Olivia Ward

Olivia is a Paralegal at Signature Litigation’s London office with experience in complex commercial litigation and international arbitration matters.

Prior to joining Signature, Olivia worked as a Paralegal at Dentons, primarily supporting the Dispute Resolution and Banking and Finance teams. She also completed an internship with Globalteer as an NGO Assistant in Cambodia, where she implemented a children’s education programme on human rights. Olivia has also gained experience in mini pupillages at various chambers.

Outside of work, Olivia has volunteered with charities including Free Representation Unit, Amicus, National Centre for Domestic Violence and StreetLaw.

Olivia is a member of Gray’s Inn and was called to the Bar in 2023. She received a 2.1 in her LLB from Lancaster University, and a Merit/Very Competent from ICCA for the Bar Course, Olivia is a native English speaker.

Representing a large group of institutional and retail claimants in complex group litigation against a UK bank and its former directors in relation to allegations of breach of statutory obligations under s.90 FSMA with respect to alleged omissions and/or misleading statements in a prospectus relating to GBP12bn rights issue in 2008. The areas of complaint included liquidity, capital, credit market exposures, risk management, VAR and LIBOR. Following this group claim a large number of other s.90 and 90A FSMA claims have since been issued in this ever growing and developing area of litigation.
Representing Renault and certain of its Authorised Dealerships in the NOx Diesel Emissions Group Litigation in London, a claim of unprecedented scale in the English court, in which more than 1.6 million claimants have issued claims against car manufacturers (and others). The case involves a 12-week technical trial which started in October 2025 and will conclude in March 2026.
Representing over 200 institutional claimants with respect to over 1,000 different funds/portfolios in a c. GBP 1.5bn group action claim against Standard Chartered involving allegations of untrue or misleading statements and omissions in information published by the Defendant to the market giving rise to claims under s90 and s90A Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Representing the beneficiaries of a Panamanian Foundation in claims for losses up to USD 500m incurred due to the fraudulent mismanagement of the offshore trust structure by rogue fiduciaries. The claim included applications for interim relief (including worldwide freezing orders, asset disclosure orders and information orders) in the Caribbean, Europe and Asia, in support of an ICC arbitration seated in Panama.
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.
Managed over 200 pre-action financial mis-selling claims for a large commercial bank, taking responsibility for the tracking, assessment, and settlement of each claim.
Reviewed Finance Agreements, Intercreditor Agreements, Security Agreement and Guarantees from multiple jurisdictions (including UK, Hong Kong and the USA) in preparation for the transition from LIBOR.