Campbells

We have a strong reputation and particular expertise in the following areas: M&A; restructuring; joint ventures; investment funds; insurance and reinsurance, including captives and insurance-linked securities; capital markets; debt and equity listings; banking and structured finance; asset acquisition and finance, including shipping and aircraft finance; vessel and aircraft registration and mining and resources.

Our Insolvency and Restructuring team is one of the largest in the Cayman Islands and is widely acknowledged as a market leader. Campbells has particular expertise in investment fund disputes and insolvencies. As can be seen from our Representative Cases below, Campbells has taken a lead or major role in most of the significant insolvency and restructuring cases in the Cayman Islands and is seen as a first choice firm for the insolvency and restructuring profession.

We act for local and overseas insolvency and restructuring professionals, creditors, investors, minority shareholders, directors, investment managers and other professional service providers in connection with all aspects of the restructuring and winding up of companies, investment funds, limited partnerships and structured finance entities. We have specific experience of coordinating cross-border appointments, obtaining and discharging injunctions, assisting with gathering evidence and obtaining recognition and assistance from overseas courts.

We take pride in our responsiveness and levels of service, the quality of our advice and advocacy, and above all our long track record of achieving our clients’ objectives in and out of court in a commercial and cost-effective manner. Our litigators have the experience and strength in depth to handle the largest and most complex disputes, liquidations and restructurings and our Hong Kong office allows us to provide 24-hour coverage where required. The size of our team also enables us to ensure that each case is staffed appropriately, which in turn leads to cost efficiencies and value for our clients.

Our insurance practice, led by partner Alan Craig, is recognised as holding a leading position among law firms in the insurance/reinsurance sector of the Cayman Islands and heads the market in both contentious and non-contentious insurance matters. The firm advises on the establishment of both captive insurers and reinsurance entities in the Cayman Islands and is lead counsel to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, a World Bank sponsored entity established to provide coverage to Caribbean governments in respect of hurricane and earthquake risks. Our lawyers have been involved in some of the most high profile and innovative structures applied to catastrophe risk and means of accessing the capital markets for insurance purposes.

Campbells is widely recognised for the strength of its highly regarded litigation practice.

We have one of the largest specialist litigation teams, and routinely act in the most significant, high-value and complex disputes in both the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands. We provide a full suite of dispute resolution services including complex litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution services to a diverse, international client base from our offices in Cayman, the BVI and Hong Kong.

We have a wealth of experience spanning a broad range of disputes, with particular expertise in investment fund disputes, fraud matters, trust litigation, asset tracing, shareholder disputes, professional liability actions and dissenting shareholder fair value petitions.

Our clients range from large international, financial and trading organisations to liquidators, receivers, directors and trustees in bankruptcy of international and local entities, participants in investment and trust structures and government agencies.

We pride ourselves on providing clear, practical, commercial advice and effective representation, and work closely with our clients to achieve their strategic objectives.  We prioritise resolving our clients’ disputes as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible, and have considerable experience of alternative dispute resolution.

Members of the department appear frequently before first instance and appellate courts, and have been involved in many reported cases. We are a leader in advising financial service providers and other clients in connection with local and overseas regulatory investigations. Our litigators also appear regularly as expert witnesses in foreign proceedings and speak at local and international conferences.

Real Estate & Property:

Campbells handles all aspects of property transactional work from sales and purchase to conveyance and related residential and commercial financing both for individuals and corporations. We work with developers, financial institutions, realtors and property managers from initial stages of purchase, planning, development, financing projects (either for lending institution(s) or developer) to the ultimate completion of the transaction.  We also focus on land use planning and development for a broad range of clientele including private sector developers, local landowners, strata corporations and individual homeowners.

Campbells has wide ranging experience in all aspects of commercial and private trusts including: trust formation and advising on the regulatory requirements and operational requirements related thereto; trust structures for the purposes of taking security or securitisation; pension trusts; STAR trusts; fixed interest and discretionary trusts; reversed powers trusts; VISTA trusts; removal of trustees; rectification of trusts and the establishment of private trust companies. We also have extensive experience advising trust companies on licensing operation process and standard documentation.

The firm regularly acts for participants in international trust structures in relation to disputes over trust assets or between trustees, protectors and beneficiaries. Recent cases have involved family trusts owning high profile, publicly recognised commercial assets.