Katie leads our commercial litigation, insolvency and restructuring practices.

Katie has practised in the Cayman Islands since 2009, which makes her one of the most expe­rienced Cayman Islands litigators. Prior to founding Claritas in 2022, Katie was a partner in the litigation team of global offshore law firm, Harneys. Katie is an experienced advocate and frequently appears before the courts of the Cayman Islands.

Katie combines a keen intellect with a practical focus. Given her experience, she is able to see quickly to the heart of an issue, devise a solution, and execute it with ruthless efficiency. She is committed to delivering value for money to her clients.

Katie’s expertise is recognized by Chambers Global (2024), where client sources report that “Katie Pearson provides high-quality output for litigation matters. She is responsive, reliable and commercially flexible," “Katie offers a hands-on service and is super-bright, very personable, good to work with and very effective" and “Katie Pearson is excellent and a strong technical lawyer."

She is also recognized as a “next generation partner" in Legal 500 (2024) and by Who’s Who Legal (2024) as a Thought Leader in Asset Recovery and a Recommended Individual for Restructuring & Insolvency. Katie was awarded the Lexology Client Choice Award 2024 for Asset Recovery in the Cayman Islands.

Katie began her legal career in London where she trained at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and practised at leading fraud litigation firm, Peters & Peters, before moving to the Cayman Islands, where she practised with Appleby and then Harneys.

Katie’s case highlights include

• Acting for Fortunate Drift Limited, a Chinese-owned, BVI-incorporated company, in its efforts to recover funds misappropriated by its Cayman broker, Canterbury Securities, Ltd. We obtained judgment on liability following a two-week trial in June 2023, judgment on quantum following a further hearing in December 2023, and put the defendant company into liquidation in January 2024.
• Acting for a high-net-worth individual who is the majority investor in Seahawk China Dynamic Fund, a Cayman hedge fund. Following a failed attempt to wind up the fund, on which our client was represented by another law firm, we were instructed to act on the inquiry into the damages which our client is required to pay the Fund under the cross-undertaking in damages which he provided in order to obtain the appointment of Joint Provisional Liquidators over the fund. We also act in separate proceedings in which the fund alleges breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract against our client.
• Acting for a creditor of a Chinese individual, obtained a Norwich Pharmacal order ordering the registered office providers of two Cayman companies suspected to be connected with the debtor to disclose beneficial ownership and other information. This was part of a global asset tracing exercise.
• Acting for EY as liquidators of TCA Global Credit Fund Ltd. This case involves difficult questions of cross-border insolvency arising from the parallel appointments of Cayman Islands liquidators and a US receiver.
• Acting for Trina Solar, JA Solar and Sina Corporation in share valuation disputes under section 238 of the Cayman Companies Act, following their de-listing from US stock exchanges.
• Acting for ArcelorMittal USA LLC on an application for a Norwich Pharmacal order against two Cayman companies in the Essar group. This was part of a global effort to enforce a US$ I.5 billion arbitral award against Essar Steel Limited and closely co-ordinated with applications for relief from the High Court in England.
• Acting for Brazilian telecommunications giant, Oi S.A. on an application for an injunction to prevent a Cayman fund from interfering in its Brazilian judicial reorganization proceedings.
• Acting for the Dutch inventor of a self-propelling wheel in relation to a dispute with his former business partner in relation to Cayman company, Freerider Ltd. This was one of the first liquidations following the introduction of the Companies Winding up Rules in 2009 and gave rise to a number of reported decisions on the interpretation of those rules.
• Acting for an American businessman seeking the recovery of his investment in Cayman company, Fortune Nest Ltd. Successfully petitioned for the company to be wound up on the just and equitable ground.
• Acting for a Cayman holding company, Fortuna Development Corporation, in very long-running litigation by a minority shareholder challenging his removal from the board of directors.
• Katie has provided expert evidence of Cayman Islands law for use in litigation and arbitration proceedings in the US, Hong Kong and the PRC.

Bar Admissions

• England and Wales, 2006 (non practising)
• Cayman Islands, 2009

Education

• BPP Law School, London, Legal Practice Course, 2003
• City, University of London, Postgraduate Diploma in Law, 2002
• Corpus Christi College, Oxford, MA (Oxon) (Double First), 2001

Professional Memberships

• Cayman Islands Restructuring and Insolvency Specialists Association
• International Bar Association
• International Women in Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation