Alexander Georgiou
Barrister
Call 2021
Alex has a broad commercial practise spanning all areas of Chambers' work, with a particular focus on banking and finance litigation, civil fraud, and disputes with an international aspect. Alongside his led work, he is often instructed as sole counsel.
In addition to his practice at the Bar, Alex is an established academic lawyer. He is a Prize Fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford and an Academic Fellow at the National University of Singapore. His work spans private law generally, with a particular focus on the law of remedies and on unjust enrichment/restitution.
Examples of notable recent instructions include:
- Instructed (with Niranjan Venkatesan KC) in relation to an application to strike out claims alleging frauds valued at over USD 100m on the basis that the Claimants engaged in a sustained fraudulent campaign to obtain privileged documents from the Defendants.
- Instructed (with Nehali Shah) in a high-value international dispute concerned with the entitlement to possession of title deeds deposited by way of security under foreign currency facility agreements.
- Instructed (with Neil Kitchener KC, James Weale, and Rob Harris) in relation to a potential post-judgment anti-suit injunction, in a claim worth over €200m, to restrain a collateral attack through foreign proceedings.
- Instructed (with Sandy Phipps) by the Claimants in a claim for unpaid invoices where payment was diverted by a fraudster in a business email compromise fraud.
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Examples of Recent Cases
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Banking and Finance
- Instructed (with Nehali Shah) in a high-value international dispute concerned with the entitlement to possession of title deeds deposited by way of security under foreign currency facility agreements.
- Tich Ltd v National Westminster Bank plc: Acting (with Andrew McLeod) for the defendant bank in a claim to recover monies paid away by the claimant, pursuant to an authorised push payment fraud, from an account with the defendant.
- Advised an investment fund on issues relating to abuse of process, cause of action estoppel, and limitation periods in the context of a professional negligence claim (with Sam O’Leary).
- Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Ltd v Ivanishvili: Assisted Sebastian Isaac KC during pupillage with a Privy Council appeal which raised questions relating to the duties of Quistclose trustees and the relationship between concurrent contractual and fiduciary duties.
- Jefferies International Ltd v Ashenden Finance S.A. [2025] EWHC 1441: Assisted Sandy Phipps during pupillage with resisting a jurisdiction challenge which raised the question whether a jurisdiction clause in standard Terms of Business had been incorporated into the parties’ contract.
- Fir Tree Capital Opportunity Master Fund LP v SBB Treasury Oyj: Assisted Orlando Gledhill KC and Eleanor Campbell with a €50 million test case concerning EMTN programme noteholders’ right to accelerated repayment. The case affected noteholders of over €1 billion of SBB’s debt.
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Civil Fraud
- Instructed (with Niranjan Venkatesan KC) in relation to an application to strike out claims alleging frauds valued at over USD 100m on the basis that the Claimants engaged in a sustained fraudulent campaign to obtain privileged documents from the Defendants.
- Instructed (with Sandy Phipps) by the Claimants in a claim for unpaid invoices where payment was diverted by a fraudster in a business email compromise fraud.
- Tich Ltd v National Westminster Bank plc: Acting (with Andrew McLeod) for the defendant bank in a claim to recover monies paid away by the claimant, pursuant to an authorised push payment fraud, from an account with the defendant.
- Bilta (UK) Ltd v Tradition Financial Services Ltd [2025] UKSC 18: Assisted Laurence Emmett KC during pupillage with a Supreme Court appeal which raised questions relating to (i) the scope of the Insolvency Act 1968, s. 213; and (ii) what knowledge is to be attributed to a company which was struck off the Register, and then subsequently restored thereto, during the period in which the company was struck off.
- Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Ltd v Ivanishvili: Assisted Sebastian Isaac KC during pupillage with a Privy Council appeal which raised questions relating to the duties of Quistclose trustees and the relationship between concurrent contractual and fiduciary duties.
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Commercial Litigation
- Instructed (with Niranjan Venkatesan KC) in relation to an application to strike out claims alleging frauds valued at over USD 100m on the basis that the Claimants engaged in a sustained fraudulent campaign to obtain privileged documents from the Defendants.
- Instructed (with Nehali Shah) in a high-value international dispute concerned with the entitlement to possession of title deeds deposited by way of security under foreign currency facility agreements.
- Instructed (with Neil Kitchener KC, James Weale, and Rob Harris) in relation to a potential post-judgment anti-suit injunction, in a claim worth over €200m, to restrain a collateral attack through foreign proceedings.
- Instructed (with Sandy Phipps) by the Claimants in a claim for unpaid invoices where payment was diverted by a fraudster in a business email compromise fraud.
- Instructed (with Joshua Crow) to defend allegations of breach of fiduciary duty against a director in the context of a building development project.
- Advised an investment fund on issues relating to abuse of process, cause of action estoppel, and limitation periods in the context of a professional negligence claim (with Sam O’Leary).
