Keith Oliver
Keith is Peters & Peters’ Head of International and one of the firm's key partners. He trained at the firm and, following qualification in 1980, was appointed partner in 1983. He has frontline experience at the cutting edge of international fraud litigation, asset recovery and disputes with a focus on achieving the very best result for every client whatever the challenge.
Keith specialises in commercial, regulatory and trust litigation, and for many years was the driving force behind the specialist commercial litigation and civil fraud and asset freezing team at Peters & Peters. He passed the mantle to Jonathan Tickner in 2018 when he became Head of International.
Keith specialises in international disputes and the location, freezing and recovery of misappropriated assets involving emergency relief procedures and the management of legal teams from many jurisdictions. His work often involves multi-jurisdictional actions in the USA, continental Europe and worldwide. He is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading lawyers in civil fraud with a reputation for addressing and resolving the most intractable of disputes and crises faced by individuals and companies.
Keith has been recommended in Chambers for many years. Chambers 2025 ranks him as an 'eminent practitioner' for Civil Fraud, with clients saying that he "is a brilliant lawyer with a very sophisticated approach. He's a very efficient manager for international teams involving lawyers all over the world" and that "he's got incredibly good client relationship skills".
Keith is ranked in the Hall of Fame by Legal 500 2024 for Civil Fraud, with a client noting that he "is an absolute legend in the civil fraud field and his litigation instincts are unfailingly correct. He is a calm and reassuring presence for clients in their darkest hour".
Keith is ranked by Who's Who Legal as a Global Elite Thought Leader for 2024 for Asset Recovery and as a Thought Leader for Commercial Litigation and is recommended for Business Crime Defence - Individuals - and for Investigations.
Case examples
Leading the team acting for the Republic of Mozambique in the US$2 billion “Tuna Bonds” Commercial Court proceedings against Credit Suisse and Abu Dhabi-based shipbuilder Privinvest.
Represented the principal shareholders of a major Gulf oil and gas construction company in a negligence claim brought against an international consultancy firm before the Dubai International Financial Centre Court.
Acted for Russian businessman Alexander Tugushev on Commercial Court claims brought against Vitaly Orlov and others relating to one of Russia's largest international fishing businesses.
Recovered the major part of US$242 million stolen from shareholders of a Brazilian Bank in one of the world’s largest so called 419 Nigerian advance fee scams.
Led the team pursuing claims relating to the sale of Formula One to CVC Capital Partners.
Related expertise
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Asset Tracing & Recovery
- Civil Fraud
- Commercial Litigation
- Directors’ Duties & Disqualification
- ESG Litigation & Enforcement
- Employee Fraud
- Fraud & Commercial Disputes
- Freezing Injunctions & Search Orders
- Insolvency & Bankruptcy
- International Arbitration
- Mediation
- Sports Investigations
- Trust Litigation
- Unexplained Wealth Orders