Sri Carmichael

Civil fraud and asset recovery

Sri is ranked as a leading junior in Civil Fraud and was named ‘Chancery Junior of the Year’ at the Legal 500 UK Bar Awards 2024.

Sri acts in substantial commercial fraud claims, including conspiracy claims. She has considerable experience cross-examining on allegations of fraud and dishonesty and is frequently instructed in disputes with a company law or insolvency angle due to her cross-discipline expertise.

Recent work includes:

• Acting in a multi-faceted private equity dispute involving the court’s consideration of the merits of a €280m fraud claim brought in Luxembourg within the context of English insolvency proceedings and complex issues concerning rights to disclosure and privilege.
• Acting for several HNW individuals in respect of complex, high value fraud claims arising out of a tax avoidance scheme.
• Defending a £57m fraud claim arising out of the liquidation of the Thomas Cook Group of companies.
• Acting for an investment professional in a dispute with a global private equity group over its alleged wrongful expropriation of his substantial financial interest in one of its funds upon that fund’s restructuring. Led by Nikki Singla KC.
• Acting in a long-running family dispute over the restructuring of a group of companies valued at £100s millions in which it is alleged that vast sums have been hidden from creditors in offshore trusts. Led by John Wardell KC and Andrew Mold KC.
• Acting in a large-scale deceit claim concerning a project to develop a polo community in the Bahamas. Sole counsel.
• Floreat Investment Management Limited v Churchill & Ors [2022] EWHC 357 (Comm): Acting for the manager of a Cayman Islands investment fund in a multimillion-dollar three-week fraud trial in the Commercial Court against the fund’s former investment advisers.
• Acting for one of Europe’s largest sports agencies in a dispute with one of its former directors over his alleged misappropriation of funds and business opportunities. Sole counsel.
• Advising on urgent injunctive relief against a former employee impersonating his former employer and using its confidential information to defraud the employer and its customers and suppliers. Sole counsel.
• Acting for the claimant in an eight-day trial of a breach of duty/knowing receipt claim in which it was alleged that the company’s de facto directors had diverted the company’s funds to their own corporate entities. Sole counsel.
• Succeeded in the trial of a shareholder dispute concerning the fraudulent diversion of a multimillion-pound care home business. Sole counsel.
• Defending former consultants to the commercial arm of a leading university who were alleged to have misappropriated confidential information worth millions of pounds in respect of computer gaming programs developed for the military and police. Sole counsel.
• Acting for a US-based shareholder of a technology company operating from the Ukraine in a dispute concerning apparently fraudulent conduct by the company’s other shareholders. Sole counsel.
• Acting for a private bank and its directors in a multimillion-pound commercial fraud claim concerning misappropriation of confidential information and a maturing investment opportunity. Sole counsel.
• Acting for a renewable energy company in a claim against a former director for diverting business opportunities. Sole counsel.
• Defending former employees of a Norwegian media firm against allegations of breach of duty, breach of confidence, knowing receipt and conspiracy in a claim that raised conflict of laws issues. Sole counsel.

Download Civil fraud and asset recovery CV

Company law

Sri is ranked as a leading junior in Company law and was named ‘Chancery Junior of the Year’ at the Legal 500 UK Bar Awards 2024.

Sri frequently acts in unfair prejudice petitions, claims for breaches of shareholders’ agreements and claims against directors. She also advises on technical aspects of company law concerning corporate governance, including meetings and resolutions, and has experience of joint venture disputes.

Sri has successfully acted as sole counsel in lengthy unfair prejudice and breach of duty trials involving allegations of fraud and dishonesty.

