Brian Lacy

Practice Areas

Banking Disputes; BVI Law in Europe and Asia; Corporate and Financial Services Disputes; Crypto Disputes; Dispute Resolution; Enforcement of Judgments and Awards; Financial Crime; Fraud and Asset Tracing; Funds Disputes; Insurance Disputes; International Arbitration; Regulatory; Regulatory, Investigations and Enforcement; Restructuring and Insolvency; Shareholder and Valuation Disputes; Trusts; Trusts Disputes and Applications

Career

Brian is the Head of BVI Dispute Resolution at Ogier. He is a "formidable" commercial litigation barrister, with considerable experience of civil fraud, insolvency and trust disputes, and regularly appears in the BVI Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal.

Over the past decade, Brian has been involved in cases across the full range of BVI disputes, many of which have actively developed the law in new and positive ways. His areas of significant expertise include:

ASSET TRACING / PRESERVATION AND ENFORCEMENT

These matters often involve interim injunctive relief or the appointment of provisional liquidators or receivers. Brian made the first application for the appointment of receivers in aid of an arbitration under the BVI Arbitration Act 2013, in proceedings that ultimately resulted in the successful enforcement of the arbitration award with 100% recovery for the client.

CIVIL FRAUD

Brian is a Fellow of the International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators, in Basel. He and his team have both the experience and resources to conduct complex substantive fraud proceedings, and currently act for BTA Bank in a US$250 million+ commodities letter of credit fraud perpetrated on the bank.

CONTENTIOUS TRUSTS AND PROBATE

Brian regularly advises trustees and beneficiaries and has particular expertise in complex, cross-border contentious probate.

COMMERCIAL LITIGATION

Brian's past cases include the construction of a limited partnership agreement as to the correct allocation of US$1 billion+ of profit.

RESTRUCTURING AND INSOLVENCY

Brian acted for QGOG Constellation, and the provisional liquidators, in the first light-touch liquidation in the BVI. Since that landmark decision in 2019, Brian and his team have worked on multiple light-touch restructurings and schemes of arrangement. He also acts for creditors and office holders in formal liquidations, often using the insolvency process as an effective method of judgment and award enforcement. Brian served the maximum four year term as a director of RISA (the BVI chapter of INSOL).

SHAREHOLDER DISPUTES

Much of Brian's legal career, in England and in the BVI, has involved unfair prejudice and other forms of shareholder disputes. He successfully represented Microsoft in the first derivative permission claim to be considered by the ECSC Court of Appeal.

Admitted in:

2012 - British Virgin Islands

2006 – England & Wales (non practising)

Professional Memberships

- RISA (BVI INSOL Chapter)

- British Virgin Islands Bar Association

- British Russian Law Association

- British Ukrainian Law Association

- British Kazakh Law Association

- Hon. Society of Lincoln’s Inn (Scholarships: Lord Brougham; Harwicke; and Kennedy)

- Chancery Bar Association

Publications

- Co-author of the BVI chapter of The Arbitration Review of the Americas, 2015

- Co-author of the BVI chapter of The Dispute Resolution Review, 7th ed., 2014

- Co-author of the BVI chapter of The Arbitration Review of the Americas, 2014

- Co-author of Security for Costs and other Court Ordered Security, Jordans, 2010

- Contributor to Restrictive Covenants and Confidential Information, Brearly & Bloch, Butterworths, 3rd ed., 2009