Posted on: November 3rd, 2025 by Ella Darnell
I joined Lawrence Stephens in November 2025 as an Associate in the Dispute Resolution team.
I am a 3-year qualified associate with broad experience advising clients on disputes across a range of industries, including telecommunications, engineering, and software development. I have acted on claims ranging from consumer small claims to high court disputes. I have also worked in tandem with employment and IP teams to provide specialist litigation advice.
Experience highlights
- Acted on a £10 million High Court engineering claim for an international engineering client
- Acted on a consumer claims portfolio for a major telecoms client
- Acted on a cross-jurisdiction fraud claim for a UHNW private client
- Acted on a IP dispute in the TCC for a software engineering client
Posted on: June 20th, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I am a paralegal in the Dispute Resolution team, having joined the firm in June 2025.
Prior to this role, I worked as a journalist and in the media before completing the MA Law (SQE1) course at the University of Law.
During the course I worked at the Intervene Project, where I helped bring civil claims for clients, and shadowed a barrister and a judge in separate cases in the High Court.
Away from work, I enjoy playing football and speaking Spanish, having spent a year living in Argentina and Bolivia during my undergraduate degree.
Posted on: January 31st, 2025 by Natasha Cox
I am an Associate within the Dispute Resolution department. I specialise in insolvency, commercial litigation, director and shareholder disputes, debt claims and fraud.
I have a strong track record of achieving favourable outcomes for my clients in a cost-effective manner, with many clients either returning or their professional advisers (whom I work alongside) recommending me to their clients.
Clients want to understand where they stand early on including the risks, rewards and costs; I tailor a strategy to achieve their desired outcome whilst also advising on commercial considerations they may have overlooked.
Prior to joining Lawrence Stephens I worked at a City boutique where I was involved in numerous matters which created case authority, and in HMRC’s Strategic Litigation department where I was involved in the £1bn Ingenious litigation.
I am a member of R3, the trade association for UK insolvency and restructuring professionals.
Outside of the office I enjoy spending my time with my growing family, watching Arsenal, going to the gym and trying new restaurants.
Experience highlights
- Obtaining an order to annul a client’s bankruptcy and prevent the sale of his £5.5million home.
- Successfully rescinding a winding-up order made against a company, preventing the realisation of its assets and the appointment of a receiver by a lender.
- Defending different categories of directors (de jure and de facto) against a liquidator’s claim for breach of duties, misfeasance, and dishonest assistance which created case law and was set for a cross-appeal before reaching a favourable settlement.
- Pursuing bankruptcy against a solicitor under the Insolvent Partnerships Order 1994 and making a full recovery of £150,000 plus legal costs.
- Ensuring that the construction of a significant development in Europe was not interrupted following a dispute over the validity of a payment on demand clause in a funding loan agreement (worth over £100million).
- Obtaining a freezing order on behalf of liquidators against various entities in a £14million art fraud.
- Preventing an UHNW client’s rare car collection worth over £20million being sold at auction by receivers following a default on a loan repayment.
- Concluding the Insolvency Service’s investigations into a director’s alleged misconduct without any disqualification period being sought.
- Obtaining a money judgment on behalf of a law firm and successfully defending a counterclaim for professional negligence following a five-day trial.
- Acting for a defendant and obtaining a security for costs order against the claimant, striking out their claim, obtaining charging orders over the claimant’s properties, and applying for the claimant’s property be sold at auction so that the proceeds could be paid to the defendant.
Publications
Posted on: December 6th, 2024 by Natasha Cox
I am a Senior Associate in the Real Estate Disputes Department having joined Lawrence Stephens in December 2024.
I join the firm with extensive experience acting for bridging and alternative lenders with a primary focus on secured and unsecured recoveries, which includes but is not limited to possession claims, receivership, insolvency and professional negligence.
I like to take a down to earth approach and develop strong relationships with clients, thereby ensuring that their needs and expectations are at the forefront of my mind when progressing any given matter.