- Aguiar v Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A: Acted for the successful defendant challenging jurisdiction on the basis of forum non coveniens in a case which also raised novel legal issues regarding the interaction between the Montreal Convention 1999 and Regulation (EC) 261/2006 post-Brexit.
- Bilta (UK) Ltd v Tradition Financial Services Ltd [2025] UKSC 18: Assisted Laurence Emmett KC during pupillage with a Supreme Court appeal which raised questions relating to (i) the scope of the Insolvency Act 1968, s. 213; and (ii) what knowledge is to be attributed to a company which was struck off the Register, and then subsequently restored thereto, during the period in which the company was struck off.
- Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Ltd v Ivanishvili: Assisted Sebastian Isaac KC during pupillage with a Privy Council appeal which raised questions relating to the duties of Quistclose trustees and the relationship between concurrent contractual and fiduciary duties.
- Jefferies International Ltd v Ashenden Finance S.A. [2025] EWHC 1441: Assisted Sandy Phipps during pupillage with resisting a jurisdiction challenge which raised the question whether a jurisdiction clause in standard Terms of Business had been incorporated into the parties’ contract.
- Fir Tree Capital Opportunity Master Fund LP v SBB Treasury Oyj: Assisted Orlando Gledhill KC and Eleanor Campbell with a €50 million test case concerning EMTN programme noteholders’ right to accelerated repayment. The case affected noteholders of over €1 billion of SBB’s debt.
- Access Bank plc v Orjiako BVIHC (COM) 0282/2023: Assisted Neil Kitchener KC and Eleanor Campbell during pupillage with an application in the BVI to discharge freezing injunctions and the appointment of receivers for, inter alia, failures of full and frank disclosure.
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Company and Insolvency
- Re a Company: Acting as sole counsel for the respondent to an application to restrain the presentation of winding up petitions in a case raising novel questions about the relationship between restitution and insolvency law.
- Brittain v Uddin: Acted pro bono in bankruptcy proceedings which concerned whether the bankrupt’s family home was held on common intention constructive trust.
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Conflict of Laws and Jurisdiction
- Aguiar v Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A: Acted for the successful defendant challenging jurisdiction on the basis of forum non coveniens in a case which also raised novel legal issues regarding the interaction between the Montreal Convention 1999 and Regulation (EC) 261/2006 post-Brexit.
- Jefferies International Ltd v Ashenden Finance S.A. [2025] EWHC 1441: Assisted Sandy Phipps during pupillage with resisting a jurisdiction challenge which raised the question whether a jurisdiction clause in standard Terms of Business had been incorporated into the parties’ contract.
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Injunctions and Interim Applications
- Instructed (with Niranjan Venkatesan KC) in relation to an application to strike out claims alleging frauds valued at over USD 100m on the basis that the Claimants engaged in a sustained fraudulent campaign to obtain privileged documents from the Defendants.
- Instructed (with Neil Kitchener KC, James Weale, and Rob Harris) in relation to a potential post-judgment anti-suit injunction, in a claim worth over €200m, to restrain a collateral attack through foreign proceedings.
- Access Bank plc v Orjiako BVIHC (COM) 0282/2023: Assisted Neil Kitchener KC and Eleanor Campbell during pupillage with an application in the BVI to discharge freezing injunctions and the appointment of receivers for, inter alia, failures of full and frank disclosure.
- SFL Ace 2 Co Inc v DCW Management Ltd (formerly Allseas Global Management Ltd) [2024] EWHC 3074: Assisted Eleanor Campbell during pupillage with resisting an application for a non-party costs order.
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Restitution
- Re a Company: Acting as sole counsel for the respondent to an application to restrain the presentation of winding up petitions in a case raising novel questions about the relationship between restitution and insolvency law.
- Acting as sole counsel in County Court proceedings in a claim for restitution and relief from forfeiture arising out of an aborted property transaction.
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Education
Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Law - All Souls College, University of Oxford (2020–2024)
- Thesis titled ‘Private Law Remedies: Why and how private law responds to wrongdoing’.
- Examined by the Honourable Justice James Edelman (High Court of Australia) and Professor Charlie Webb (London School of Economics).
Bar Professional Training Course - BPP London (2019–2020)
Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) - Brasenose College, University of Oxford (2018–2019)
- Distinction.
- Temple Chambers (Hong Kong) scholarship.
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Jurisprudence - Brasenose College, University of Oxford (2014–2017)
- First Class Honours.
- Prizes and awards:
- Martin Wronker Prize for best overall performance (received jointly).
- Gibbs Prize (Proxime Accessit) for second-best overall performance in the Contract, Tort, Trusts, and Land papers (received jointly).
- 3 Verulam Buildings Prize for best performance in the Commercial Law paper.
- White & Case Prize for best performance in the Comparative Private Law paper.
