Nelcia St Jean

Nelcia St Jean, a partner at McW Todman & Co in Road Town, Tortola, has been named Commercial Litigation Law Expert of the Year in the British Virgin Islands at the 2024 Corporate INTL Global Awards. The recognition reflects her position among the leading disputes practitioners in one of the world's most important offshore financial centres, where commercial litigation frequently carries international significance and where the quality of local counsel is closely scrutinised by clients and their advisers around the globe.

A British Virgin Islands barrister with more than fifteen years of experience, Ms St Jean has been practising in the jurisdiction since 2005 and has resided in the territory for over twenty-five years, giving her both deep technical expertise and an intimate understanding of the local courts and business community. She was admitted to the Bar of England and Wales, on a non-practising basis, in 2005 and to the Bar of the British Virgin Islands in the same year. She is a member of the BVI Bar Association and of Lincoln's Inn, and she also serves as a Notary Public and Commissioner of Oaths, roles that reflect her established standing within the profession.

Ms St Jean's practice centres on commercial litigation and corporate disputes, complemented by strong experience in corporate and insolvency law, corporate governance and corporate restructuring, including plans of arrangement, schemes of arrangement and mergers, as well as property law. She has appeared in the Commercial Court of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the Virgin Islands and has conducted numerous matters in the Civil Division. Her work has featured interim applications, applications for injunctive relief, applications for the appointment of liquidators and applications for the restoration of BVI companies, the full range of contentious tools that a sophisticated offshore disputes practice demands.

She practises within McW Todman & Co, a firm established in 1969 by the late Dr McWelling Todman CBE, QC, the first native British Virgin Islander to operate a law firm in the territory. The firm is regarded as one of the top litigation practices in the Virgin Islands and is built on the principles of a solid law practice, creative thinking and experience that clients can trust. Alongside its contentious work, it offers corporate formation and management services through its wholly owned subsidiary, McNamara Corporate Services Limited, allowing the firm to support clients across the full life cycle of a BVI structure.

Bringing together courtroom experience, corporate and insolvency knowledge and a thorough command of BVI company law, Ms St Jean offers clients a disputes practice equipped for the complex, cross-border matters that characterise the jurisdiction. Her long residence and continuous practice in the territory give her advice a grounding that international clients particularly value when significant assets or corporate control are in issue. The 2024 Corporate INTL Global Award confirms her reputation as a leading commercial litigator in the British Virgin Islands and recognises the depth and consistency of her contribution to the field.