Lianne Craig

Partner
London

she / her / hers

OVERVIEW

Lianne joined Hausfeld in 2010, shortly after its launch. She has been instrumental in the growth and development of the firm's Commercial Disputes team of which she was Practice Head in the years preceding her appointment as London Managing Partner. She was London Managing Partner for two years from January 2022.

Expertise

Over her 20 plus years in practice, Lianne has developed a broad domestic and international disputes practice with in-depth expertise in complex commercial and competition matters across a range of sectors. She has considerable experience acting in multi-party and group claims and has carved a niche in managing large, often challenging, financial services disputes.

Lianne also leads the firm's business development activities in Spain and Portugal and is regularly instructed on disputes for Spanish clients. As a member of our Environmental & HR practice group, she is also a strong proponent of the firm's pro bono endeavours.

Lianne was recognised as ‘Individual of the Year for Dispute Resolution London’ by The Legal 500 in their UK awards 2020. In addition, she was recognised in The Lawyer Hot 100 2021.

Broadcasters and specialist press seek Lianne out for comment on key judgments or legal developments. She is also invited to speak by leading conference organisers, such as IBA and ABA, on a regular basis. Lianne was appointed as an Officer (Jurisdiction Co-Ordinator) of the IBA’s Class Actions Committee in January 2022, and as a Member of the IBA’s Law Firm Management Committee Advisory Board in January 2023.

Prior to joining the firm, Lianne was at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Clifford Chance LLP.

Clients

Lianne works with many international clients, including on the Iberian and Latin American market. She acts for clients in many sectors including blue chip corporations, financial institutions, private equity and hedge fund investors, SMEs and private individuals.

Lianne is fluent in Spanish and speaks French to an advanced level.

WHAT OTHERS SAY

Chambers UK

Lianne has been recognised as a leading lawyer by Chambers for a number of years. They recognise her expertise as follows:

'Lianne Craig is a great leader' - Banking Litigation: Mainly Claimant, Chambers UK, 2024

'She is an excellent individual who is able to focus on key issues... She is a wonderful leader who is incredibly smart, hard-working and very dedicated. She delivers exceptional client services.' - Banking Litigation, Chambers UK, 2023

Lianne Craig is head of the firm's commercial disputes group and maintains a strong reputation for her litigation practice. She is highly accomplished at leading large-scale litigation against banks regarding mis-selling, benchmark manipulation and other forms of financial misconduct. "Lianne Craig is a real powerhouse in banking litigation." "She is an exceptional lawyer with really outstanding commercial judgement. Her strategy skills are the best I have ever seen - she can take a step back and see the bigger picture, and she is able to see how the other side thinks." - Banking Litigation – Mainly Claimant, Chambers UK 2022

Lianne is listed as a 'notable practitioner'. - Litigation, Chambers UK 2022

"Lianne demonstrates really good judgement, strategic thinking and has amazing instincts." "Lianne is very user-friendly, super creative and very engaged in the day-to-day on a case." "She is a good tactician and negotiator." - Banking Litigation – Mainly Claimant, Chambers UK 2021

Department head Lianne Craig has impressive experience in banking litigation, including large claims related to benchmark manipulation and financial product mis-selling. Sources state she is a ‘hard-working, intelligent and very experienced lawyer’ who is ‘an absolute pleasure to deal with’. - Banking Litigation – Mainly Claimant, Chambers UK 2020

"Lianne Craig is among the firm's roster of well-respected financial litigators." - Litigation, Chambers Europe 2020

Lianne is noted for her expertise acting for claimants in high-profile and complex commercial disputes. She has expertise in cases relating to manipulation of benchmark interest rates and interest rate swaps. Sources say: ‘She is quite exceptional – extremely diligent, very personable and a very good lawyer.’ - Banking Litigation – Mainly Claimant, Chambers UK 2019

Recognition as a notable practitioner - Competition Litigation: Private Enforcement: Claimant, Chambers UK 2018

A well-regarded litigator who assists clients from a broad range of sectors including financial services, arbitration and mediation. - Competition Litigation: Private Enforcement: Claimant, Chambers UK 2016

Legal 500 UK

The 2025 edition continues to recognise Lianne Craig as a leading partner for Banking Litigation and Commercial Litigation, Premium and as a key lawyer for Competition Litigation, Claimant as well as Group Litigation.

They say: "Lianne Craig plays a key role in the firm’s European expansion, thanks to her connections to the Spanish market."

