Richard Garcia
Partner - Head of Corporate & Commercial Disputes, London
Richard leads Stephenson Harwood's corporate and commercial disputes group. He specialises in corporate and commercial, financial and fraud disputes.
Partner - Head of Corporate & Commercial Disputes, London
Richard leads Stephenson Harwood's corporate and commercial disputes group. He specialises in corporate and commercial, financial and fraud disputes.
Language - English
Jurisdiction - England & Wales
Richard has particular expertise in banking, funds, structured finance and financial products disputes. He is regularly instructed by banks, asset managers, sovereign states and large corporates on their most important and complex cases.
Richard is also often instructed on shareholder, joint venture and private equity disputes. He regularly advises on a wide range of commercial disputes and has also advised investors and stakeholders on a number of major fund and institutional collapses.
Richard has experience of a broad range of dispute resolution mechanisms including litigation, arbitration and mediation. He has advised on a number of group actions involving multiple claimant groups and third parties and he regularly coordinates large multi-party proceedings across multiple jurisdictions.
The largest value cases often involve multi-faceted proceedings including jurisdiction challenges, freezing orders, cross-border evidence gathering and complex enforcement strategies and defences. Richard has been involved in many such cases, including enforcement proceedings arising from foreign judgments, LCIA, ICC and ICSID arbitrations.
ISDA dispute
Representing a European bank in $200m LCIA arbitration proceedings in connection with a series of transactions under the ISDA Master Agreement involving non-payment due to international sanctions.
CMA consumer investigation
Acting for a global brand in an investigation by the CMA into alleged breaches of consumer law and related civil proceedings.
Banks Group Action
Acting for a number of European banks on group claims including potential GLO proceedings in the UK and related proceedings in other jurisdictions. The claims arise from investments in real estate made by borrowers and involve multiple third parties including developers, agents and professional advisers.
Collapse of XiO Group
Acted for the new management of the XiO Group following the collapse of the group and the related litigation in several jurisdictions including Cayman, Hong Kong and London, claims for bonuses and carry by former senior managers and employees.
Central Bank
Acting for a Central Bank on multiple disputes including relating to gold bullion deposits, swaps and commodity trades in LCIA arbitration, sovereign debt claims, freezing order and enforcement proceedings, sovereign immunity, authority and custody disputes.
Collapse of Arch-Cru funds
Acted for SPL Guernsey ICC Ltd in relation to the collapse of the Arch Cru funds and the related litigation both in the UK and Guernsey, including claims against the investment manager, directors, administrators and auditors of the fund.
New York Convention Enforcement
Acting for the Republic of Venezuela in defence of the enforcement of an arbitral award arising from proceedings under the ICSID Additional Facility rules brought by Gold Reserve Inc., a Canadian gold mining company.
Blue Skye Special Opportunities Fund
Acted for a number of defendants in proceeding brought by companies in the Fortress group. The claims related to the reorganisation of a €200 million fund structure and included allegations of dishonesty.
Tchenguiz litigation
In one of the largest disputes of the past decade, the ongoing multi-faceted Tchenguiz litigation, achieved a series of victories including securing jurisdiction against Kaupthing Bank Hf and a successful judicial review challenge against the SFO.
Mobil v PDVSA
Successfully discharging a $12 billion freezing order obtained from the English Commercial Court and advising on related proceedings arising from an investment treaty dispute under ICSID arbitration rules arising from the nationalisation of oil interests in the Orinoco belt.
