Lucy O’Brien

She is an insolvency and litigation lawyer with significant experience in contentious insolvency matters, business-critical litigation and general commercial disputes.

Lucy specialises in all aspects of the recovery of assets into insolvent estates by administrators, liquidators, trustees in bankruptcy and fixed charge receivers. This includes working with insolvency practitioners to trace funds and bringing and defending claims brought by officeholders, such as transactions at an undervalue, wrongful and fraudulent trading, voidable preferences and breach of duty/misfeasance. She also advises lenders, creditors and insolvency practitioners on the validity of their security and enforcement options, as well as fixed charge receivers on their appointments and post-appointment matters. Her advice to insolvency practitioners, lenders and creditors is often provided in the context of a wider fraud, such as an investment scam or Ponzi scheme.

She is regularly involved in general commercial litigation in the High Court and County Court, including breach of contract, misrepresentation and professional negligence claims, as well as business-critical litigation such as shareholder disputes, minority shareholder petitions and guarantee claims.

• Successfully defending a complex claim in the High Court and Court of Appeal focusing on the powers and duties of fixed charge receivers.
• Advising the administrators of a property development company in relation to the sale of a multi-million pound property out of administration, including the determination of complex creditor claims in the administration.
• Acting for the claimant in High Court litigation involving a dispute as to title to a valuable painting held in storage.
• Acting for a client in the aviation sector in respect of a multi-million pound breach of contract claim.
• Acting for lenders and fixed charge receivers in relation to the validity of security and technical receivership issues arising prior to and post-appointment.
• Acting for a minority shareholder group in a shareholder dispute brought by way of an unfair prejudice petition.

• Disruption, Damage And Distraction – Navigating Shareholder Disputes – co-authored with Ed Starling
• Shareholder Disputes – Wedlake Bell
• LPA AND FIXED CHARGE RECEIVERSHIPS – Wedlake Bell