Steven White

Partner

Bermuda

T +1 441 242 1562

M +1 441 525 1562

E steven.white@walkersglobal.com

Featured Professional

Steven White is a partner in Walkers' Bermuda Insolvency & Dispute Resolution Group and is Head of the Trust Disputes team. He is a barrister with over 20 years' experience in the UK and Bermuda, specialising in high value commercial litigation, arbitration and enforcement actions, often with a strong multi-jurisdictional element, and with a particular focus on contentious insolvency and restructuring, trust disputes and corporate disputes. He is an experienced advocate, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of INSOL International.

Practice Areas

Steven White is a partner in the Insolvency & Dispute Resolution practice of Walkers Bermuda and is Head of the Trust Disputes team.

He is a barrister with over 20 years' experience in the UK and Bermuda. He specialises in high value commercial litigation, arbitration and enforcement actions, often with a strong multi-jurisdictional element, and with a particular focus on contentious insolvency and restructuring, trust disputes and corporate disputes. He is an experienced advocate, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of INSOL International.

Steven's complex restructuring and insolvency expertise includes cross-border insolvencies, particularly in respect of Asia and the USA, schemes of arrangement, receiverships, asset recovery/tracing, and related corporate governance issues. As part of his practice, he regularly advises liquidators and receivers, creditors, and the boards of distressed companies.

He also has extensive experience in high value trust litigation and court approved restructurings, and has been involved in many of the major trust cases in Bermuda in recent years. Steven has represented settlors, trustees, protectors, and beneficiaries in a wide range of both contentious and non-contentious applications.

Steven is a ranked lawyer in Chambers Global 2022 for Dispute Resolution, is recommended as a leading individual by The Legal 500, and for Asset Recovery and as a future leader in Commercial Litigation by Who's Who Legal.

Prior Employment Experience

Prior to joining Walkers, Steven was a partner in the Dispute Resolution team at another leading global offshore law firm. Before relocating to Bermuda, he practised for nearly ten years as a commercial and chancery barrister at a UK Chambers & Partners tier 1 ranked chambers in England & Wales.

Steven also spent three years working in London as inhouse counsel for a major group of private healthcare companies and 12 months as a legal assistant in the Inquiry legal team of the Bloody Sunday (Saville) Inquiry.

Reported Cases:

Insolvency & Restructuring

Re Titan Petrochemicals Group Ltd [2022] CA (Bda) 13 Civ - acted for the petitioning creditor at trial and on appeal by company in a disputed petition debt case
Re Titan Petrochemicals Group Ltd [2021] SC (Bda) 89 Comm– acted for the petitioning creditor in obtaining rare third party costs order against the executive director of company
Douglas Kelley (as Trustee of the PCI Liquidating Trust) v Steve Stevanovich & Ors [2018] Bda LR 89 – acted for a corporate service provider in partially setting aside information request by US court appointed trustee
Re Sturgeon Central Asia Balanced Fund Ltd (Costs of Withdrawn Petition) [2017] Bda LR 106 – represented a company in recovering costs for contributories' petition brought without standing
Capital Partners Securities Co Ltd v Sturgeon Central Asia Balanced Fund Ltd [2017] Bda LR 78 – acted for an investment fund at trial defending a petition to wind up on a just and equitable basis
Re Opus Offshore Ltd [2017] Bda LR 14 – acted for a creditor in resisting a cross application by the majority shareholder of the company to appoint its own choice of provisional liquidators
Re Energy XXI Ltd [2016] Bda LR 90 – acted for the provisional liquidators in obtaining a permanent stay in support of a parallel US Chapter 11 plan and against the opposition of US court appointed Equity Committee

Trusts Disputes

Wong v Grand View PTC Limited et al [2022] SC (Bda) 44 Com - acted successfully for defendant in a long running US$10 billion plus trusts dispute which went to a 5 month virtual trial in 2021
The Brockman Trust [2021] CA (Bda) 20 Civ – acted for former trustee at first instance and on appeal in case concerning multiple trustees du son tort and a dispute at board level of private trust company
Wong v Grand View PTC and Ors (Ruling on Specific Discovery) [2020] Bda LR 45 – acted for defendant in significant interlocutory application clarifying discovery duties in Bermuda
Re FA and FB Trusts [2019] Bda LR 87 – acted for protector opposing removal application based upon his censure by a US Court and in seeking declaratory relief in respect of an express indemnity on costs
Re A Trusts [2018] Bda LR 53 – acted for beneficiary in contested court approval of momentous decision by trustees and clarifying scope of court's jurisdiction in Public Trustee v Cooper category 2 cases