Outside of work, I am a fitness enthusiast and enjoy going to the gym and running. Over recent years I have taken part in a number of runs. When I am not training I love all things food related and like eating out with friends and family.
Experience highlights
- Successfully obtaining a vesting order in favour of a lender
- Acting for a lender in the settlement of a professional negligence claim prior to the issue of proceedings
Posted on: November 12th, 2024 by Natasha Cox
I am a Partner in the Dispute Resolution team, having joined Lawrence Stephens in November 2024. My practice covers a broad range of commercial disputes for businesses and high-net-worth individuals. My cases are frequently complex, document heavy and involve multiple parties as well as a cross-border element and the need for emergency relief (e.g. freezing orders).
I specialise in substantial civil fraud claims (notably data/computer hacking claims) and complicated multi-national, enforcement and asset tracing work. I also advise on breach of trust, professional negligence, contentious insolvency and director, shareholder and/or partnership disputes.
I have also developed a niche practice in art and collectibles disputes.
Experience highlights
- Farhad Azima -v- Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), Neil Gerrard, Dechert LLP and James Buchanan. Acted for Mr Azima in his long-running dispute against the Ras-Al Khaimah sovereign wealth fund (and other alleged co-conspirators). The case involves allegations of computer hacking by RAKIA of Mr Azima’s confidential and privileged data. Further information on the case can be found here: https://www.brickcourt.co.uk/news/detail/judgments-in-favour-of-emirati-sovereign-wealth-fund-set-aside-on-grounds-of-fraud-by-the-fund and https://www.solicitorsjournal.com/sjarticle/uk-high-court-voids-judgments-amid-allegations-of-hacking-and-fraud
- Advised a well-known catering company in relation to their rights, remedies and reporting obligations following a malicious breach of their email system whereby the malicious entity circulated confidential information and disparaging comments to members of staff which (in part) led to threatened trade union action.
- Advised a wealthy businessman on his rights and remedies following the alleged hacking of his personal data and forging of documents by a firm of private investigators to support a substantial claim against him (and others) in the English High Court.
- Acting for a fintech client in relation to their claims against a payment aggregator. Obtaining an emergency worldwide freezing order, proprietary injunction and disclosure orders concerning the misappropriation of a substantial sum.
- Substantial fraud claim against a rogue builder following his gross over-charging of an elderly client. An emergency freezing order, proprietary injunction, third party disclosure order and an order for the delivery up of a number of high value vehicles obtained. Further assisted the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to bring a successful criminal prosecution against the rogue builder.
- Successfully defended a fraudulent attempt to obtain adverse possession of land and obtained judgment that the documents later relied on in enforcement proceedings were a sham.
Posted on: October 8th, 2024 by Hugh Dineen-Lees
After graduating from Exeter University with a 2.1 degree in Law with Business, I completed my LPC LLM at the University of Law, achieving a distinction. I am currently assigned to the Dispute Resolution team, having completed seats in the Private Wealth and Succession Planning and Residential Real Estate teams.
Outside of work, I enjoy going to the gym, watching football and spending time with friends and family.
Posted on: July 15th, 2024 by Hugh Dineen-Lees
I joined Lawrence Stephens in July 2024 as a paralegal in the Disputes Resolution team.
I bring over 20 years’ experience to the firm, having previously worked at a top West End law firm as a legal secretary within the Dispute Resolution department, dealing with property litigation and insolvency, bankruptcy and restructuring.
In my spare time, I enjoy reading, cooking and spending time with my two daughters.
Posted on: June 13th, 2024 by Natasha Cox
I am a leading figure and highly experienced specialist litigator in complex and multi‑jurisdictional disputes involving blockchain technology and digital assets. My practice includes crypto asset recovery for individuals and businesses following a hack, scam or misappropriation, including matters where wrongdoers are unknown or outside the jurisdiction, as well as contractual disputes with digital assets at their core.
I have extensive experience obtaining urgent, bespoke injunctions, including worldwide freezing orders, search orders (such as Anton Piller orders) and specific disclosure orders, and I have advised in some of the leading cases in this sector. By developing clear legal strategies informed by the underlying technology, I have recovered millions of pounds’ worth of digital assets for clients.
