Dr. Jan Alessandrini
Jan is an Associate in Withers' Litigation and Arbitration team and is currently based in the firm's BVI office (having previously been based in London). He is dual qualified (England & Wales and BVI). His practice focuses on commercial litigation, commercial and investment-treaty arbitration, (contentious) insolvency as well as art law and public international law.
Recent case highlights include representing a beneficiary in a trust dispute, representing two companies in a shareholder dispute in the Court of Appeal; acting for the applicant in a first-of-its-kind BVI High Court challenge of a Company Creditor Arrangement ('CCA'); acting for a large creditor of Dolfin Financial (UK) Ltd in Special Administration; representing the applicant in an application for special leave to appeal in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council; acting for a government in a commission of inquiry. As a solicitor advocate, he may appear in the BVI High Court and Court of Appeal.
Jan holds a BA and PhD from University College London, and an MSt from the University of Oxford (St Edmund Hall). Drawing on his post-doctoral research and experience at the University of St Andrews, Oxford (St Peter's), and Commission for Looted Art in Europe where he predominantly dealt with the restitution of Nazi-looted cultural property, Jan advises on diverse art law litigation, including title disputes, restitution, fraud, and especially on the recovery of stolen and looted items of art and cultural property.