AREA OF PRACTICE
Litigation & Arbitration
Jane Colston specialises in complex and high-value commercial banking, contract and tort disputes as well as company, shareholders and partnership disputes. Jane has acted in numerous complex fraud cases and has extensive experience of forensic investigations, most of which have involved working with teams of investigators and accountants, and coordinating lawyers in multiple jurisdictions to trace and freeze assets. She has managed numerous cases involving freezing, search, disclosure, gagging and delivery up injunctions as well as breach of confidence claims.
Jane serves as Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Partner ("EID Partner"), along with her counterpart Chelsea Mullarney in the New York office. As an EID Partner, Jane works alongside the Director of Equity, Inclusion & Diversity to develop and implement the Firm's strategy for maintaining an inclusive work environment. In this role, Jane is a visible champion for the Firm's efforts to recruit, hire, develop and promote diverse and women lawyers, and actively engages Firm leadership to ensure equity and inclusion remain strategic business priorities.
Jane's passion for inclusion extends beyond her role as EID partner to her practice and external activities. Since 2016, Jane has organized Women in Business speaker series in our London office, bringing together women [lawyers and business professionals] from across industries to discuss their careers. Jane also serves as the Diversity & Inclusion Officer for the International Bar Association ("IBA") litigation committee and has spoken at several diversity-related conferences on topics related to inclusion in the legal profession.
Chambers & Partners UK 2019 ranks Jane in Band 1 for Civil Fraud. The guide hails her as "one of the country's leading fraud lawyers," and as "tactically shrewd with an incredible intellect – she is a real class act."
Legal 500 2018 names Jane as a Leading Individual: “a dynamic and creative practitioner’ who ‘brings a fabulous intellect, credibility and command of law along with incredible strategic thinking and client-facing skills’.
Who's Who Legal Asset Recovery Lawyers' Analysis 2018 and 2019 names her as one of the Global Elite "Thought Leaders” and states she is “one of the best and brightest in the field” according to peers who consider her “a top player” in the asset tracing space. They regard her as “an excellent litigation partner” known for her “clear and concise” approach.
In addition, Jane is part of the team which won The Legal 500's award for firm specialist of the year in 2018 and again 2019 in fraud litigation.
Jane acts as a Supervising Solicitor appointed by the English Court in regard to the execution of search and door-step delivery up orders. She also lectures at conferences eg the IBA and C5 including in regard to AI.
Prior to joining Brown Rudnick Jane trained and then qualified into Hogan Lovells’ litigation department. She then joined Baker & McKenzie. In 2004 she co-founded the litigation boutique Masseys which was described by The Times as ‘go to’ for banking disputes. Masseys merged with Stewarts Law in 2010.
Awards
Representation
Jane has successfully represented a diverse range of major domestic and international commercial organisations, plcs, State entities and individuals. These include:
Arbitration Proceedings relating to a fraud claim against an accessory.
Enforcing an arbitration award
A £100m commercial fraud and breach of trust case including search and freezing orders.
Advising the former owners of an ex-CIS State oil company in multi-million US dollar litigation arising from the financing and sale of the company, including defending and obtaining injunctions and coordinating proceedings in several jurisdictions.
Advising on substantial banking-related claims involving banks such as Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, HBOS and BNP Paribas.
Acting for one of the defendants in a $300 million fraud claim, one of several pending before the High Court, allegedly perpetrated on JSC BTA Bank of Kazakhstan by its former chair and majority shareholder, Mukhtar Ablyazov (JSC BTA-v-(1) Solodchenko (2) Ereshchenko [2012] EWHC 550 (Ch), JSC BTA-v-(1) Solodchenko (2) Ereshchenko [2012] EWHC 1891 (Ch) and JSC BTA Bank-v-Anatoly Ereshchenko [2013] EWCA Civ 1961).
Acting for the Liquidators of Stanford International Bank Limited, Marcus Wide and Hugh Dickson of Grant Thornton in regard to the fraud perpetrated by Robert Allen Stanford and others, which resulted in Stanford International Bank Limited losing an estimated US$4.4 billion by the time it failed in February 2009.
Defending two Defendants in a $287million alleged oil trading fraud (Arcadia Petroleum Ltd v Peter Bosworth [2015] EWCH 3025).
Acting for the mezzanine lenders challenging a restructuring and advancing claims against the security trustee (Saltri III Limited-v-MD Mezzanine SA [2012] EWHC 1270).
Acting for an Australian Mining Co in a contract dispute with an Indonesian mining company (PT Thiess Contractors Indonesia-v-PT Kaltim Prima Coal [2011] EWHC 1842 (Comm)).
Acting for a Plc pursuing breach of confidential information claims including obtaining emergency injunctions.
Education
Bar Admissions
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