Ivana Daskalova

Ivana Daskalova

Call: 2018

"3 Verulam Buildings is first-class."

- Chambers & Partners UK Bar (2022)

“The set boasts some of the strongest practitioners in the market.”

- Chambers & Partners UK Bar (2022)

Practice Overview

Ivana has appeared in the County Court, the High Court and the Privy Council and has developed a broad practice with a focus on banking, financial services, civil fraud, arbitration and general commercial litigation. She is frequently instructed in cases with a cross-border element and is currently on the Attorney General’s C Panel.

Ivana is fluent in French and Bulgarian, with an intermediate level of Russian and Dutch, and has contributed to publications such as the Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law.

In 2018, Ivana conducted transposition checks for the European Commission, assessing the completeness and conformity of national transpositions of EU directives. She further spent five weeks in Israel, undertaking a placement at Israel’s premier law firm, Herzog, Fox & Neeman and shadowing Judge Tal Havkin in the Shalom Court in Tel Aviv and Judge Uzi Vogelman in the Supreme Court in Jerusalem.

Between October 2019 and February 2020, Ivana was seconded to one of the leading law firms for civil fraud, where she assisted with making and defending applications for committal and freezing injunctions (including against the fugitive art dealer Inigo Philbrick, who defrauded art collectors out of more than US$86m).

In her spare time, Ivana enjoys photography. She was awarded an Honourable Mention in the 2020 edition of the International Photography Awards, one of the world's largest photography competitions.

  • Y. P. Seaton & Ors v Sagicor Bank Jamaica Ltd: appeared in the Privy Council in the context of a claim for interest (led by Richard Salter QC).
  • Various Claimants v Nationwide Corporate Finance Ltd & Ors: acted for a defendant bank alleged to have mis-sold financial products and breached the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and FSMA (led by Adam Kramer QC).
  • Assisting Rory Phillips QC in the context of the appeals process for customers impacted by the £1bn fraud scandal at HBOS, established by him as part of Lloyds Banking Group’s implementation of the recommendations of The Cranston Review.
  • Acted as sole counsel for a financial technology company in a US$multi-million claim against a Brazilian bank.
  • Acting as sole counsel for a Nigerian architectural business in a US$1.5m claim against a foreign exchange firm.
  • Advised upon the merits of various potential claims arising from mortgage agreements and unsecured loan agreements.
  • Acted for defendant banks alleged to have mis-sold payment protection insurance to their customers.
  • Lott & Ors v PSA Automobiles & Ors: acting for Peugeot, Citroën and DS who are alleged to have fitted their vehicles with devices reducing the effectiveness of their emissions control systems (led by William Norris QC and Edmund Townsend).
  • Advising a French law firm in connection with it being the victim of an Authorised Push Payment fraud (led by Peter de Verneuil Smith QC).
  • Worked as a pupil on a US$2bn+ dispute relating to Ukrainian assets, a £1.34bn worldwide freezing order against a Russian national, and a US$400m dispute relating to the alleged siphoning off of oil payments in Ukraine and Russia.
  • Successfully struck out as sole counsel a claim against a bank arising from an Authorised Push Payment fraud.
  • Acted, as a secondee barrister, for a respondent to a worldwide freezing order in the sum of US$1.85 billion arising from the cancellation of the mining rights of Beny Steinmetz’s BSGR in Guinea.
  • Acted, as a secondee barrister, for a German finance provider in freezing injunction proceedings against Inigo Philbrick, who defrauded art collectors out of more than US$86m.
  • Acted, as a secondee barrister, for a Russian businessman in proceedings for conspiracy relating to the shareholding of Norebo, one of Russia’s largest fishing enterprises.
  • Acted, as a secondee barrister, for a Russian businessman who was the respondent to a committal application.
  • Acted, as a secondee barrister, for a Ukrainian businessman in the context of an application for alternative service on a defendant evading service.
  • Acted as sole counsel for fraud victims in various enforcement proceedings.
  • Azima v RAKIA & Ors: acted for a defendant private investigator alleged to have hacked the emails of an American airline tycoon on the instructions of the Ras al-Khaimah sovereign wealth fund (led by Andrew Fletcher QC).
  • Stokoe Partnership Solicitors v Grayson & Ors: acted for a defendant private investigator alleged to have accessed and misused information confidential to a firm of solicitors arising from their work for Karam Al Sadeq in ongoing proceedings against, inter alia, Dechert LLP in which Mr Al Sadeq alleges that he was unlawfully detained and tortured in the UAE (led by Andrew Fletcher QC).
  • Weiss Technik UK Ltd & Ors v Christopher Davies & Ors: acted as sole counsel for a former employee of Weiss Technik, a leading manufacturer of environmental simulation systems, who was alleged to have misappropriated confidential information and software belonging to it, and breached its copyright and database rights.
  • Lott & Ors v PSA Automobiles & Ors: acting for Peugeot, Citroën and DS who are alleged of fitting their vehicles with devices reducing the effectiveness of their emissions control systems (led by William Norris QC and Edmund Townsend).
  • Acting for 161 investors intending to bring a group action against several firms of solicitors in relation to failed property investments (led by Andrew Sutcliffe QC).
  • Various Claimants v Nationwide Corporate Finance Ltd & Ors: acted for a defendant bank alleged to have mis-sold financial products and breached the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and FSMA (led by Adam Kramer QC).
  • Acting in a dispute regarding the ownership of various assets, including petrol stations, which led to the commencement of, inter alia, injunction proceedings (led by Alexia Knight).
  • Acted in a claim for the dissolution of a partnership and the taking of an account.
  • Acting in various breach of contract proceedings between commercial entities, including construction, consulting, accounting and manufacturing businesses.
  • Representing the National Police Chiefs Council in the Covid-19 Inquiry (led by Rory Phillips KC).
  • Acting for 161 investors intending to bring a group action against several firms of solicitors in relation to failed property investments (led by Andrew Sutcliffe QC).
  • Acted in various claims against law firms.
  • Advised on the doctrine of economic duress in the context of an arbitration (led by Richard Hanke).
  • Worked as a pupil on an LCIA arbitration worth £10m+ relating to European hotel franchise agreements and an LCIA arbitration relating to misappropriated company assets.
  • Advised upon the impact of the dissolution of an English company, and its subsequent restoration to the register, on its ownership of property located in Slovenia.
  • Acted in various winding-up and bankruptcy petitions.
  • Advised a Russian conglomerate on BVI civil litigation procedure and the criteria governing the enforcement of foreign judgments in the BVI, in particular anti-suit injunctions and compensation orders made by a Russian Arbitrazh court (led by Nicholas Craig QC).
Winner: UK Bar Awards 2023
The Lawyer Awards 2022: Chambers of the Year