Olivia Strafford
Biography
Olivia is an associate in the Baker McKenzie Dispute Resolution team based in London. Olivia's practice includes a broad spectrum of disputes including administrative and public law, regulatory enforcement, complex trusts and commercial disputes. Her court experience spans the Administrative Court, Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery), Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and the Cayman Court. She has also represented witnesses providing evidence to public inquiries, including the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and Covid-19 Inquiry.
Olivia is committed to pro bono work, with a particular focus on cases with a refugee or human rights dimension and has acted in landmark proceedings, including representing the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (as intervener) in the litigation concerning the UK Government’s policy to relocate certain asylum seekers to Rwanda. This resulted in the Baker McKenzie team winning Pro Bono Initiative of the Year at the Lawyer Awards 2024.
Olivia was also seconded to the Dispute Resolution team at Baker McKenzie's Singapore office in early 2023 where she worked on a number of international commercial disputes.
Representative Legal Matters
- Acting for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as intervener in the litigation concerning the UK Government’s policy to relocate certain asylum seekers to Rwanda, in which the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision in finding the policy unlawful.
- Acting for individuals in relation to enforcement action by the FCA with regard to alleged breaches of listing rules and subsequent appeal to the Upper Tribunal, a significant case for the regulated banking industry and for directors of listed entities in interpreting directors' duties under the Listing Rules, particularly in circumstances of reliance on legal advice.
- Representing senior executives providing evidence to UK public inquiries, including the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and Covid-19 Inquiry.
- Acting for a principal beneficiary of valuable offshore trusts in Cayman proceedings regarding the capacity of a fiduciary.
- Acting for an industrial plant and engineering contractor in its defence of an ICC arbitration involving claims brought by a subcontractor related to works on a state-owned oil refinery in the Middle East, with over 100 sub-heads of claim worth more than USD 80 million.
- Acting for several directors facing potential prosecution for the late filing of company accounts.
Admissions
- England & Wales~United Kingdom (2023)
Education
- University of Bristol (First Class Degree in History)
- BPP University (Graduate Diploma in Law, (with distinction))
- BPP University (LLM Commercial Legal Practice Course, (with distinction))