Commercial Litigation

Seventh Sense Star Ltd v Khouj & Anor [2022] SC (Bda) 18 Comm – represented plaintiff seeking recovery of proceeds from the sale of jet aircraft misappropriated by directors and defending a set-aside application
Doctoroff v Crown Global Life Insurance Ltd et al [2021] SC (Bda) 44 Comm – acted successfully for a life insurance company in defending a strike out application based upon contentious interpretation of policy
Griffin Line General Trading LLC v Centaur Ventures Ltd [2020] Bda LR 43 – acted for plaintiff in obtaining and then successfully defending attempted set-aside of freezing injunction in $100 million loan claim
S v L [2019] Bda LR 83 – acted for US creditors committee seeking enforcement and recognition in Bermuda of $300 million arbitral award and also obtaining parallel freezing injunctions in Bermuda and Cayman
East Asia Company Ltd & Bali Energy Ltd vPT Satria Tirtatama Energindo [2017] Bda LR 97 (Appeals) – acted at trial and on appeal for plaintiff in dispute over ownership rights to develop Indonesian power plant
Majuro Investment Corporation v Timis & Ors [2015] Bda LR 112 - acted for a Swiss law firm in setting aside leave for service out and a $50m proprietary injunction; court clarified meaning of 'anchor defendant'
Speechley & Ors v Allott & Ors All ER [2014] (D) 89 (Mar) – acted successfully at trial and on appeal for club committee over disputed elections. In the decision, the English Court of Appeal established for the first time that the company law Duomatic principle applies to unincorporated associations

Regulatory/Other Litigation Matters

Munoz-Vargas v Sun Life Assurance [2018] Bda LR 36 – acted for insurance company in application seeking directions from the court for payment out of monies in court to a non-named beneficiary of policy
Minister of Finance v AP [2016] Bda LR 117 – acted successfully at trial and on appeal by Minister for company setting-aside tax information production order due to material non-disclosure by requesting state
AA v Bermuda Monetary Authority, Royal Gazette Notices, 2 November 2016 –acted for reinsurance company appealing BMA fine and other censure in first ever case before the Insurance Appeals Tribunal
Zaman & Ors v Kozee Sleep Products Ltd [2011] IRLR 196 - acted for employees at trial and on appeal in case establishing that TUPE compensation for failure to consult was uncapped
Shaw & Co v Atkins [2009] All ER (D) 57 (Mar) – acted at trial and on appeal for law firm facing a claim for breach of the duty to make reasonable adjustments to premises due to alleged disability

Admitted in & Qualifications

Admitted in:
Bermuda
England & Wales (non-practicing)

Qualifications:
Fellow of INSOL International
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Skills, Inns of Court School of Law, City University, London
Common Professional Examination, College of Law, York
BA History Hons, Manchester University

Other Distinctions

Steven frequently contributes to legal and business publications and has published articles relating to Bermuda law in INSOL Quarterly, Chambers Global Guides, the Royal Gazette and Global Legal Insight.

Steven is also a regular speaker at Bermuda and international conferences and roundtables.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of INSOL International.

Recent directory quotes:

2023 Chambers Global Guide – Notable Practitioner – Dispute Resolution – "He does a good job for his clients. He's very thorough and very knowledgeable; definitely a safe pair of hands."

2023 Legal 500 – Leading Individual – Dispute Resolution

2022 Chambers Global Guide – Notable Practitioner – Dispute Resolution – "He has an incredible facility for digesting and comprehending complexity, and for accurately predicting how counterparties may respond to each strategy"

2022 Who's Who Legal – Recommended – Asset Recovery

2022 Legal 500 – Leading Individual – Dispute Resolution – "Very responsive, detail oriented and professional"

2021 Who's Who Legal – Recommended – Commercial Litigation - Future Leader

Boards & Associations

Steven is a member of the Bermuda Bar Association, RISA (Bermuda), STEP (Bermuda), the Chancery Bar Association, and the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. He is Deputy Chair of the Bermuda Human Rights Tribunal.

In the UK, Steven was preferred panel counsel for the Equality & Human Rights Commission and acted pro hac as Attorney General's civil counsel. He retains a door tenancy at the Chambers of Robert Smith QC and Alistair MacDonald QC, New Park Court, Leeds & Newcastle.

News, Matters and Publications

NEWS

Walkers Leads Legal 500 2023 Offshore Lawyer Rankings - Walkers is proud to receive 44 individual lawyer rankings in the 2023 Legal 500 Caribbean directory ...
Leading Bermuda Litigator Steven White Joins Walkers (Bermuda) Limited - Leading Bermuda commercial litigation, insolvency and trusts disputes lawyer Steven White has joined...

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