Asset Recovery

LL Law Firm is recognized worldwide for its leadership in the practice area. We not only recover assets for victims of fraud and corruption, but also seek to hold aiders and abettors, conspirators, and facilitators liable through third-party actions.

From Investigation to Repossession:
A Full-Spectrum Recovery Practice

LL Law Firm is uniquely focused on pursuing and recovering client assets and value for the client at every phase of the dispute, from investigation and strategic case development through litigation, arbitration, pre-judgment remedies, and enforcement. Every day, we rise to meet the increasingly sophisticated methods used to conceal, transfer, or launder assets across jurisdictions.

LL Law Firm pioneered the concept of “value recovery,” advancing beyond the traditional model of Asset Recovery limited to freezing and recovering tangible assets. Our focus is not solely on the assets themselves, but on maximizing total recoverable value. This includes pursuing claims against aiders and abettors, conspirators, and facilitators through direct third-party actions.

Drawing on extensive experience in complex Asset Recovery matters, the firm has successfully recovered value in a wide range of scenarios, including claims arising from contracts procured through fraud or corruption, the exercise of restitution rights in criminal proceedings, the reopening of matrimonial settlements, and the enforcement of Judgments previously considered uncollectible.

Piercing Complex Structures
to Reach the Wrongdoer's Inner Circle

Fraudsters and corrupt actors frequently employ layered corporate structures, offshore vehicles, and multi-jurisdictional transfers to obscure beneficial ownership and move assets rapidly beyond reach. Addressing these schemes requires technical sophistication, deep knowledge of multiple legal systems, and sustained strategic execution. LL Law Firm brings all three. Our team operates seamlessly across common law and civil law jurisdictions, allowing us to act quickly and effectively in complex cross-border environments.

The firm’s Asset Recovery practice is focused on penetrating the inner circle of the wrongdoer and dismantling the structures used to shield assets. We deploy a full suite of legal tools, including asset freeze orders, pre-judgment remedies, advanced evidence-gathering mechanisms, insolvency proceedings, and direct claims against both wrongdoers and third-party facilitators.

Recognized Global Leaders
Who Shaped an Entire Practice Area

LL Law Firm’s attorneys were instrumental in developing Asset Recovery as a globally recognized legal practice and continue to lead its evolution as new technologies and increasingly complex schemes emerge. The firm is consistently ranked among the leading practices worldwide in Asset Tracing & Recovery by Chambers & Partners and the Lexology Index. LL Law Firm has also been recognized as Asset Recovery Firm of the Year, reflecting its sustained leadership in the field.

Founding Shareholder Edward H. Davis, Jr. has been consistently ranked Band 1 globally by Chambers & Partners for Asset Tracing & Recovery, including most recently in 2025. He was also named Asset Recovery Lawyer of the Year by Who’s Who Legal in multiple consecutive years, underscoring the firm’s leadership at the highest level of the practice.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution in Asset Recovery. Each matter requires a tailored strategy based on the facts, the jurisdictions involved, and the client’s objectives. LL Law Firm is committed to identifying that strategy and executing it with precision, persistence, and a relentless global focus on securing results.

