Curtis Strengthens London Disputes Practice with New Partner, Mark Handley

London, July 16, 2018 – Curtis adds to its pre-eminent global disputes team with the addition of Solicitor-Advocate and Litigation partner Mark Handley to its London office starting July 7, 2018.

Mark Handley is an experienced Solicitor-Advocate with Higher Rights of Audience (Civil) in England and Wales who specialises in complex cross border litigation and disputes. He joins Curtis from Gibson Dunn.

• UK litigation: Mr. Handley’s breadth of litigation experience brings sharp focus and experienced leadership to Curtis’ London litigation team. He has considerable experience in the English Courts, particularly in civil fraud matters, including asset tracing and recovery, contentious trust disputes, search orders, and asset freezing orders.
  
• International litigation: His international disputes experience spans cross-border, complex commercial disputes and foreign State litigations. He has represented a broad range of clients in litigations in foreign courts including in offshore jurisdictions, the U.S., Middle East and Asia.
  
• International Arbitration: He has represented states and state-owned as well as commercial entities in substantive commercial arbitration proceedings under the LCIA, ICC, LMAA Terms and other rules including UNCITRAL as well as investment treaty arbitrations. He has also litigated in support of arbitrations, including anti-suit injunctions as well as enforcement proceedings in many jurisdictions.

Mr. Handley has been recognised for his “breadth of experience with superior case and team management skills”, by Legal 500.

In addition to disputes, he advises clients on the UK’s bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering and EU/UK financial and trade sanctions regimes including the conduct of internal investigations, compliance due diligence and training, as well as the UK’s new “failure to prevent tax evasion” offences.

“Mark is the perfect fit for Curtis, with his dual strength in litigation and commercial arbitration, which are growing areas for us in the UK”, said Joseph D. Pizzurro, Managing Partner of Curtis and member of the Litigation and International Arbitration groups. “We welcome his litigation experience in the UK and internationally.”

“I look forward to being a part of the Curtis disputes practice, globally renowned for representing foreign states and state-owned entities in high-profile disputes”, said Mr. Handley.

Prior to joining Curtis, Mr. Handley practiced at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. He started his career in academia and received a PhD in medieval history from the University of Cambridge as well as a Post-Graduate Diploma in Law from Nottingham Law School.