Practice area: Insolvency disputes

Sam Heitlinger

  • 14 August 2025
Sam Heitlinger

Sam is a Senior Associate and Solicitor Advocate in the Commercial Disputes team, with broad experience advising clients in relation to litigation, international arbitration and investigations involving a diverse range of sectors. Sam has worked at two major international law firms in London and Paris, and is proficient in French and German.

Sam has advised on investment treaty arbitrations, group actions, professional negligence claims, commercial arbitrations, joint venture disputes, banking investigations, public inquiries, House of Commons Select Committee inquiries, partnership disputes, defamation claims, crisis management and in relation to anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance. Sam has notable experience in the professional services, energy, infrastructure, financial services and telecommunications sectors.

Sam has Higher Rights of Audience and has performed advocacy at various trials. 

Insolvency disputes

  • 3 October 2024
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At Forsters, we understand the multifaceted nature of insolvency disputes and provide strategic, tailored advice to navigate these complexities and the relevant legislative framework. We advise a range of clients in this context, including companies, directors, creditors, insolvency officeholders and purchasers of insolvency claims.

Our team excels in devising and executing strategic litigation plans tailored to the specific circumstances of our clients. We recognise that different parties involved in insolvency situations have distinct needs. Directors, for example, often face significant pressure during times of financial distress and require clear, strategic advice on not only how to deal with creditor claims against the business, but also how best to comply with their personal obligations and to protect themselves against claims for wrongful trading or misfeasance.

On the other side of the fence, we have particular experience in acting for insolvency officeholders in pursuing claims against directors and against third party beneficiaries of antecedent transactions (including claims for preferences, undervalued transactions, and transactions defrauding creditors). We also have significant expertise in advising creditors on their options for recovering debts from companies in financial distress, including the service of statutory demands and the issue of winding up petitions.

Our proactive approach ensures that we not only respond effectively to insolvency disputes but also anticipate potential issues, providing our clients with the foresight and guidance needed to achieve the best possible outcomes. 

Nicholas Owen

  • 21 September 2024
Nicholas Owen

Nick is a Senior Associate in Forsters’ Commercial Disputes team. He acts for high-net-worth individuals, businesses and not-for-profit organisations in commercial disputes, often involving multiple jurisdictions.

Nick’s practice is broad and includes civil fraud and asset recovery, professional negligence claims, directors’ duties and shareholder disputes, contentious insolvency and bankruptcy, and disputes concerning the interpretation of contracts. Nick has experience litigating in various divisions of the English High Court and in the Court of Appeal.

Nick’s recent experience at Forsters includes acting:

  • in a claim concerning the alleged diversion of a billion-pound business involved in the acquisition of music copyrights (Hipgnosis Music Limited v Mercuriadis & Ors), which was named as one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2026;
  • in a dispute before the Court of Appeal regarding the English Court’s jurisdiction to join family members of a defendant to proceedings brought by a sovereign state;
  • in an international arbitration brought by a Swedish company against two Saudi Arabian companies concerning the interpretation of a contract; and
  • for the Respondent to a Norwich Pharmacal application brought in the context of complex international fraud proceedings (Magomedov & Ors v Kuzovkov & Ors).

His articles have been published in New Law Journal and the Solicitors Journal.

Nick trained at Forsters and qualified in September 2021.

Joe May

  • 21 September 2024
Joe May

Joe’s broad practice spans from advising on large commercial disputes to assisting his clients with complex trust and estates disputes.

His clients include ultra high net worth individuals, trust companies, international banks and large corporations.

Joe has particular experience in relation to complex multi-jurisdictional fraud disputes, shareholder disputes, insolvency proceedings, and contractual disputes. He has acted on cases heard in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

Joe is a member of the firm’s Pro-Bono committee and its Green Impact network.

Frances Snowball

  • 21 September 2024
Frances Snowball

Frances is a Senior Associate in our Dispute Resolution team. She has a broad practice in complex cross-border commercial litigation and international arbitration.

She has experience advising clients on high value commercial disputes in a wide range of sectors including banking and financial services, technology and real estate. Frances has particular experience of insolvency proceedings, shareholder disputes, cases involving civil fraud, asset tracing and general contractual disputes. She has acted in proceedings in the High Court and Court of Appeal both in England and the British Virgin Islands.

Steven Richards

  • 29 August 2024
Steven Richards

Steven is Head of the Commercial Dispute Resolution team at Forsters. With a background in corporate disputes, he has particular expertise in banking and finance litigation, professional negligence, contentious insolvency, insurance disputes, fraud and cybercrime.

He has extensive experience obtaining, enforcing and responding to applications for injunctive relief, including freezing, search, seizure and delivery up orders. He also has a strong understanding of litigation funding and considerable experience in High Court proceedings. While fully prepared to pursue litigation where required, Steven also advises on settlement, mediation and other forms of dispute resolution where these are aligned with his clients’ objectives.

Steven is praised in The Legal 500 2026 for bringing a ‘wealth of experience throughout key areas such as contractual disputes and civil fraud matters’. He is also described in Chambers UK 2024 as ‘an excellent litigator’, ‘very intelligent’ and ‘user-friendly’. Steven works closely with clients to understand their commercial priorities and develop dispute resolution strategies that support their wider business objectives.