Simona Peter

I am a partner in our Dispute Resolution team in London, advising our clients on contentious matters, with a special focus on complex fraud and investigations work (often with a cross-border element) across a number of key sectors, including life sciences and energy & utilities.

I have been involved in a wide range of High Court litigation, damages enquiries and appeals to the Court of Appeal. I have also been involved in a number of arbitrations (ICC, LCIA and ad-hoc), many of which involved legal issues arising out of complex technical contracts.

I regularly advise on ancillary relief applications including disclosure orders and injunctive relief both in England and abroad. I have obtained third party disclosure orders in England and other jurisdictions and successfully used the material obtained to follow and recover dissipated assets. I am well versed in the enforcement of English and foreign judgments and arbitral awards (including challenges thereof).

A number of my cases involve complex trust structures or company structures used in an attempt to conceal frauds or the dissipation of assets. I regularly advise clients on allegations involving breaches of fiduciary duties, unlawful means conspiracy, allegations of bad faith, conspiracy to defraud and breaches of trust.

I have been involved in a number of investigations including contracts procured by fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information, allegations of corruption/bribery as well as regulatory investigations commenced by the Financial Reporting Council, the Tax Disciplinary Board and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

As an engineer, I take a particular interest in complex disputes in life sciences and those that require a deep technical understanding and industry knowledge. Due to my understanding of the industry, I am able to grasp technical contracts or issues quickly and am able to offer creative problem solutions or ideas to obtain the best result for our clients. Before joining the team at Bird & Bird, I studied at a Higher Technical School for Industrial Engineering in Vienna, Austria. Later, I trained with Bird & Bird and was seconded to our Brussels Competition team before qualifying in 2014.

I have been recognised as a Rising Star in Civil Fraud Legal 500 as well as a Key Lawyer in Commercial Litigation: Premium as well as a Key Lawyer in Commercial Arbitration. I also sit on the Committee of the Female Fraud Forum.

• Lead associate acting for the trustee of a Cayman Island Trust in the context of a high profile fraud litigation commenced by PJSC National Bank Trust and PJSC Bank Otkritie Financial Corporation.
• Acting for a large international company in relation to a confidential ICC arbitration arising from a development agreement with a technology start-up company. The arbitration is seated in Toronto. The dispute involves allegations of misappropriations of IP, confidential information and trade secrets.
• Acting for Carpatsky Petroleum Corporation who successfully sought to enforce an arbitral award from Stockholm under the New York Convention in London. Ukrnafta claimed that the award was invalid claiming fraud, issue estoppel, varying governing laws, invalidity of arbitration agreement and non-existent parties to agreements.
• I was the lead associate in representing a client in a Damages Enquiry following a determination by the Court that the Defendant owed a fiduciary duty to the Claimant. By virtue of the breaches of fiduciary duty, the Defendant had made secret profits and benefitted from the confidential business investment plans and strategies for the use of ultrasound in late life oil and gas wells to enhance production. The matter involved numerous cross-border applications for evidence and deposition/cross-examination as well as complex evaluation expert evidence.
• I was part of a team that represented a medical device company in a US$400 million claim under a damages enquiry. The counterparty claimed that they had wrongly been held off the market and that the markets were manipulated so that when their products launched they would be less competitive. Issues involved evidence on the prescription and tender market in 17 jurisdictions, expert evidence on pharmaceutical margins and local regulatory issues on medicines and devices.
• Together with a cross-departmental team of partners and associates from our IP and DR teams, I defended a large healthcare company in an action by a biotechnology company. The dispute involved the alleged breach of a Collaboration & License Agreement for the development of pharmaceutical products in the fields of hard and soft tissue repair.
• Acting for an airline in a dispute relating to the failure to return Security Deposits, the unequivocal nature of Redelivery Certificates and the Lessor implying conditions into redelivery. The case also involved allegations of fraud.
• Advising on a multi-million pound claim relating to investments with allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation, false accounting, constructive trusts and false guarantees.
• Acting on a claim involving allegations of fraud which included a wide range of applications including anti-suit injunctions, jurisdiction challenges, world-wide freezing injunctions and contempt of court.
• Acting for a claimant in proceedings for breach of fiduciary duties, director loans, derivative claims and deferred income claims.

• PJSC National Bank Trust & Anor v Mints & Ors
• UBS Switzerland AG v Afriquia Gaz SA and another, CA Indosuez (Switzerland) SA & Anor v Afriquia Gaz SA & Anor
• MFTEL SARL v Visa Europe
• CHEP Equipment Pooling v ITS [2021] EWHC 2485
• Global Energy Horizons Corp. v Gray
• Smith & Nephew Healthcare Limited & ors v Convatec Limited
• Kuros Biosurgery AG v Baxter Healthcare Corporation & ors
• Compania Sud Americana de Vapores SA v Hin-Pro International Logistics Ltd
• Solland International Ltd v Clifford Harris & Co
• Carpatsky Petroleum Corporation v PJSC Ukrnafta [2020] EWHC 769 (Comm)
• Basis Technologies International Limited v Phillip Derek Sly