Lianne Craig is an 'extremely competent with great knowledge. She has vast knowledge of competition law, providing value-added solutions.’ - Competition Litigation, 2024

Lianne ‘has exceptional people skills and is able to find creative solutions to running cases’. - Group Litigation: Claimant, 2024

Recognised as a 'leading individual', Lianne Craig 'is a brilliant lawyer, with an innate facility in negotiation which I have never seen in other competitors in the UK legal sector.' - Banking Litigation: Investment & Retail, 2024

'First class and a wonderful leader'. - Banking Litigation: Investment & Retail, 2024

Noted as a 'leading individual', Lianne is ‘excellent’ and ‘super responsive’ - Banking Litigation: Investment & Retail, 2024

Lianne is recognised as a 'key lawyer.' - Competition Litigation, 2023

She is noted as a 'leading individual [and is] 'extraordinary.' - Banking Litigation, 2023

A 'leading individual, Lianne Craig is probably the best lawyer I have worked with - both a brilliant strategist and a great technical lawyer. She is absolutely fierce when it is required and holds her own against any magic circle partner, she is also fair and has a strong sense of justice. Lianne is also excellent at managing people and understands how to run a team on a big case.' - Commercial Litigation, 2023

Lianne is recognised as a 'key lawyer.' - International Arbitration, 2023

Lianne is recognised as a 'key lawyer.' - Environment, 2023

Lianne has been recognised as a ‘Leading Individual’ for both Commercial Litigation and Banking Litigation for several years.

Ranked as a 'Leading Individual', 'Lianne Craig is absolutely brilliant. She is an exceptional technical lawyer who has a real eye for detail, but she is also an outstanding litigation strategist who is able to manoeuvre tricky situations to achieve brilliant outcomes for her clients. She is also fantastic at managing a team and a case and has taken Hausfeld’s banking practice from strength to strength. In short, she is a real star.' 'Lianne Craig is a genius in devising clever approaches and without match.' - Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail, 2022

'Lianne Craig is a formidable lawyer and businessperson. She is brilliantly clever and is a real star of the commercial litigation sphere. Lianne is completely fearless and incredibly tough when it comes to fighting her client’s position, but she is also very down to earth and an absolute delight to work with. She is a fantastic strategist and is able to manoeuvre tricky situations to achieve brilliant outcomes for her clients.' 'A brilliant combination of commercial approach and client skills.' 'Exceptionally impressive.' - Commercial Litigation: Premium, 2022

'Lianne Craig has broad domestic and international disputes experience'. - International Arbitration, 2022

'Lianne Craig is exceptional – bright, insightful, hard-working and a delight to work with.' - Civil Liberties and Human Rights, 2022

Lianne Craig is recognised as a 'key lawyer'. - Environment, 2022

Ranked as a 'Leading Individual': 'very bright and absolutely incredible at strategic thinking' - Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail, 2021

“Lianne Craig is an excellent lawyer and person of great integrity and clarity of vision – an absolute pleasure to work with.” - Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail, 2021

‘Lianne Craig is excellent at taking the lead on cases. She balances strategy and bigger picture thinking with being on top of the details perfectly and is well-liked by her juniors. She is very bright and absolutely incredible at strategic thinking and getting cases over the line. - Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail, 2021

Ranked as a Leading Individual. - Commercial Litigation: Premium, 2021

The Legal 500 recognised Lianne Craig as ‘Individual of the Year for Dispute Resolution London’ in their UK 2020 awards.

‘Very good, clever, commercial and user-friendly’ – Commercial Litigation, 2020

Clients love Lianne Craig's brilliant and often-inspiring style. She fights hard for her clients, but she does so with diplomacy and judgement, such that she manages the rare feat in litigation of engendering excellent relationships with those on the other side of the table. This undoubtedly means she gets a better result for her client. – Banking Litigation, 2020

‘Superb and able to project manage and implement strategy on the largest of claims.’ - Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail, 2018 & 2019

‘Experienced in assembling claimant groups.’ – Commercial Litigation, 2018 & 2019

Lianne is highly regarded and described as being ‘very calm under fire and always has workable solutions to thorny problems’. - Banking Litigation: Investment & Retail, 2018

‘Excellent lawyer.’ – Competition Litigation, 2016

Who's Who Legal

For five consecutive years, since 2019, Lianne has been recognised as a Global Leader for Competition Plaintiff by Who's Who Legal.

In 2023, Lianne was highlighted as a 'Recommended Individual' in Commercial Litigation.

The Who’s Who Legal 2018 Plaintiff Chapter highlighted Lianne for her ‘exceptional performance’ noting the Hausfeld European offices as a “stand out…leading firm in the European market”.

The Lawyer

The Lawyer recognised Lianne Craig in their Hot 100 2021.

Lawdragon

Lianne was recognised by Lawdragon in 2021 and 2023 in their 500 Global Litigation Lawyers for International Arbitration and Litigation. In 2024, she was commended as part of the Top 500 Global Plaintiff Lawyers for Competition and Financial Services plaintiff litigation and ranked in the prestigious Top 500 Leading Global Litigators.

