Joana Rego - Partner

Joana brings nearly two decades of experience in corporate investigations and is widely recognised as a leading expert in asset recovery. She leads Raedas’s Latin America and Sovereign Disputes practices.

Her work spans high-value, cross-border matters involving corporations, sovereigns, multilateral institutions, and high-net-worth individuals. Joana collaborates closely with clients and their legal teams, as well as third-party funders, PR professionals, and government affairs advisors—offering a strategic, multi-stakeholder approach to complex disputes. Her deep understanding of both common and civil law systems—and the dynamics between them—enables faster, more informed analysis and decision-making throughout a matter’s lifecycle.

Known for combining creativity with factual precision, Joana delivers targeted enforcement analysis and identifies pressure points to shape effective recovery strategies. She is particularly experienced in sovereign enforcement, with an experienced understanding of the mechanics,  structure and use of state-owned assets, as well as evidence gathering requirements in support of alter ego / sovereign immunity assessments as well as commercial purpose and use of assets.

In addition to her asset recovery experience, Joana maintains a broader practice developing investigative and evidence-gathering strategies in contentious scenarios, including fraud and corruption investigations, intellectual property disputes, sanctions-related actions, and other sensitive or high-stakes matters—whether in litigation, arbitration, pre-contentious settings, or settlement negotiations.

She has authored expert reports, submitted declarations, and provided testimony in support of Raedas’s investigations before courts in England & Wales, the United States, Brazil, France, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, and others, as well as before numerous domestic and international arbitration tribunals.

She acts for both claimants and defendants.

Joana is ranked Band 1 by Chambers in both Business Intelligence & Investigations and Asset Tracing & Recovery, and is recognised as a leading expert by Who’s Who Legal. Clients describe her as “fiercely bright and creative in her thought processes,” “thorough and meticulous,” and “very responsive, incisive and brings to group conversations a view that challenges things”.

Outside her casework, Joana co-leads Women in Disputes, Raedas’s award-nominated initiative promoting (female) empowerment in the investigations and disputes space. She is a frequent speaker on the topic and an active mentor to emerging professionals. She is the proud mother of two young boys.

A native Portuguese speaker, Joana is fluent in English, French, and Spanish, and also speaks German. She has lived in Lisbon, Paris, Brussels, and London.

Before co-founding Raedas in 2016, Joana was a partner at GPW and previously worked at Diligence in Brussels and London. She began her career in development cooperation at the OECD and the United Nations.

Litigation and arbitration support
Acted for a pharmaceutical multinational in a dispute with a Contract Manufacturing Organisation which was in breach of the multinational’s IP with respect to a patented molecule. Evidenced the infringement and testified in court in support of the client.
Led an investigation into a Latin American UHNW accused of fraud. Provided evidence supporting disclosure applications and freezing injunctions in the Caribbean and investigated the UHNW’s operations to evidence dissipation of assets.
Acted for counsel to recover funds from a group of South American individuals. Interviewed potential witnesses in multiple jurisdictions, developing evidence of the individuals’ asset profiles. Identified assets in the US, Spain and Panama and provided evidence to support §1782 application in the US.
Acted in a multimillion-dollar construction arbitration for a natural resources firm against a contractor. Identified and interviewed former employees and other contractors across Europe, the Middle East and Russia. Obtained witness statements in support of the client’s argument for negligence helping shape and evidence a more accurate narrative of events.
Acted for counsel on behalf of a natural resources multinational in a multimillion-dollar claim against a Far Eastern business partner. Evidenced relationships in the UK which allowed counsel to establish jurisdiction and initiate ancillary legal proceedings. Identified and supported expert witnesses.
Acted for a client in multimillion-dollar arbitration against an African counterparty seeking to evade proceedings through the use of forged documents. Evidenced the wrongdoing and coordinated with a local expert witness to attest to the forged nature of documents.
Asset tracing and recovery
Acted for counsel in support of a multibillion-dollar claim against a sovereign state. Prepared an enforcement plan and recovery strategy, identified and interviewed key witnesses who provided documentary and testimonial evidence demonstrating the flow of funds between the state and a state-owned company. These funds were used to service debt, pay suppliers and corporate loans, and replenish the sovereign wealth fund. Worked on evidencing the commercial purpose and intended use of the relevant accounts and pierce the state-owned company’s corporate veil.
Prepared recoverability assessments on EU jurisdictions, presenting roadmaps for possible enforcement targets outside the EU.
Acted for counsel in the enforcement of a multimillion-dollar award against a West African service provider. Evidenced the existence of key trading and banking relationships in Europe which supported third party debt orders.
Acted for counsel on behalf of a natural resources company to evidence oil shipments into European locations, providing evidence required for attachment orders. The frozen cargos in turn generated additional financial pressure through accruing chartering fees.
Other contentious situations
Acted for UK counsel on behalf of a European conglomerate alleging breach of contract by a politically powerful joint venture partner in the CIS. Prior to engaging in costly arbitration, client sought to evidence cause of action and misconduct by the counterparty.
Acted for counsel in a multimillion-dollar claim against a Latin American businessman. Strategy focused on putting pressure on the counterparty by openly contacting former employees and individuals from his network in country. One of these individuals provided a detailed schedule of movable and immovable assets which added weight to the client’s settlement negotiations.
Acted for counsel on behalf of a group of investors being investigated by a tax regulator as part of a clampdown on tax efficient investments. Evidenced that the investors had been misled in renewable energy projects and that monies thought to have been invested in land, equipment and staffing were in fact embezzled. The evidence was not exculpatory, but it facilitated negotiations with the regulator.
Acted for a contractor disputing the cancellation of its license in Africa. Rather than take legal action (which may have led to debilitating litigation costs) we helped the client develop a PR and government relations strategy aimed at stirring investor activism.