Tonicia Williams
Senior Associate
Tonicia Williams is a Senior Associate in the Cayman Islands Litigation & Restructuring practice.
Tonicia’s practice covers a wide range of commercial and civil litigation matters including insolvency proceedings, shareholder disputes, trust and estate litigation and regulatory matters. Tonicia has particular expertise in cross-border insolvency and restructuring proceedings between Hong Kong, the USA and the Cayman Islands. Tonicia also assists with advising clients on regulatory matters, in particular, sanctions, licence applications and data protection breaches.
She regularly advises insolvency professionals, shareholders, directors, local entities, insurance sector clients and advisors and various professional service providers. She appears frequently before the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands both on her own and as part of a larger team.
In 2023, Tonicia was elected as a member to the Education Committee of the Recovery and Insolvency Specialists Association of the Cayman Islands (RISA Cayman). RISA Cayman is the INSOL chapter for the Cayman Islands.
From January 2023 – October 2023, Tonicia served as the Cayman Islands Legal Practitioners Association representative and Deputy Chairperson on the Cayman Islands National Minimum Wage Committee. This committee was tasked with investigating the adequacy of the current minimum wage, considering the impact of new minimum wages at various wage points and providing a report to the Ministry of Labour & Pensions with its recommendations.
Tonicia worked from Conyers’ Hong Kong office from July to September 2023 as part of the firm’s secondment programme.
Jurisdiction
Experience
- Acting and appearing for various officeholders, shareholders, creditors and companies on cross-border insolvency, restructuring and distressed debt matters.
- Advising on trade and financial sanctions and on specific licence applications arising out of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (as amended) and the Russia (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2020 (as amended).
- Acting and representing insurance providers and various entities on insolvency and regulatory matters.
- Advised on a US$3 billion receivership/independent directorship matter where assets were allegedly fraudulently misappropriated and subjet of litigation between the principal and his agents on the one hand and between the agents on the other hand, who all claim to be rightful owners. Ultra-high value, multi-party, multi-jurisdictional matter which included an extensive disovery exercise.
- Acted and appeared for various banks, strata corporations and leading businesses based in the Cayman Islands on foreclosure and various civil litigation proceedings.
- Advised and appeared in the Grand Court and Tribunals on behalf of Government ministries and statutory authorities on a range of civil litigation matters as Crown Counsel for the Cayman Islands Attorney General Chambers.
Expertise
- Arbitration Enforcement & Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Asia Disputes & Restructuring
- Cayman Islands Regulatory & Risk Advisory
- Commercial Litigation
- Dispute Resolution & Insolvency
- Fraud & Asset Tracing
- Fund Disputes
- Insolvency
- Insurance Disputes
- Private Client & Trust
- Regulatory & Compliance
- Regulatory Disputes
- Schemes of Arrangement
- Shareholder Disputes & Merger Litigation
- Trust Litigation
Qualifications
Professional Background
- Associate, Kobre & Kim, Cayman Islands
- Associate, HSM Chambers, Cayman Islands
- Crown Counsel II (Civil), Cayman Islands Attorney General’s Chambers
Education
- Kingston University, London, LLB (Honours) 2009
- College of Law, Bloomsbury London, LPC 2010
- STEP Certificate International Trust Management, Distinction, 2020
Bar Admissions
- Cayman Islands Attorney-at-law, 2014
Associations
- Member, Cayman Islands Legal Practitioner’s Association (CILPA)
- Recovery & Insolvency Specialists Association Cayman (RISA), Education Comittee
- International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)
- INSOL International
- Affiliate Member, STEP Cayman
- Member, Kiwanis Club of Grand Cayman
- Volunteer, one2one Cayman (formerly Big Brother Big Sister Cayman)
- Former Deputy Chairperson of the National Minimum Wage Committee