Walkers Leads Landmark Defence of Mega-Litigation

Saad Investments Company Limited (In Official Liquidation) (SICL) and Others, a case in which claims and counterclaims at their height amounted to over US$17 billion.

Walkers, instructed by Steve Akers, Hugh Dickson, Mark Byers and Julie Nettleton of Grant Thornton represented 9 of the 16 Defendants in this litigation, including the principal Defendant, SICL. All of the claims against Walkers' clients were dismissed while findings of institutionalised fraud and dishonesty were made against the Plaintiff, AHAB.

With a trial lasting over 12 months, this is the longest running and highest value fraud case to have been tried in the Cayman Islands, putting Walkers amongst the globally elite lawyers equipped to deal with this type of mega-litigation. The case also demonstrates the ability of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands and its judiciary to deal with the most complex and high value litigation, and whom Counsel rightly commended at the conclusion of the trial.

The Judgment of over 1,300 pages will be seminal in matters of inter alia tracing, forgery, and the defence of illegality. Working with Grant Thornton, Walkers managed the discovery of millions of non-OCR Arabic language documents and the Court and the parties were able to overcome the logistical challenges of a year-long trial involving witnesses outside the jurisdiction, video conference evidence, translators and an 8 hour time difference between relevant jurisdictions as well as a broad range of complex legal issues.