My expertise has been recognised in the leading legal directories, most recently in the Crypto‑Asset Disputes section of Chambers and Partners’ FinTech Guide 2026.
My practice also includes commercial litigation and disputes concerning technology and intellectual property matters, including trade mark and copyright infringement relating to digital, artistic and technology‑focused works.
My active involvement in the industry includes a number of high‑profile external appointments:
Experience highlights
- AA v Persons Unknown [2019] EWHC 3556 (Comm) (Comm) (13 December 2019) where, following a ransomware attack, an insurer paid Bitcoin in return for a Canadian hospital’s access to its customers’ data. This case confirmed that Bitcoin and crypto assets broadly were ‘property’ at common law and helped shape much of the law surrounding the status and strategies in freezing and recovering crypto assets around the world. It is highly cited in academic papers and judgments globally.
- Advising a London hedge fund following the loss of c.2 million USDC, obtaining a worldwide freezing injunction and an Anton Piller order, and recovering funds in nine working days (Matt Green on Recovering $1.5M in USDC in Under Two Weeks: Legal “Nuclear Options” and Peer-to-Peer Strategy – Lawrence Stephens).
- In a contractual dispute, settling a claim within a month of instruction, relating to 211,666,666 World Liberty Financial tokens, for c.10,600,000 USDC.
- Acting for a cryptocurrency brokerage whose business functionality was blocked by their service and liquidity provider following court orders obtained by the Secret Service, resulting in the recovery of approximately US$1 million in Tether.
- Obtaining reliefs against North Korean hackers following an exploit of an established crypto address provider and serving documents via Ether-based NFTs.
- Crypto Open Patent Alliance v Craig Steven Wright [2024] EWHC 1198 (Ch) (20 May 2024), joint proceedings concerning copyright and database claims, focusing on the identity of the Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto and whether he can exercise intellectual property rights over “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”.
- Tulip Trading Limited (A Seychelles Company) v Bitcoin Association For BSV & Ors: Devising a new strategy for the recovery of (i) private keys, preventing access to billions of pounds’ worth of Bitcoin, and (ii) other crypto assets worth millions as part of a wider hack.
- Securing private Court Orders against and working with major cryptocurrency exchanges to freeze funds and comply with enforcement provisions following sophisticated investment platform and romance scams.
Publications
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Posted on: February 28th, 2023 by Natasha Cox
I joined Lawrence Stephens in March 2023 as a Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolution department. I was promoted to my current role as a Partner and Head of Real Estate Disputes in August 2024.
I deal with a wide range of matters including but not limited to, secured recoveries, party wall and developer claims, trespass, rights to light claims, professional negligence, and all landlord tenant matters relating to breaches of covenant, possession, forfeiture, insolvency, debt recovery, contested lease renewals and dilapidation claims.
I have experience of taking matters to trial in the High Court and have also been involved in a number of successful appeals before the Court of Appeal.
My clients include lenders, investors, commercial landlords, local authorities, and insolvency practitioners.
I am married with three boys and live in South West London. Outside of work my interests include football, golf and going out with family and friends.
Experience highlights
- Acting for a developer and London Local Authority in a High Court Rights to Light Claim
- Advising and acting for various lenders in connection with enforceability of security documents, out of court administration appointments, receivership, obtaining vacant possession and enforcing personal guarantees.
- Obtaining an order from the Upper Tribunal (Land Chamber) discharging a restrictive covenant under s.84 of the Law of Property Act 1925
- Advising a bank in respect of its occupation of premises at Tower 42 on Old Broad Street and dealing with a claim by the landlord for dilapidations
- Legget & Ors -v-Giambrone Law LLP (In Liquidation) – €3.5m group litigation claim by 43 claimants against their former solicitors, Giambrone Law (“the Firm”) over its advice the clients in a failed property development that had alleged had links to the Mafia. It had been alleged that the Firm was under a duty to warn investors of the risks involved in investing in a part of Italy associated with organised crime
- Acting for a BVI entity (the Applicant) for an order by the Court approving the terms of a contested lease and for it to be executed by a Judge pursuant to section 39 of the Senior Courts Act 1981
- Successfully obtaining a vesting order against the Crown estate
- Acting for the successful claimants in various libel claims which have included, Al-Haddad -v- BBC, Sultan Choudhury -v- The Times Newspaper Limited, Huda Television Limited -v- The Henry Jackson Society.
