Max Davis

Max Davis is a Legal Director in the firm's international dispute resolution team with 16 years' experience in the fields of complex multi-jurisdictional fraud litigation, asset recovery and arbitration. His primary practice area is Dispute Resolution, and he leads the firm's digital assets disputes practice.

He has a deep understanding of the complexities involved in digital asset disputes, having played a pivotal role in the landmark cryptocurrency recovery case, which was the first of its kind before the DIFC Court of Appeal and which is helping to shape the digital assets legal framework in the region.

As a founding member of the Middle East chapter of the Crypto Fraud and Asset Recovery network, co-author of the UAE chapter of LexHost's Digital Assets Law and Regulations, and a regular speaker on all aspects of digital assets and fraud, he is a recognised thought leader in digital asset disputes across the region.

His reputation in the market and his experience of proceedings in the courts of the Cayman Islands, England and Wales, Hong Kong, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Singapore, Tanzania and the UAE means he has a truly international network of contacts.

He is regularly approached by financial institutions, virtual asset service providers, venture capital and private equity investors, family offices, tech entrepreneurs, specialist insurers, insolvency practitioners, professional services firms and contacts from law firms in other jurisdictions to assist on matters that touch on all aspects of the digital assets sector, and in relation to claims for fraud and asset recovery where individuals or assets have been traced to the UAE.

His recent digital asset disputes experience includes acting for the Claimants in a claim for the return of 300 Bitcoin (valued at USD 3 million at the time of the loss, later valued at c. USD 33 million) against an intermediary for breach of contract, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and disclosure of confidential information at first instance and on successful appeal; acting for a cryptocurrency business in seeking the first Worldwide Freezing Order, Proprietary Injunction and Disclosure Orders in the DIFC Digital Economy Court in support of USD 450 million fraud proceedings in Hong Kong; and acting for the former owners of an NFT marketplace responding to a claim for USD 50,000,000, including claims for specific performance and injunctive relief.

His fraud and asset recovery experience in the UAE includes acting for the Defendants to a Part 8 Claim for a Worldwide Freezing Order in the amount of c. USD 530 million in support of US proceedings, and acting for the Defendants to a Part 8 Claim to execute a fraud judgment of the Dubai Courts and facilitate the recovery of USD 24.2 million of assets held by a DIFC company in the DIFC Courts, a matter involving an application to set aside the Enforcement Order, Worldwide Freezing Order and Charging Order on the basis that the DIFC Court lacked jurisdiction, which was granted permission to appeal to the DIFC Court of Appeal.

His international fraud and asset recovery experience includes acting for the 13th–17th successful Defendants in the USD 33 billion fraud claim brought in the Cayman Islands Court against a Saudi Arabia family-owned conglomerate at first instance and on appeal — the 129-day trial being the longest in Cayman Islands' history — and acting for the successful claimant in a claim for fraud, deceit and breach of fiduciary duty for GBP 30 million, involving multiple applications for disclosure to identify, trace and freeze assets in various offshore jurisdictions over a period of 8 years, culminating in LCIA arbitration proceedings and multi-party proceedings before the Commercial Court in London.

He holds a Legal Practice Course from the College of Law, London (2006), a Post Graduate Diploma in Law from the College of Law, London (2005) and a BA in Ancient History & Egyptology from University College, London (2004). He was admitted to the DIFC and ADGM Courts in 2022 and in England and Wales in 2009. He speaks English.