Overview
Christa is a highly experienced litigation lawyer, advising banks, financial services institutions and corporates on all aspects of contentious work, much of which is multijurisdictional. She manages parallel proceedings for clients in the regulatory, civil (including employment) and/or criminal contexts. She has in-depth knowledge of the banking sector and leads the firm’s banking litigation practice.
Christa has conducted numerous internal investigations for clients in various sectors, from those investigations that need to be conducted with absolute confidentiality to those in the glare of publicity. She regularly advises on crisis management and is particularly adept at dealing with situations in which risks and demands of civil litigation have to be managed alongside the prospect of regulatory enforcement.
Christa often works in close collaboration with lawyers from the firm’s other market-leading practice areas, including Corporate, Banking, Financial Regulation and Structured Finance, in cross-office, multidisciplinary teams.
Work highlights
Christa’s work over the past 30 years, including more than 20 years as a partner has covered the full range of litigious issues which clients face. Recent matters have included:
- Advising banks in relation to disputes arising from the global financial crisis. Professional negligence claims and litigation in relation to structured products have been typical themes.
- Advising News Corporation in relation to the telephone hacking crisis and the civil litigation and inquiries to which that gave rise.
Professional experience
Christa was a temporary lecturer in Law at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University in 1987 and trained and practised as a barrister between 1987 and 1990. She was an associate at a major firm in Sydney, Australia, between 1990 and 1992 and on returning to London joined Herbert Smith where she worked for 17 years, including 13 years as a partner.
Christa joined Linklaters as a partner in 2009.
Education and qualifications
Christa has a first class degree in law from Cambridge University and has a first class post-graduate Bachelor of Civil Law degree from Oxford University.