Representative
Cases

LL Law Firm represents the Joint Liquidators for Stanford International Bank, Ltd. (“SIB”) (in Liquidation). SIB, a bank located in Antigua that primarily sold certificates of deposit, played a central role in a worldwide Ponzi scheme, the second largest in history, perpetrated by Robert Allen Stanford, with losses to depositors estimated to exceed US$4.4 billion. Since May 12, 2011, when Marcus Wide and Hugh Dickson of Grant Thornton were appointed Joint Liquidators of the SIB estate in Antigua, LL Law Firm has acted as co-general counsel with Caribbean counsel in global Asset Recovery efforts that have included recovering US$3.2 million from Panama, US$20 million from the United Kingdom, freezing assets in Antigua & Barbuda valued at US$212 million, launching a formal claims process, pursuing claims related to approximately US$330 million in frozen assets in Canada, Switzerland, and the U.K., filing damages claims valued at approximately US$5 billion against a Canadian bank, and initiating recovery efforts in Colombia against law firms and financial institutions. LL Law Firm also initiated a Chapter 15 recognition proceeding in Dallas, Texas, and later helped the U.S. Judicial Administrator, the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Joint Liquidators, and others reach a global agreement and cross-border protocol.
LL Law Firm represents Novoship (UK) Limited and affiliated entities in a Judgment domestication and enforcement matter in Florida. After Novoship obtained approximately US$98 million in Judgments from the English High Court of Justice against a Venezuelan national and his companies for fraudulent acts relating to charter party contracts, and after the debtors breached a US$40 million settlement, LL Law Firm obtained recognition of the English freezing injunction in Florida within 24 hours. The firm froze assets, commenced discovery before full recognition of the English Judgments, and uncovered nearly US$3.5 million in local bank funds and approximately US$1.5 million in Florida real estate. Coordinated proceedings in Florida, Switzerland, and London resulted in payment of the full settlement amount.
Since 2008, LL Law Firm has represented two major creditors of the Republic of Argentina in pursuing collection of more than US$1 billion in Judgments in Florida arising from Argentina’s 2001 bond default. Working with New York counsel, the firm pursued collection from assets located in Florida, including assets at the Miami office of Banco de la Nación Argentina, a bank wholly owned by the Argentine government.
LL Law Firm represented a class of 2,232 victims of the Leadenhall Bank & Trust and Cash-4-Titles fraud in the British Virgin Islands and The Bahamas and recovered US$14.4 million. After Leadenhall entered liquidation and was sued in the U.S. District Court in Miami, the class obtained a final money Judgment of US$313 million in September 2007. Enforcement of that Judgment resulted in the US$14.4 million recovery, with approximately US$7 million more to be distributed thereafter.
LL Law Firm represented Robert J. Lodge and Robert K. Orr against SunTrust Bank. After obtaining an order for proceedings supplementary in aid of execution and conducting extensive discovery and depositions, the matter concluded in a favorable settlement in which significant funds were recovered by the Judgment creditor’s successor-in-interest.
LL Law Firm represented a multinational Colombian food products company in recovering substantial losses for products obtained through fraud and deception. By deploying international treaties and U.S. domestic claims, the firm identified the products, prosecuted the defendants in the United States, and achieved a successful settlement.
LL Law Firm represented the Government of Peru in litigation in Miami, Florida, where the plaintiff sought to attach the aircraft in which the President of Peru would travel to the United States. While asserting defenses under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, including insufficient service of process, lack of personal jurisdiction, and failure to state a claim, the firm also argued that Peru was immune from attachment and suit. The court held that the aircraft was “military hardware” and therefore not subject to attachment.
LL Law Firm represented Creances, S.A.S. (“CDR”), successor to Societe de Banque Occidentale (“SDBO”) and an instrumentality of the Republic of France, in a matter involving a nearly US$100 million fraudulent loan transaction that led to the sale of the collateral land without repayment. LL Law Firm helped develop the strategy that ultimately led to the recovery of millions of dollars in real estate.
LL Law Firm represents the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in related fraud and corruption proceedings in Florida, Liechtenstein, The Bahamas, Panama, and Switzerland. The matters involved coordination with governmental authorities, assistance with MLAT requests, and support for extradition proceedings. The work resulted in the freezing, recovery, and repatriation of more than US$5 million, settlements exceeding US$5 million, and savings of more than US$30 million through the invalidation of a fraudulent contract.
LL Law Firm represented the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in designing the legal strategy for the recovery of assets for the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago in the CLICO insurance company corruption scandal.
LL Law Firm represented the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in a corruption matter spanning Florida, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the Isle of Man, and Cayman. The civil case resulted in the freezing, recovery, and repatriation of stolen assets, the repatriation of US$12 million to the client, and the cancellation of a fraudulent contract that saved the government more than US$20 million in future expenditures.
LL Law Firm participated as part of a global team in advising the Republic of Haiti on aspects of Asset Recovery against the Duvalier regime.
LL Law Firm participated as part of a global team in advising CICIG in connection with corruption claims and other wrongdoing involving the former president and administration in Guatemala.
LL Law Firm represents Bancafe International Bank (in Liquidation) (“BIB”). After the failure of Banco Cafeteros de Guatemala, BIB, a Barbados entity with extensive operations in Guatemala and assets in the United States, entered bankruptcy in Barbados. Acting for the custodian, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LL Law Firm filed the first Chapter 15 case in Florida and obtained recognition of the Barbados liquidation as the main foreign proceeding. The matter has included extensive discovery in the United States and recoveries that include more than US$54 million from a REFCO bankruptcy claim and approximately US$1 million from a New York account.
LL Law Firm represents the judicial administrator of Banco Santos, S.A. (in Liquidation). After an investigation revealed a theft of more than US$1 billion through a multi-country scheme, LL Law Firm initiated a Chapter 15 proceeding. The corresponding recognition helped secure valuable evidence in the United States and elsewhere and supported the recovery of artwork valued in the millions, along with additional multi-million-dollar recoveries through a confidential ancillary settlement.
LL Law Firm represents Petroforte Brasileiro de Petroleo Ltda. (“Petroforte”) (in Liquidation). After Petroforte entered insolvency proceedings in Brazil and the bankruptcy was extended to more than 300 entities and individuals, LL Law Firm obtained deposition testimony and documentary evidence in the United States and pursued analogous proceedings in the Caribbean and Central America. The evidence supported the Judicial Administrator’s efforts in Brazil and may support additional recovery litigation, including through Chapter 15.
LL Law Firm prevailed before the Eleventh Circuit in Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi v. Diss (In re Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi), 97 F.4th 1244 (11th Cir. 2024), reinforcing the importance of Chapter 15 in cross-border cooperation. The firm has also helped shape the law under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, including In Application of Consorcio Ecuatoriano de Telecomunicaciones S.A. v. JAS Forwarding (USA), Inc., 747 F.3d 1262 (11th Cir. 2014), and Novalpina Cap. Partners I GP S.A.R.L. v. Read, 149 F.4th 1092 (9th Cir. 2025).