Posted on: February 15th, 2023 by Natasha Cox
I an Associate in our Dispute Resolution team.
My experience covers a broad range of civil and commercial disputes for individuals and businesses (including high-net-worth individuals). I have acted on matters relating to shareholder and partnership disputes, complex disputes relating to share and purchase acquisitions, breach of contract disputes and high value debt recovery matters (involving emergency relief e.g. injunctive proceedings), individual and corporate insolvency, intellectual property disputes and professional negligence.
Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, travelling to new places as much as I can, strength-training at the gym and playing the piano.
Posted on: February 10th, 2023 by Natasha Cox
Having qualified in 1995, I joined Lawrence Stephens in April 1999 and have been a Partner since July 2003.
I advise extensively in relation to contractual disputes, breach of warranty claims, employment disputes, debt recovery and enforcement, insolvency-related matters (both personal and corporate), partnership and shareholders’ disputes, professional negligence claims and all manner of property-related litigation. I am also a member of the Property Litigation Association (PLA), and the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA).
My clients include businesses, real estate investment funds, asset managers, lenders and individuals.
I am married with two sons and live in North West London. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, walking our two dogs, Buster and Hugo, playing golf and supporting Watford FC.
Experience highlights
- Advising a Premier League footballer in relation to High Court proceedings arising from a contractual dispute with his former agent
- Obtaining injunctions against the former directors of a software development business in relation to both the theft of confidential information and the establishment of a competing business in breach of post-termination restrictive covenants
- Advising property developers in connection with a claim for damages against their building contractors for defective works and breach of contract
- Acting for a property trading company in relation to a disputed claim for substantial dilapidations on expiry of a lease of commercial premises
- Advising a client in connection with claims (in both the Employment Tribunal and the High Court) against her former employer for unfair dismissal and sex and race discrimination
Posted on: February 10th, 2023 by Natasha Cox
I’ve worked for solicitors in the City of London for over 40 years. Described by my clients as “the least lawyer-like lawyer” they’ve seen, my refreshing preference for plain-speaking and down-to-earth manner inspire trust.
My particular strength is in resolving problems in an efficient, speedy and economical way. I have extensive experience in business crime, commercial litigation, Revenue matters and extradition work.
I’m a member of BASL and represent several sports people, primarily in football; both playing and management staff. I’ve acted on matters before the FA disciplinary panel and its appeal panel as well as extensive FA investigations.
Recently, I successfully concluded major extradition case after a 21-year battle arising from one of the largest civil litigation matters ever heard by the English Court, involving multi-jurisdictional claims.
I have obtained a multi-million-pound judgment for a major business figure establishing fraud and forgery by the defendant within the civil court. I’ve also brought to the firm an excellent network of contacts together with a loyal client following, some of whom I have acted for in excess of 40 years.
When time allows for outside interests, I enjoy watching football (this is in spite of being a Crystal Palace season ticket holder), motor sport and travel. I’ve been married for over 40 years and have 2 grown up children and 2 wonderful grandchildren.
Experience highlights
- DW v TJ – Successful prosecution of claim for return of £500,000
- SA v MA – Successful application for husband dismissing wife’s continuing maintenance claim
- FKJ v Gov’t Spain – Undecided full application to European Court of Human Rights
- FKJ v SSHD – Contested Extradition 2000 – 2021
- JC v DW – Successful strike out of claim against client for £500,000
- MA v TJ £5m judgment secured having overcome jurisdictional challenge
- FA v X Successful dismissal of FA suspension after 2.5 years
