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Vanessa Whitman

Partner
Solicitor Advocate

Contact
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Cannon Place
78 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6AF
United Kingdom
Languages English, Italian

Vanessa Whitman is a Partner in the Finance Disputes team in London. Vanessa has over 15 years’ experience as a finance and insolvency litigator and works primarily on contentious matters for banks and insolvency professionals, advising clients on various aspects of contentious banking and insolvency law. She has a growing practice specialising in FinTech and Crypto disputes. 

Vanessa also has significant experience advising clients how to deal with Serious Fraud Office cases and other fraud related matters, having advised on Britain’s largest mortgage fraud. Vanessa also successfully defended a £300m follow-on civil claim related to the same fraud at a 5-week Commercial Court trial.

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"Next Generation Partner."

Legal 500, 2021, 2022 and 2023

"Absolutely first-class... is a key name in the team, with expertise in fintech and crypto-related disputes."

Legal 500, 2023

"Tom Dane and Vanessa Whitman are stand-out partners. Their advice is prompt, very clear and concise, pragmatic and commercial."

Legal 500, 2023

Relevant experience

  • Defence of a GBP 300m reputation critical claim against a bank in the High Court (Commercial Court) resulting in indemnity costs orders in favour of our client. 
  • Successful defence of abusive winding up proceedings.
  • Recovery of significant sums obtained by fraud, by way of multiple freezing injunctions and third-party disclosure orders.
  • Obtaining successful release of security over fleet of aircraft being held to ransom by corporate security holder outside of the jurisdiction.
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Publications

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Education

  • 2005 – LPC, BPP Law School, London
  • 2004 – PgDL, BPP Law School, London
  • 2003 – B.A., University of Warwick
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Feed

21/03/2024
Risk Essentials: What's next in digital assets disputes?
 Digital assets disputes have opened with a bang in 2024. The hotly-an­ti­cip­ated Crypto Open Patent Alliance v Craig White "identity issue" trial has packed a super court and an overspill court at the Rolls Building, with another 400+ people following it online. In this session, Vanessa Whitman and Rachel Harrison from our FS & Crypto Disputes team look at how the courts are dealing with the unique legal challenges presented by digital assets. They will look back at the key decisions of 2023 before forecasting what else will be on the agenda in 2024 and beyond. To register for the event, please click the button below.
01/03/2024
Digital Assets
Does your business have or is it ready for digitalisation and digital assets? Digital assets are transforming the world of business. Not just technologies in the news, like AI and crypto currencies, but a whole world of technological advances, from digital twins and extended reality to smart contracts and token­isa­tion. For tech businesses and those already using such technology to develop and market new products, much of this is core activity and relatively well understood – although legal and regulatory uncertainties remain, and potential pitfalls still exist for the unwary. But other business leaders, often less familiar with the territory, have to manage an increasingly complex assortment of issues that never troubled their predecessors, ranging from protecting their brand in the metaverse to deciding whether they should tokenise their shares or accept payments in crypto currencies. This section of Bandwidth looks at issues around the development and regulation of a wide variety of digital assets, and discusses how businesses can embrace them to innovate and evolve.
08/01/2024
Digital asset fraud and the challenges of claims against uniden­ti­fi­able...
IntroductionThe High Court’s recent judgment in Tippawan Boonyaem v Persons Unknown [2023] EWHC 3180 (Comm) demonstrates the challenges faced by victims of digital asset fraud, who are typically defrauded...
25/07/2023
Enforcement of arbitral award refused in crypto-related dispute
The English High Court has refused to enforce a foreign arbitral award in a crypto-asset related dispute, as to do so would be contrary to public policy.Back­ground:As set out in our previous Law-Now on...
08/06/2023
High Court orders transfer of cryptoassets into England and Wales to allow...
The High Court of England and Wales has ordered Huobi Global Limited (“Huobi”), the operator of the cryptocurrency exchange involved in the litigation, to transfer into England and Wales cryptoassets...
25/05/2023
Crypto fraud: role of exchange as a constructive trustee
In a recent judgment the English court has discharged an interim proprietary injunction that was made against a crypto exchange and considered issues around the position of a crypto exchange as a constructive...
21/03/2023
CMS HR Gathering: Mental health in the workplace
Join us in Lisbon or online!
09/03/2023
English High Court approves service by NFT alone
The English High Court has recently allowed for service of Court proceedings by NFT alone. The judgments recently handed down are in relation to a claim brought by Lavinia Deborah Osbourne (“LO”)...
08/02/2023
Arbitration clauses in crypto-related disputes: High Court rules in favour...
The High Court has recently handed down judgment in the case of Chechetkin v Payward Ltd and others [2022] EWHC 3057 (Ch), accepting jurisdiction to consider a consumer claim for repayment of sums lost...
24/01/2023
Banking Disputes Report 2022
This report looks at dispute resolution trends in the Banking and Finance sector with a focus on activity across the English courts; key ar­bit­ra­tion in­sti­tu­tions; and alternative dispute resolution...
08/12/2022
English High Court grants summary judgment in cryptoasset fraud claim
Background Mr Jones was the victim of a large-scale cyber fraud perpetrated by a group of online cyber criminals located overseas. The fraudsters targeted individuals through a fake crypto investment...
07/12/2022
English High Court grants summary judgment in cryptoasset fraud claim
The English High Court has recently granted summary judgment in favour of Mr Gary Jones, who brought claims against the First Defendant (the persons unknown who transferred Mr Jones’ crypto­cur­ren­cies...