Leaders League

Recognised by Leaders League 2021 for Commercial Litigation.

Advises on a wide range of commercial disputes including insolvency, IP, fraud, shareholder (including unfair prejudice/minority shareholder claims and FSMA s 90/90A), breach of warranty, general contract and tort and asset recovery and enforcement.

Selection of case highlights:
- Representing Trappit S.A., a Spanish technology company, in a claim brought in the Chancery Division against American Express Europe LLC and GBT Travel Services UK, alleging unlawful use of intellectual property in an intelligent ﬂight savings solution. The claims are for breach of conﬁdence, copyright infringement and unlawful means conspiracy with a value of €200m+.
- Various: regularly instructed on behalf of both minority and majority shareholders in relation to claims for unfairly prejudicial conduct (s994 Companies Act 2006).
- Ventra Investments Limited: represented the joint liquidators in a successful s.236 application against the administrative receivers in addition to bringing claims valuing approximately £100 million for interest rate swap mis-selling, benchmark manipulation and intermeddling in administrative receivership.
- Acting for the director of a Czech private equity fund in relation to claims arising out of a joint venture brought against a UK asset management company.
- RBS Rights Issue Litigation, Security for Costs: acting for a third-party funder in the RBS Rights Issue litigation, a £ multi-billion claim subject to a GLO in the High Court.
- Lunn v Cenkos Securities plc : acting for a former employee/company director in relation to breaches of contract further to a phantom bonus scheme (and related employment proceedings).
Shareholder disputes, including warranty claims; bondholder disputes; claims arising out of loan, structured finance and derivatives transactions and cases involving large scale fraud and mis-selling of investments.

Selection of case highlights:
- Graiseley Properties Limited v Barclays Bank plc - widely recognised as a “test case” for LIBOR misrepresentation claims.
- Leeds City council & Ors v Barclays Bank plc - Acting for 7 city councils which claim rescission of various Lender Option, Borrower-Option (LOBO) loans agreed with Barclays between 2005 and 2008, with a total value of several hundred million pounds, related to the bank’s manipulation of the LIBOR benchmark between 2005 and 2010.
- Ventra Investments Ltd v Bank of Scotland plc - Representing the joint liquidators of VIL in claims valuing approximately £100 million for interest rate swap mis-selling, benchmark manipulation and intermeddling in administrative receivership.
- A number of heavyweight cases arising from the collapse of Lehman Brothers*.
* Obtained at another firm

Expertise in complex commercial and competition matters across a range of sectors with considerable experience acting in multi-party and group claims.

Case highlights include:
- Leading the Hausfeld team in a collaboration with Spanish team, Eskariam, representing thousands of Spanish dairy farmers in a case arising out of Spanish regulatory (CNMC) findings in respect of the Spanish Milk cartel
- Deutsche Bahn AG & Ors v Morgan Crucible plc & Ors.
- Part of the team which brought a claim for multiple claimants against British Airways who suffered as a result of the Air Cargo cartel.

‘Lianne Craig is a brilliant lawyer, with an innate facility in negotiation which I have never seen in other competitors in the UK legal sector.'

Legal 500 UK, 2024

'She is an excellent individual who is able to focus on key issues... She is a wonderful leader who is incredibly smart, hard-working and very dedicated and delivers exceptional client services.

Chambers UK, 2023

Lianne Craig is probably the best lawyer I have worked with – both a brilliant strategist and also a great technical lawyer. She is absolutely fierce when it is required and holds her own against any magic circle partner, but she is also fair and has a strong sense of justice. Lianne is also an excellent people manager and understands how to run a team on a big case.

Legal 500 UK, 2023

She is an exceptional lawyer with really outstanding commercial judgement. Her strategy skills are the best I have ever seen...

Chambers UK, 2022

Lianne Craig is a real powerhouse in banking litigation.

Chambers UK, 2022

She is an exceptional technical lawyer who has a real eye for detail, but she is also an outstanding litigation strategist who is able to manoeuvre tricky situations to achieve brilliant outcomes for her clients.

Legal 500 UK, 2022

Lianne Craig is a genius in devising clever approaches and without match.

Legal 500 UK, 2022

Very user-friendly, super creative and very engaged in the day-to-day on a case.

Chambers UK, 2021

Very bright and absolutely incredible at strategic thinking.

Legal 500 UK, 2021

She demonstrates really good judgement and strategic thinking and has amazing instincts.

Chambers UK 2021

Lianne Craig is an excellent lawyer and person of great integrity and clarity of vision.

Legal 500 UK, 2021

Excellent at taking the lead on cases. She balances strategy and bigger picture thinking with being on top of the details perfectly and is well-liked by her juniors. She is very bright and absolutely incredible at strategic thinking and getting cases over the line.

Legal 500 UK, 2021