistan;
- advising the estate of a wealthy Swiss individual in relation to claims for CHF35 million in the liquidation of a UK asset management company;
- advising a global sea container company in relation to a dispute with a major international bank concerning the £500 million financing/insurance terms for the finance of sea containers.
Fiona is also admitted in the High Court of Australia and in the Supreme Court of South Australia.
Career
Qualified in Australia in 1992;
Practised at Piper Alderman, Adelaide;
Joined Baker & McKenzie, London, 1996;
Joined Reed Smith, London, 1998 and was appointed a partner in 2002;
Joined Masseys, December 2008;
Joined Stewarts Law on 2 August 2010.
Memberships
LSLA (London Solicitors Litigation Association);
Australian Business in Europe;
AALS (Anglo-Australasian Lawyers' Society).