Sarah Y. Walker

• Successfully representing two defendants in defeating 10 year long fraud proceedings in the London Commercial Court brought by companies in the Farahead Holdings group, owned by Norwegian-born shipowner billionaire John Fredriksen. This highly complex case, involving issues of civil fraud and breach of contract and a Freezing Injunction in place for 10 years, involved a 12-week trial in 2024, resulting in a 428 page Judgment in favour of our clients in January 2025 exonerating them on every count and generating much press interest. These defendants launched an Inquiry in to Damages in 2025 in respect of the $500 million damages caused to the Defendants by the (wrongly obtained) Freezing Injunction. A month long trial took place in Q2 2026 and judgment is awaited.
• Represented WesternZagros Limited in Commercial Court proceedings involving allegations of fraud and duress and subsequent Court of Appeal proceedings on related claims regarding contractual interpretation of termination rights. Advocacy led by K&S.
• Represented various Airfinance Leasing Companies in a dispute in respect of rental payments by Saudi Arabian Airline Corporation due to the Claimants under fifty lease agreements. A three-week trial in the Commercial Court. Successfully settled.
• Acting on behalf of Motorola Solutions in injunctive and separate enforcement proceedings against Hytera Communications Corporation Limited and related subsidiaries. The UK enforcement proceedings are in support of a $450 million US judgement in favour of our client against Chinese company Hytera for theft of trade secrets.
• Acting for Motorola Credit Corporation in a long-running US$3b fraud case against the Uzan family. Successful application made to the London Commercial Court for a Worldwide Freezing Order, over US$1.5 billion successfully recovered for Motorola in recognition and enforcement proceedings in 25 countries. The representation continues with asset-tracing and recovery.
• Represented Bank & Clients in obtaining summary judgement for £3.54m together with a world-wide freezing order against the founders of bankrupt “tech unicorn” Ve Interactive. The case was highly publicised in the Financial Times and The Times.
• Representing an Islamic Bank in a £80m fraud claim against a US investor arising out of a UK building project in the London Commercial Court and in the US courts.
• Acting for a Portuguese construction and property company in a High Court claim against a major UK bank for the mis-selling of derivative products.
• Representing an International oil and gas company in proceedings up to and including trial in the London Commercial Court regarding claims connected to a production sharing contract in Iraq.
• Samir Arab v Raghida & 5 Others [2015] EWHC 1244 (English Commercial Court Judgement – summary judgement proceedings relating to fraud claims concerning a multi-million dollar Iraqi mobile telecommunications project).
• Bank and Clients Plc v King [2017] EWHC 3160 (Comm)
• Monde Petroleum SA v Westerzagros [2018] EWCA Civ 25
• Hexagon Holdings (Cayman) Limited v. DIFC [2019] DIFC CFI 013
• C v. D Ltd and X [2020] EWHC 1283 (Comm)
• Shapoorki Pallonji and Co Pvt Ltd v Yumn Limited [2021] EWHC 862 (Comm)
• Various Airfinance Leasing Companies v Saudi Arabian Airlines Corp [2021] EWHC 2904 (Comm)
• Various Airfinance Leasing Companies v Saudi Arabian Airlines Corp [2021] 12 WLUK 562Alta Trading UK Ltd (formerly Arcadia Petroleum Ltd) v Bosworth [2021] 4 W.L.R. 72
• Hexagon Holdings (Cayman) Limited v (1) Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (2) Dubai International Financial Centre Investments LLC [2019] DICF CFI 013, 2 March 2022
• Hashwah v Qatar National Bank Limited [2022] EWHC 22422 (Comm)
• Motorola Solutions Limited v. Hytera Communications Cortp Limited [2022] EWHC 2887 (Comm)
• Acting in complex multi-jurisdictional litigation and arbitral proceedings concerning the enforcement of a circa US $500m Energy Charter Treaty Award in respect of the construction and operation of a gas processing facility in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
• Commercial Court and related appeal proceedings with regard to $68 billion sovereign wealth fund and the act of state and voice doctrines.
• Commercial Court proceedings relating to a $2.5 billion fraud and enforcement claim including freezing orders and action in 25 jurisdictions worldwide.
• Commercial Court proceedings relating to terrorist financing, money laundering and acts of state and immunity.

Sarah Walker focuses on dispute evaluation and resolution by litigation, arbitration, mediation and negotiation. A partner in our Global Disputes practice based in our London office, Sarah has represented international clients in a wide variety of commercial matters for over 30 years.

Sarah Walker is a partner in our London office focused on high value commercial dispute resolution, often with an international element. Sarah handles high-stakes complex disputes via litigation in the London Commercial Court, arbitration and mediation for clients including sovereign states, financial institutions, corporates and high net-worth individuals. Sarah is described as “having breadth of expertise in financial services, aviation, IT, communications and the energy sector”. Sarah is particularly noted for her subject matter expertise across large-scale project disputes, asset recovery and enforcement and civil fraud. Sarah is described as one of the “elite advisors” and listed as a leading individual for Commercial Litigation: Premium (Legal 500 UK), is named as a leading practitioner in the field of Asset Recovery (Who’s Who Legal 2022), and ranked in Chambers.

Sarah is described as “one of the best litigators in London”, “excellent with clients and a fine all round litigator”, “a standout partner in the civil fraud space [who is] technically excellent” and has a “highly commercial approach to dispute resolution” with “boundless enthusiasm” but notably “listens and doesn’t dictate, trustworthy and smart”. She is considered to have “bags of energy and drive and a real client's lawyer” and “an impressively tough litigator, yet very gracious”.

Sarah was Training Principal for the Firm’s London Trainee Programme from 2012 to 2023, served on the Firm’s Associate Evaluation Committee for over 10 years, served as a member of the Firm’s Policy Committee for 3 years and is currently one of the firm's 16 Talent Partners. She spent time during her career in the legal function of a major financial institution, is a frequent author on dispute resolution and speaker at conferences on international disputes. Sarah spends time in all of the Firm’s Middle East offices and has worked extensively with clients from the region for over 20 years. She is fluent in Italian.