Conor McLaughlin

Call: 2017

Recognised as a ‘Rising Star’ in company law and as a ‘Leading Junior’ in insolvency law, Conor was instructed by the claimant bank in JSC Privatbank v Kolomoisky & Bogolyubov, a 13-week $1.9bn fraud trial in the Chancery Division which concluded in November 2023 and was one of The Lawyer’s ‘Top 20 Cases of 2022’. His recent experience includes successfully acting as sole counsel for a company whose funds were misappropriated by a wrongdoing director and being led in a fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation claim in the Commercial Court which settled shortly before trial.

Conor’s advisory and contentious company law practice sees him act for shareholders, directors and companies. He has advised and acted in unfair prejudice petitions and disputes about directors’ duties and the interpretation of companies’ articles of association and shareholders’ agreements. He is frequently instructed in relation to applications under the Companies Act 2006 (including reductions of capital, schemes of arrangement, restoration of dissolved companies and applications for rectification of a company’s register of members and filings with Companies House).

Conor has also acted in a number of high-profile insolvency matters including the administration of the Arcadia Group (whose brands included Topshop and Topman) and a number of creditor schemes of arrangement. He acted for the Charity Commission in its first and successful application for the winding-up of a charity and frequently acts in contested and uncontested insolvency matters including winding-up and bankruptcy petitions and officeholder applications under the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Insolvency Rules 2016.