Sebastian NEAVE

Sebastian Neave is a Senior Director in J.S. Held’s Global Investigations practice and is based in the London office. He advises clients on complex disputes involving fraud, asset recovery and a range of cross-border litigation and arbitration claims.

He has over 12 years of investigations experience, having started his career in the London office of Kroll, before working in PwC’s Forensics practice and at a specialist dispute consultancy. Sebastian’s asset recovery and litigation support work has been recognised by Who’s Who Legal and by Chambers & Partners.

He has developed specific expertise in disputes related to Russia and the CIS, and has worked on a number of the more high-profile matters emanating from the region. Elsewhere, he has assisted clients engaged in disputes over assets in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and the Gulf. Sebastian has developed extensive experience of gathering evidence to support recovery strategies against a diverse collection of states and state-owned commercial parties.

In addition to his international asset recovery work, he has a track record of success in complex evidence gathering exercises. Recent assignments have included an investigation to determine the real parties behind a “corporate raid” perpetrated against his client’s business in Russia; the circumstances of a high-profile corporate collapse in North Africa; gathering evidence to support a successful challenge to the appointment of an arbitrator.

A Russian speaker, Sebastian studied Russian at the University of Bristol and has lived and worked in Moscow and St Petersburg. Sebastian is a trustee of a charity which funds anti-terrorism research.