Nelcia St. Jean

Nelcia St. Jean: Commercial Litigation Lawyer in the British Virgin Islands

Nelcia St. Jean is a barrister and solicitor at McW. Todman & Co. in Road Town, Tortola. She has practised in the British Virgin Islands since 2005. Her work centres on commercial and company litigation, insolvency and corporate restructuring. She acts for companies, directors, shareholders and liquidators before the Commercial Court and the Civil Division of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

Professional Background & Credentials

Nelcia St. Jean was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2005, where she is now non-practising, and was admitted to the British Virgin Islands Bar the same year. Her credentials include:

• Member of Lincoln’s Inn and the BVI Bar Association
• Notary Public and Commissioner of Oaths
• Registered trade mark agent with the BVI Financial Services Commission

She is originally from Dominica and has lived in the BVI for more than 25 years. She has served as President of the Rotary Club of Central Tortola.

Commercial Litigation & Insolvency Practice

Her practice covers contentious and non-contentious company work:

• Commercial and shareholder disputes, including trials, interim applications and injunctions
• Applications to appoint liquidators under the BVI Insolvency Act
• Restoring struck-off BVI companies and rectifying share registers
• Relief for directors and shareholders under the BVI’s business companies legislation
• Corporate restructuring, including plans of arrangement, schemes of arrangement and mergers
• Corporate governance and property law matters

Commercial Litigation in the British Virgin Islands

The BVI is one of the world’s leading offshore company jurisdictions, so it handles a large volume of high-value international disputes. Company and insolvency claims are heard by the Commercial Court of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in Tortola. Appeals go to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and then to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. Shareholders have statutory remedies, including derivative actions and unfair prejudice claims, and liquidators can apply for court-supervised winding up. Because BVI companies are often held and managed from overseas, a local litigator who knows the procedure is essential to protecting assets and enforcing rights there.

Why Clients Work With Nelcia St. Jean

International clients, BVI-incorporated companies and their stakeholders work with Nelcia St. Jean for her two decades of courtroom experience in BVI company and insolvency disputes, much of it before the Commercial Court. McW. Todman & Co. was founded in 1969 by the late Dr. McWelling Todman CBE, QC, the first BVI native to run a law firm in the territory. It is ranked among the leading litigation practices in the Virgin Islands, and its subsidiary, McNamara Corporate Services Limited, provides corporate formation and management services.