Overview

Stuart D’Addona is a partner in our Litigation, Insolvency & Restructuring Group where he advises investment funds, banks, publicly listed companies, high net worth individuals and professional services firms in relation to a wide range of matters arising under Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands law.

Stuart specialises in shareholder disputes, corporate governance disputes, fraud and asset tracing, and obtaining urgent injunctive relief.  He also acts for clients in contentious and non-contentious insolvency matters, advising debtor companies, insolvency practitioners and creditors and other stakeholders.  He understands the issues which are often encountered by private clients in Asia and has strong experience advising such clients in relation to the contentious aspects of family and private wealth.

Stuart works closely and collaboratively with partners in Campbells’ Corporate Department, as well as with onshore law firms around the world, to identify and work towards the best possible outcomes for clients, in many cases seeking to avoid disputes altogether or to resolve them at an early stage.

 

Expertise

  • Partnership and Shareholder Disputes
  • Company Board Disputes
  • Fund Disputes and Distressed Funds
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Trust Litigation
  • Fraud and Asset Recovery
  • Injunctions and Other Ancillary and Interim Relief
  • Appointment and Removal of Liquidators and Receivers
  • Enforcement of Security
  • Advising Insolvency Practitioners, Creditors and Other Stakeholders
  • Judgment and Award Recognition and Enforcement

Work Highlights

(Prior to joining Campbells)

  • Acted for the founders of a successful industrial gases business in Mainland China which was incorporated in the Cayman Islands and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Their business partner attempted to engineer a hostile takeover, following which the founders were excluded from the management of the business. Urgent injunctive relief granted by the Cayman Court within 36 hours prevented the issuance and listing of a substantial number of shares and regulated the conduct of the board of directors.  The founders regained control of their company at an extraordinary general meeting and subsequently exited in a take-private deal – In re Yingde Gases Group Company Limited
  • Acted for the founders of an education business in Mainland China to obtain a quia timet injunction preventing the enforcement of security pending the resolution of a wider dispute concerning the acquisition of the business, which dispute had been referred to arbitration in Hong Kong and in Beijing. This case was the first time that the Cayman Court granted a freestanding injunction in support of arbitral proceedings and remains the leading case in the jurisdiction – Leed Education Holding Limited & Ors. v Minsheng Vocational Education Company Limited
  • Acted for a co-founder of a Cayman Islands private equity fund alleging widespread fraud and mismanagement by his co-founders, amounting to hundreds of millions of US Dollars, potentially affecting a significant number of institutional investors – Cowan et al. v Equis Special Limited Partnership & Ors.
  • Advised the founder of a successful logistics company in relation to the management of a wide ranging and cross-border dispute with a former business partner, including advising as to the rights of shareholders in Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands companies as well as the rights of limited partners in Cayman Islands exempted limited partnerships.
  • Acted for a number of family companies involved in long running litigation in the British Virgin Islands, including securing a favourable judgment in the Privy Council – In re Successful Trend Investments Corporation and Rayley Company Limited v Incredible Power Limited & Ors.
  • Acted for a high net worth individual in a shareholders’ dispute against his business partner, successfully establishing mismanagement and misconduct and also that the claimant’s shareholding should be bought out with no minority discount applied – Robinson v M1NT Global Holdings Limited

Qualifications and Admissions

  • Registered Associate, Bermuda (2020)
  • Registered Foreign Lawyer, Hong Kong (2015)
  • Admitted as a solicitor in the British Virgin Islands (2018)
  • Admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales (2018)
  • Admitted as a Solicitor of the High Court of Australia (2012)
  • Admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (2009)
  • Master of Laws, the University of Sydney (2009)
  • Bachelor of Laws, the University of Sydney (2008)
  • Bachelor of Arts, the University of Sydney (2006)

 

Prior Career History

  • Walkers, Hong Kong and Singapore
  • Gilbert + Tobin, Sydney
  • Minter Ellison, Sydney
  • Associate to the Hon. Justice A.R. Emmett, Federal Court of Australia

Professional Associations

  • Hong Kong Law Society
  • Law Society of New South Wales
  • Law Society of England and Wales

Publications and News

News