Lucas Lima

Lucas is an Associate at Signature’s London office with experience in international arbitration and commercial litigation. Lucas regularly acts for clients in high-value and complex disputes, often with an international element.

On the international arbitration side, Lucas has experience of working on commercial arbitration disputes, as well as investor state disputes. On the commercial litigation side, Lucas has experience in group action financial services claims, as well as claims involving financial instruments. Lucas also has experience in acting in contractual disputes and shareholder disputes.

Prior to joining Signature Litigation, Lucas was Student Advisor at the BPP Pro Bono Enterprise Clinic. After working for almost three years as a Paralegal at Signature Litigation, and qualifying as a solicitor, Lucas was promoted to Associate.

Lucas is a native Portuguese speaker and conversational in Spanish.

Lucas is a member of the Brazilian Arbitration Committee (Comitê Brasileiro de Arbitragem (CBAr)). Lucas qualified as a Solicitor in England & Wales in September 2024.

Representing Privinvest, a world leader in naval shipbuilding, in a USD 3.1bn high-profile, complex Commercial Court claim (now on appeal to the Court of Appeal) brought by the Republic of Mozambique against Credit Suisse, Privinvest, and others. The claim relates to supply agreements and supporting financial instruments and guarantees entered into by state-owned enterprises dedicated to the development of Mozambique’s offshore Exclusive Economic Zone and supporting international investment into its oil and gas reserves. The claim engages allegations of bribery of Mozambican government officials. An appeal on issues of sovereign immunity featured in The Lawyer’s Top 10 Appeals of 2024. Following judgment against Privinvest (though in which most of Mozambique’s allegations failed), Privinvest obtained permission to appeal on numerous grounds, including on whether a fair trial was possible in light of established disclosure breaches by Mozambique. The appeal is listed to be heard by the Court of Appeal in June 2026.
Representing one of the world’s largest mining companies in a USD 500m investment treaty UNCITRAL claim against Liberia relating to a lucrative iron ore mining project and involving issues of expropriations and allegations of conspiracy between the state and another mining conglomerate.
Representing a global conglomerate engaged in the procurement and export of agricultural commodities with operations across Africa, in relation to a USD 400m investment treaty arbitration against an East African State and involving allegations of expropriation of the investor’s goods and other malfeasances.
Representing a large group of retail investors in one of the most significant pieces of international investment litigation in modern history. It concerned breach of contract and misrepresentation claims against major life insurance companies to recover losses in excess of GBP 100m suffered from failed investment bonds. The proceedings in the Isle of Man are the first of their kind in that jurisdiction.
Representing CA Brazil Investment S.A., a Brazilian subsidiary of Paper Excellence, a global leader in pulp, paper and wood products manufacturing in a much-publicised dispute worth over USD 3bn with Brazilian companies owned by prominent Brazillian businessmen. The dispute related to the acquisition of a commodity producer in Brazil. The dispute spanned 6 years, involved four arbitrations, including three ICC arbitrations, and multiple court proceedings in several jurisdictions. We played an instrumental role in securing a global settlement between the parties.
Representing joint administrators of a company involved in a massive cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that defrauded around 700,000 creditors. We are conducting and coordinating global asset tracing and recovery in the context of ongoing cross-border insolvency proceedings with the value of claims between GBP 500m and GBP 5bn.
Advising an international bank on the merits of and strategy for defending a contractual claim brought by a supplier
Advising a government agency on the public international law elements of a successful claim brought by an Embassy.

Article: A step in the wrong direction: Kenyan court sets aside costs award on public policy grounds – Global Arbitration Review – 2 October 2025

Article: What to expect from the UK’s new Economic Crime Bill – Law360 – 3 November 2022