Nicholas Brookes

Nick is head of Ogier's BVI Practice and the BVI office head of Dispute Resolution. He is a barrister with more than a decade's experience in dispute resolution in the BVI, in particular in director and shareholder disputes, insolvency and restructuring, fraud and asset tracing, trust and estates litigation, and general corporate and commercial disputes. He previously was a commercial and chancery barrister in London.

Background and experience

Nick is a partner in Ogier’s BVI Dispute Resolution team and a trusted adviser on high-stakes commercial litigation, cross-border insolvency, fraud and asset tracing. He is known for leading complex, fast-moving disputes before the BVI Commercial Court, often involving urgent interim relief, international enforcement and coordinated proceedings across multiple jurisdictions.
 
Nick is at the forefront of digital asset and cryptocurrency disputes, leading Ogier’s BVI team on the Three Arrows Capital liquidation, one of the world’s largest and most significant hedge fund insolvencies, with proceedings and asset recovery efforts spanning the BVI, New York, Singapore and beyond. In that matter, his team obtained one of the largest injunctions ever granted by the BVI Court, for approximately US$1.2 billion.
 
Clients turn to Nick for difficult fraud, enforcement and asset recovery matters. He regularly obtains and defends freezing injunctions, receivership orders, charging orders, Norwich Pharmacal relief and related disclosure orders, and has extensive experience enforcing foreign judgments and arbitral awards in the BVI. His extensive international network of legal, insolvency and investigative professionals enable him to coordinate effective cross-border asset recovery and enforcement strategies across multiple jurisdictions.
 
An experienced advocate, Nick appears regularly as sole and lead counsel in the BVI Commercial Court, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and the Privy Council. His work includes major disputes such as Mark Byers & another v Chen Ningning (part of the Pioneer Freight Futures international litigation), Play La Inc. v NFC Data Inc, and Green Elite and King Bun Limited & others v Lau Man Sang, James & others.
 
Nick is also recognised for his deep knowledge of BVI procedure. He co-authored the collated ECSC Civil Procedure Rules used by the BVI Courts and practitioners, and has served on the BVI Civil Procedure Rules committee on behalf of the BVI Bar Association.

His wider disputes practice includes trusts, contentious private client and estates litigation, particularly where international holding structures intersect with BVI litigation. He has acted in significant matters including Gany Holdings (PTC) SA v Khan and others [2018] UKPC 21, the Scherbakov Estate litigation (Claim no. BVIHC (COM)2018/134) and the Al Thani dispute (BVIHCVAP2021/001).
 
Nick is a regular speaker on BVI and international insolvency, asset recovery and trust disputes, and was co-chair of the BVI INSOL conference in 2022. He has also held senior roles in the BVI Bar Association, including more than three years as First Vice President.

Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2011, Nick trained at a leading commercial set before building a broad commercial and chancery practice. He is a two-time Lord Diplock Scholar of Middle Temple and took a first from Cambridge University. Before entering the law, Nick's background was in public relations.

Admitted in:
2014 - British Virgin Islands
2011 - England and Wales (non practicing)

Memberships:
RISA (BVI chapter of INSOL)
Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
BVI Bar Association
Chancery Bar Association Overseas Member