COMMERCIAL LITIGATION

We represent clients in complex, cross-border, corporate disputes before the Cayman Islands Courts.

We are experienced advocates and are well known to the Cayman Islands Courts.

Our lawyers act for a diverse client base including leading international accountancy practices, onshore law firms, financial institutions, insolvency practitioners, listed companies, hedge funds, pension funds, entrepreneurs, litigation and liquidation funders, and directors and shareholders in Cayman Islands companies.

As we are solely focused on litigation and regulatory law, with no transactional departments, and are not part of a global network, we are almost wholly conflict free.

We offer clients an alternative to the global offshore firms. Client testimonials collated by the Legal 500 (2025) include:

‘Claritas is a small firm with an impressive (and growing) reputation for big-ticket Cayman disputes. Its senior lawyers have come from the top-tier firms, and have the experience and the capability to act against the biggest firms on the Island on an even footing. It comes with the advantages of a small firm (eg a high degree of engagement in legal matters from the senior personnel who set up the firm, who are not distracted by internal management). Claritas is a fantastic alternative to the more established firms.’

‘The team at Claritas is one of the safest pairs of hands I have come across in practice. The team works incredibly efficiently and the work product which it produces is fantastic, which makes the job of counsel much easier and pleasurable. Claritas are a delight to deal with.’

‘A niche boutique practice, filling a gap in a market of big law firms and high prices.’

We are also one of a select group of Cayman Islands firms to have been awarded Legal 500’s Client Satisfaction kitemark. As described here, this is awarded to the firms that score most highly for client service and customer experience.

Our fees

We operate a lean business model which allows us to provide better value for money than many of our competitors. We are committed to transparent communications with our clients, including about our fees.

In instructing Claritas, you will have the benefit of many years of litigation experience gained at leading firms in the Cayman Islands and London, without paying for the overhead carried by a global firm.

Since 1 May 2021, Cayman Islands lawyers in civil litigation have been allowed to work on “no win no fee” arrangements, including: conditional fee agreements (whereby lawyers are paid an hourly rate plus a success fee if the claim succeeds); and contingency fee agreements (whereby lawyers are paid a percentage of recoveries if the claim succeeds).

We are happy to consider these arrangements in appropriate cases, to ensure that our economic interests are aligned with those of our clients. We are also happy to consider fixed or capped fees, or hybrid arrangements, as alternatives to the traditional hourly rate model.

We are able to leverage our relationships with third party litigation funders to arrange third party litigation funding for appropriate matters.

We have put together some information about the litigation funding options available in the Cayman Islands here.

Practice areas

Our key practice areas include:

Fraud and asset tracing

We have vast experience of obtaining, and defending applications for, emergency relief, including injunctions (freezing and otherwise), disclosure orders and the appointment of receivers and provisional liquidators.

Given our financial crime and regulatory expertise, we are particularly well positioned to act in disputes involving allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct, where our clients benefit from the insights of a former senior prosecutor.

Shareholder disputes

We regularly act for shareholders in Cayman companies, including hedge funds, listed companies, joint venture companies and start-ups. Often, their first question is how they can get information about the company and its operations. We have put together some information about this which is available here.

We often advise on remedies for minority shareholder oppression, including the appointment of inspectors, receivers and liquidators and the availability of derivative claims. We have petitioned successfully for the winding up of companies (including funds) on the just and equitable ground, on insolvency grounds and, in the case of closed-ended funds, on the ground that the term of the fund has expired. On many occasions, we have been able to negotiate a satisfactory outcome with fund management, saving our clients the expense of commencing litigation.

We have provided some high-level guidance on the options that are available to disgruntled shareholders under Cayman law here.

Investment fund disputes

Our lawyers have acted on many occasions for investors in Cayman Islands hedge funds and private equity funds, who have become frustrated with the manager’s conduct of the business of the fund.

We are frequently asked to advise on redemption rights and have produced some guidance on the rights attaching to redeemable shares, which is here.

As stated above, we also have a wealth of experience in advising on remedies for minority shareholder oppression. Our high-level guidance for disgruntled shareholders in Cayman companies is here.

We have also advised on many disputes relating to funds structured as exempted limited partnerships rather than companies. Limited partners have different (and often broader) rights from shareholders. We have provided some guidance as to their rights here.

Onshore litigation and arbitration support

We have worked closely with lawyers in jurisdictions including the US, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, the PRC, Latin America, Europe and elsewhere to obtain interim relief from the Cayman Islands Court in support of litigation and arbitration overseas. Such relief may include asset freezing injunctions, the appointment of receivers, or disclosure orders. We work as a team with our client’s onshore lawyers to co-ordinate the many moving pieces involved in cross border litigation. We generally find that the Cayman Islands Courts are sensitive to the needs of cross border litigants and will grant urgent hearings and confidentiality orders where required.

We also advise regularly on the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in the Cayman Islands.

Merger litigation and share valuation

We have deep experience of merger appraisal litigation under section 238 of the Companies Act of the Cayman Islands. Both Katie Pearson and Mark Burrows have acted for the companies in some of the most important cases in this developing and important area of Cayman Islands law, and Mark Burrows has also acted for dissenting shareholders in appraisal proceedings in both the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.