December 5, 2019
Kobre & Kim is announcing today that Ulrich Payne, a highly regarded offshore and onshore litigator, will be joining the firm as a partner in its Cayman Islands office in January.
The addition of Mr. Payne bolsters the Kobre & Kim’s offshore capabilities to address complex, cross-border disputes on behalf of clients in major global financial markets around the world. Over his career, Mr. Payne has developed a long track-record of client successes in a range of cross-border matters, including those involving complex financial products, contentious restructuring and insolvency proceedings, contentious boardroom and shareholder issues and asset recovery efforts.
“In the kinds of high-stakes global disputes that we work on, we are seeing a growing demand for top-tier offshore litigation capabilities,” said Steven Kobre, founding partner of Kobre & Kim. “Bringing Ulrich on board will complement our offshore offerings in matters such as insolvency and cross-border judgment enforcement, where we exclusively serve as special litigation counsel in partnership with other law firms.”
Mr. Payne’s experience spans court proceedings in the English High Court and the Cayman Islands Grand Court, as well as the English and Cayman Islands Court of Appeal and the Privy Council, almost always where those proceedings have formed part of multi-jurisdictional litigation in the U.S., Middle East, Russia and Asia. He also has extensive experience with high-value, complex international arbitrations. Chambers & Partners described him as “a very gutsy litigator who is fabulous with clients and technically excellent on commercial cases.”
“I’ve long admired Kobre & Kim’s specialized focus on cross-border disputes and investigations, conflict-free business model, and deep talent,” said Mr. Payne. “For a litigator with my background, the firm is ideal.”
Prior to joining Kobre & Kim, Mr. Payne practiced at Ogier, where he advised on multi-million and multi-billion-dollar global disputes and worked on regulatory and internal investigations for international corporate clients. Before joining Ogier, Mr. Payne practiced at Kirkland & Ellis in London. He is admitted in the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and as a non-practicing lawyer in England and Wales.
More on this story can be found in today’s exclusive coverage from Commercial Dispute Resolution.