Travers Smith LLP has announced today the promotion of dispute resolution lawyer Sam Cottman to Senior Counsel with effect from 1 January 2017.
Sam is a solicitor-advocate who has extensive experience acting on complex banking and financial services litigation with a particular focus on high-value, international disputes, often featuring allegations of fraud. In addition, he specialises in regulatory and corporate investigations, acting for both corporations and individuals.
He is currently the lead associate in the defence of Kaupthing and one of its directors against claims brought by the Tchenguiz brothers totalling an estimated £3bn. He was also previously seconded to the Serious Fraud Office in a high profile role as investigative lawyer, leading witness and suspect interviews in one of the regulator’s blockbuster investigations. Earlier in his career he was selected as one of 10 out of over 300 applicants for the role of judicial assistant in the Court of Appeal, ultimately working for the current Lord Chief Justice.
In addition to his fee-earning work, Sam is heavily involved in Travers Smith’s Pro Bono and CSR programme. A long-standing member of the firm’s Charity Committee, Sam is also a founding member of the Travers Smith Foundation and responsible for the running of the firm's partnership with Advocates for International Development (“A4ID”) as well as the University House Domestic Violence and Family Law Clinic in East London. The latter has recently been nominated for awards in both the British Legal Awards and the LawWorks Pro Bono Awards (in which it was Highly Commended).
Sam’s promotion reflects the continuing growth of Travers Smith's dispute resolution practice, which numbers seven partners in total. The team has a strong reputation for effective dispute resolution, especially in the banking and financial markets sectors. It also represent clients in disputes covering a number of other commercial areas, including corporate insolvency and asset tracing, M&A, shareholder disputes, professional negligence, fraud insurance, administrative and public law, intellectual property and real property. Travers Smith’s dispute resolution practice is regularly instructed on complex, high profile cases. The most recent example includes advising Hewlett Packard in relation to fraud and professional negligence claims arising out of the US$11 billion acquisition of Autonomy Corporation plc in 2011.
Stephen Paget-Brown, head of the dispute resolution practice at Travers Smith, said: “Many congratulations to Sam on his promotion. He is an exceptionally talented lawyer who has already made an important contribution to the success of our dispute resolution practice. His appointment demonstrates our commitment to continued investment in our dispute resolution capability and in supporting our clients’ needs on complex dispute resolution matters.”