Sinead O'Callaghan - Partner
Sinead is a corporate and commercial litigator with a broad range of domestic and international experience. Her particular focus is on banking and finance, civil and commercial fraud and trust disputes and professional negligence matters. Her banking and finance experience includes acting for receivers appointed over a structured investment vehicle in respect of disputes with the vehicle's bankers and noteholders and advising on claims arising from the mis-selling of interest rate swaps and other complex financial products. Her civil and commercial fraud and trust dispute experience includes cases involving fraudulent misappropriation of assets, multi jurisdictional asset tracing exercises, breach of trust and conflicts in relation to the appointment and removal of trustees. Her professional negligence experience includes both acting for claimants and defending disciplinary investigations and/or prosecutions brought against professional services organisations by various professional bodies, including the Institute of Actuaries, the AADB and the Institute of Chartered Accountants. She has also advised on substantial IT/Telecoms outsourcing disputes and partnership and shareholder disputes.
Sinead has experience of mediation, arbitration (LCIA, ICC, LME and FOSFA) and expert determination and her work frequently involves liaising with overseas lawyers, forensic accountants and other expert disciplines.
What the legal directories say
Sinead is ranked as a leading lawyer in the Chambers and Partners Guide (2012 edition). That directory says: Sinead is an up-and-coming younger partner who "has shown an impressive ability to translate business points and data into effective legal arguments".
Background
Sinead obtained a BSc from Bristol University in Biological Sciences (specialising in Genetics) and was awarded distinctions in both the Common Practice Examination and Legal Practice Course, which she studied at the College of Law in London. Sinead trained with Theodore Goddard (subsequently named Addleshaw Goddard after a merger), qualifying as a solicitor in March 2003. Sinead worked for Addleshaw Goddard for four years following her qualification and then moved to Mayer Brown International, where she worked for three years as a senior associate before leaving that firm to join Cooke, Young & Keidan in January 2010.
Cases of note
Examples of Sinead's cases which have been the subject of reported judgments include: Hewden Tower Cranes Ltd v Wolfkran GmbH [2007]. Acting for insurers in connection with the Canary Wharf collapse.
Real Estate Opportunities Limited v. Aberdeen Asset Managers Jersey Limited, Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited, UBS Limited [2007]. Advising on the defence of a claim arising from the flotation of a split capital investment trust.
North Shore Ventures Limited v Anstead Holdings Inc & Ors [2010] (First Instance) and [2011] (Court of Appeal). Defending a very high value claim brought in the Commercial Court by a company whose shares are owned by the well-known Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky. The case considered the extent to which a lender is under a duty to disclose unusual facts to a prospective guarantor and whether the failure to do so renders a guarantee void.
RBS v Highland Financial Partners LP & Ors [2010]. A widely reported banking litigation case relating to a €500 million CDO issue of securities and the subsequent liquidation/valuation of the portfolio following the Autumn 2008 financial crash. The bank was subjected to strong judicial criticism for conducting a “sham” auction of leveraged loans and was found to have lied to and deceived its counterparty.
Sinead also acted on a pro bono basis for Justice, a leading civil liberties organisation, in respect of its intervention in the House of Lords appeal in R (on the application of Corner House Research and others) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office [2008]. This was a judicial review of the decision of the Serious Fraud Office to halt investigations into alleged bribery on the part of BAE Systems Plc in respect of a Saudi arms deal.
Professional groups
Sinead is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales, the Young International Arbitration Group and the Irish International Business Network.
