Chris Drewe Partner - Crisis & Disputes

Chris is the Head of our Forensic & Valuation team in the UK as well as co-chair of the Forensic team for the firm globally. He is an experienced forensic accountant who has worked in the context of a wide range of dispute resolution, investigation and other forensic accounting cases. 

Experience

Chris is a Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the ICAEW. Chris has taken instructions as a Party Appointed Expert and as a Single Joint Expert and he has been the named individual responsible for investigations. He has given oral testimony before Courts and Tribunals on a number of occasions, both in the UK and overseas, as well as in remote Hearings.

Chris has been instructed as an Expert in the High Court, the United States Bankruptcy Court, the United States District Court (Southern District of New York), the Dubai International Financial Centre Court, arbitral proceedings in many jurisdictions (under ICC, LCIA, ICSID, LMAA and ad hoc rules), the Iran-US Claims Tribunal, the High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man and Tax Tribunals. He has also provided Expert reports in the context of regulatory proceedings and criminal matters, both in the UK and overseas.

Chris’ Expert experience includes accounting disputes, breach of contract claims, post-acquisition warranty claims, damages assessments, valuations and professional negligence claims. His investigations experience includes instructions relating to allegations of fraud, accounting irregularities, misrepresentation, regulatory investigations, cash and asset tracing assignments and forensic audits.

Work Highlights 

• Written testimony, and oral testimony by deposition, in the United States District of Court Southern District of New York in fraud proceedings relating to a major energy company.
• Written and oral testimony in an ICC arbitration (Sao Paulo) in a post-M&A dispute between two global pharma companies.
• Written and oral testimony in an UNCITRAL arbitration in the Hague in a context of a significant dispute between two sovereign states.
• Written and oral testimony in an Ad Hoc arbitration proceedings in relation to a joint venture between a major construction company and a global energy group.
• Written and oral testimony in an ICC arbitration (London) in a dispute between a global brand and an international franchise relating to the alleged unlawful termination of the franchise agreement.
• A number of LMAA arbitrations (oral testimony provided on two occasions).
• Written and oral testimony in the First-Tier Tribunal Tax Chamber in the matter of (1) Unistar Trading Limited (In Liquidation) (2) Unistar Group Limited and (1) The Commissioners For Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs ([2020] UKFTT 191 (TC)).
• Written testimony in the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts in the matter of SBM Bank (Mauritius) Ltd and (1) Renish Petrochem FZE (2) Mr Hiteshkumar Chinubhai Mehta ([2021] DIFC CFI 054).
• Written testimony in the England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) in the matter of Lyons v Fox Williams LLP ([2016] EWHC 2427 (QB)).
• A number of instructions in the context of potential breaches of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
• A number of high-profile criminal matters, acting either as an expert or advisor.
• Many instructions (including a number of appointments by the President of the ICAEW) in the context of expert determinations, either acting as the Independent Determiner and jointly instructed by parties to determine an accounting or financial issue, or acting as a party appointed advisor and assisting draft submissions.