Recent work includes:

• Acting for an investment professional in a dispute with a global private equity group over its alleged wrongful expropriation of his substantial financial interest in one of its funds upon that fund’s restructuring. Led by Nikki Singla KC.
• CLO HoldCo Limited v Highland CLO Funding Limited [2023] GRC061. Acting for the successful Respondent in a complex, high value unfair prejudice petition in Guernsey, which raised interesting issues about the duty of good faith and the role of equitable considerations in commercial relationships. Led by Alan Gourgey KC.
• Advising minority shareholders in respect of two related unfair prejudice petitions concerning global mining companies.
• Succeeded in the liability trial of an unfair prejudice petition between two brothers concerning the fraudulent diversion of a multimillion-pound care home business. Sole counsel.
• Acting for one of Europe’s largest sports agencies in a dispute with one of its former directors over his alleged misappropriation of funds and business opportunities. Sole counsel.
• Acting for the claimant in an eight-day trial of a breach of duty/knowing receipt claim in which it was alleged that the company’s de facto directors had diverted the company’s funds to their own corporate entities. Sole counsel.
• Acting as part of the counsel team instructed by the claimant on this complex £50m fraudulent breach of duty claim in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar arising out of the much-publicised collapse of one of Gibraltar’s largest insurers. Focused on the financial assistance element of the claim.
• Acting for a US-based shareholder of a technology company operating from the Ukraine in a multimillion-pound dispute for breach of the shareholders’ agreement. Sole counsel.
• Acting for a minority shareholder in a dispute over the operation of an eyewear company which involved misappropriation of company assets and a threatened rights issue to dilute the client’s shareholding. Sole counsel.
• Acting for a director and shareholder in a dispute over ownership of the company and rectification of the register of members, involving a claim for proprietary estoppel. Sole counsel.

Download Company law CV

Insolvency

Sri is ranked as a leading junior in Insolvency and was named ‘Chancery Junior of the Year’ at the Legal 500 UK Bar Awards 2024.

Sri is instructed in complex and often urgent corporate and personal insolvency matters, both domestic and international. She has considerable experience of injunctions to restrain winding up, setting aside statutory demands, reviewable transactions, allegations of misfeasance and wrongful trading, and other issues arising out of liquidations, administrations, CVAs, bankruptcies and IVAs.

Recent work includes:

• Acting in a complex, high value private equity dispute involving the court’s consideration of how a liquidator is to assess a LLP’s solvency under s.95 IA 1986 in determining whether it must move from MVL to CVL, including the value, if any, to be attributed to highly contentious ongoing claims brought against the LLP in another jurisdiction.
• Application under s.303 Insolvency Act 1986 to set aside a decision of the Applicant’s former Trustees in Bankruptcy to assign a claim to my Respondent clients rather than the Applicant. Part of a long-running, complex family dispute. Led by John Wardell KC, Marcia Shekerdemian KC and Andrew Mold KC.
• Defending a £57m fraud claim arising out of the liquidation of the Thomas Cook Group of companies.
• Defending a claim under s.423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 connected to a high-value dispute between members of a prominent Hong Kong family concerning alleged inter-company debt within the family’s global property group.
• Acting for a creditor and former employer in an £80 million dispute with the liquidator of public sector contractor Carillion.
• Acting as part of the counsel team instructed by the liquidator on this complex £50m fraudulent breach of duty claim in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar arising out of the much-publicised collapse of one of Gibraltar’s largest insurers. Focused on the financial assistance element of the claim.
• Acting for liquidators in a misfeasance/transaction at an undervalue application against a former director in relation to payment of unlawful dividends. Sole counsel.
• Advising a creditor in relation to a s.262 IA 1986 application to challenge an IVA on the grounds of unfair prejudice and material irregularity. Sole counsel.
• Acting for the claimant company in liquidation in an eight-day trial of a breach of duty/knowing receipt claim in which it was alleged that the company’s de facto directors had diverted the company’s funds to their own corporate entities. Sole counsel.
• Successfully defended TV personality Anthea Turner in a five-day trial of a multimillion-pound transaction at an undervalue claim brought against her by her former husband’s trustee in bankruptcy.
• Advising on strategies to remove a liquidator who had installed himself without proper authority and obtain pre-action disclosure from the company in liquidation.
• Acting for a company petitioning for the bankruptcy of one of its directors in respect of unpaid loans. Involved successfully resisting an interim application to strike out material from a witness statement that was said to be subject to without prejudice privilege. Sole counsel.
• Acting for a trustee in bankruptcy seeking to set aside a judgment to which he was not a party pursuant to CPR 40.9 on the basis that he was ‘directly affected’ by the bankrupt’s decision, prior to the trustee’s appointment, not to oppose an application for a declaration regarding her ownership of a property. Sole counsel.

Download Insolvency CV