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Previous Employment
Prize Fellow - All Souls College, University of Oxford (2019–present)
Lectures:
- Declarations of trust, formalities, and constitution (for BA students) (2023–2024).
- Termination of contract for breach and for frustration (for BA students) (2021–2024).
Graduate (BCL/MJur) seminars and tutorials:- Commercial Remedies (2020–2024).
- Restitution of Unjust Enrichment (2021–2023).
Undergraduate (BA) Tutorials and classes:- Contract law (2020–2023, for Jesus College).
- Tort law (2021–2023, for Jesus College).
- Trusts (2019–2022, for University College).
- Land law (2020–2021, for University College).
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Lectures and Publications
Books
- Substitutive Remedies: Performance-Based Awards in English Law (under contract with Hart Publishing)
Chapters
- ‘Statutory trusts and co-ownership’ in Martin Dixon and Emma Lees (eds), Modern Studies in Property Law vol. 15 (Hart Publishing 2025) (with Professor William Swadling) (forthcoming).
- ‘Remedies and the public interest’ in Andrew Robertson and Jason Neyers (eds), Private Law and the State (Hart Publishing 2024) (with Professor Sandy Steel).
Articles
- ‘Two conceptions of consideration’ (2025) Hong Kong Law Journal (forthcoming).
- ‘Hollander orders: more questions than answers?’ (2025) 44 Civil Justice Quarterly 179.
- ‘Are equitable remedies discretionary?’ (2025) 18 Journal of Equity 246 (with Dr Timothy Liau).
- ‘Making contract-breakers pay’ (2025) 141 Law Quarterly Review 104.
- ‘Mistaken payments, quasi-contracts, and the “justice” of unjust enrichment’ (2022) 42 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 606.
- ‘Taking trusts seriously’ (2021) 137 Law Quarterly Review 305.
Case notes
- ‘The role of intention in cost of cure damages revisited’ (2025) Singapore Journal of Legal Studies (forthcoming)
- ‘The market rule and late performance’ [2025] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 423.
- ‘Property damage, remoteness, and consequential contractual liabilities’ [2024] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 386.
- ‘Knowing receipt: continuing trusts and conscionability’ (2022) 86 Modern Law Review 276.
- ‘Between rocks and hard places: limitation, privilege, and mistakes of law’ (2022) 138 Law Quarterly Review 535 (with Emma Rawkins)
- ‘Interest and enrichment, again’ (2022) 138 Law Quarterly Review 186 (with Emma Rawkins).
- ‘What’s “unjust” about unjust enrichment: an answer at last?’ [2021] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 63 (cited in Banca Intesa Sanpaolo SpA v Comune di Venezia [2022] EWHC 2586).
- ‘Marr v Collie: The ballooning of the common intention constructive trust’ (2019) 82 Modern Law Review 145.
Book reviews
- ‘Review of Standing in Private Law: Powers of Enforcement in the Law of Obligations and Trusts by Timothy Liau’ (2024) 83 Cambridge Law Journal 184.
Conference presentations, public lectures, etc.
- ‘Two conceptions of consideration’ (London School of Economics Private Law Research Group, London, 2 May 2024).
- ‘Statutory trusts and co-ownership’ (15th Modern Studies in Property Law conference, Cambridge, 25–28 March 2024).
- ‘Two conceptions of consideration’ (Hong Kong University ‘Private Law and Theory Speaker Series’, Hong Kong, 11–15 March 2024).
- ‘Making contract-breakers pay’ (Hong Kong University ‘Private Law and Theory Speaker Series’, Hong Kong, 11–15 March 2024).
- ‘Making contract-breakers pay’ (Global Seminars in Private Law Theory, online, 23 November 2023).
- ‘Remedies and the public interest’ (Obligations X conference, Banff, 11–14 July 2023) (with Professor Sandy Steel).
- ‘Remedies and the public interest’ (Oxford Private Law Research Group workshop, Oxford, 20 June 2022) (with Professor Sandy Steel).
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Scholarships and Awards
- Academic Fellow of the EW Barker Centre for Law and Business, National University of Singapore (2024–present).
- Elected to Prize Fellowship at All Souls College, University of Oxford (2019).
- Temple Chambers (Hong Kong) BCL scholarship, University of Oxford (2018).
- Martin Wronker Prize for best overall performance in BA (Jurisprudence), University of Oxford (2017).
- Gibbs Prize (Proxime Accessit) for second-best overall performance in the Contract, Tort, Trusts, and Land papers during BA (Jurisprudence), University of Oxford (2017).
- 3 Verulam Buildings Prize for best performance in the BA (Jurisprudence) Commercial Law paper, University of Oxford (2017).
- White & Case Prize for best performance in the BA (Jurisprudence) Comparative Private Law paper, University of Oxford (2017).
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Languages
Alex is conversational in both Mandarin and Cantonese, with equivalent proficiency reading and writing.