Hugo Farmer - Campbells

Overview

Hugo is counsel in our Litigation, Insolvency & Restructuring Department in the Cayman Islands office. Hugo has extensive experience in cross-border commercial litigation, in particular shareholder/investor disputes and civil fraud claims.

Prior to joining Campbells in 2025 Hugo practised in London for eight years, where he frequently worked on cross-border litigation and special situations matters across a variety of jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, various countries in the EU and Eastern Europe, as well as several offshore jurisdictions.

Expertise

Commercial Litigation
Acting for general partners, limited partners and investment managers of exempted limited partnerships
Cross-border litigation
Insolvency and Restructuring
Fraud and asset recovery
Injunctions and Interim Measures

Work Highlights

Acting for the two primary limited partners of a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership with US$2+ billion in capital commitments in relation to parallel proceedings in the Cayman Islands and the Delaware Court of Chancery regarding the breakdown of the relationship between the limited partners and the general partner.

(*prior to joining Campbells)

Successfully defended a US$300+ million claim for deceit and unjust enrichment in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands brought by a Middle Eastern businessman against a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership relating to loans that were made to individuals and entities associated with the partnership (Abdulhameed Dhia Jafar v Abraaj Holdings & Ors (FSD 203 of 2020)).
Assisted the Limited Partner Advisory Committee and Conflict Director of a US$1.5+ billion exempted limited partnership with restructuring the partnership’s management arrangements, as well as preserving and clawing back assets, after its investment manager was put into liquidation.
Acted for a prominent Ukrainian politician in a successful application to dismiss (on jurisdictional grounds) claims for unlawful means conspiracy brought against him in the High Court of England and Wales (Surkis & Ors v Poroshenko & Anor [2021] EWHC 2512 (Comm)).

Qualifications and Admissions

Attorney at Law Cayman Islands, 2025
Solicitor Advocate of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, 2024
Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand, 2014
University of Chicago, Master of Laws, 2017
University of Auckland, Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts, 2014

Prior Career History

Debevoise & Plimpton, London, United Kingdom, 2018 – 2025
Slaughter and May, London, United Kingdom, 2017 – 2018
Russell McVeagh, Auckland, New Zealand, 2014 – 2016

Professional Associations

INSOL

Recognition and Awards

Hugo has been ranked multiple times in the “Commercial Litigation: Premium” category of the Legal 500 (UK) which states that he is “a huge asset to any team” with “In-depth knowledge of law and issues” and adds that he “pays attention to the details and drives innovative strategies to obtain consistently excellent results for his clients”, takes a “Commercial approach to getting the best result”, and “drives solutions that work”.