This month marks ten years since Nick Bortman, Joana Rego and Andrew Wordsworth founded Raedas.
From the outset, we built Raedas as a specialist investigations firm focused on disputes, enforcement and asset recovery. We made a choice to remain focused on investigative work in support of legal proceedings, rather than developing into a broad corporate intelligence business – tracing assets, testing evidence, understanding counterparties and relationships, and helping clients and counsel shape strategy in complex disputes.
Ten years on, Raedas is the market’s largest team of investigators dedicated solely to disputes, enforcement and asset recovery.
“We have led the way in redefining how investigators work with legal teams, combining rigorous investigative work with the professionalism and transparency that complex disputes and legal process require,” said Nick. “The increasing frequency with which Raedas staff members are preparing formal expert reports and appointed as fact witnesses is testament to that evolution.”
What began in London in 2016 with three founders has grown into a firm of 33 across London, Washington DC, Dubai and Singapore. The scale has changed, but the proposition has not: we bring rigorous investigative work, evidentiary discipline and expert judgement to difficult legal disputes.
The opening of our DC office in 2022, under the leadership of Senior Director Eric Wheeler, gave us a permanent base in the United States and strengthened our coverage across North and Latin America. In 2024, we established an office in Dubai, led by Managing Director Matthew Walker alongside founding partner Andrew Wordsworth, giving us a base in a region central to many international disputes and enforcement matters, as well as our private client work. Singapore followed in 2025 under Managing Director and well-known enforcement expert Marjolein van den Bosch-Broeren, extending our footprint across Asia and adding a complementary enforcement advisory capability.
These offices were never intended simply as flags on a map. They place experienced investigators closer to the jurisdictions, people, assets and institutions at the centre of our cases, while allowing us to operate as one team across the globe.
Our work today spans commercial and sovereign disputes, asset tracing and recovery, fraud and misconduct investigations, enforcement strategy, digital assets and expert witness engagements. Across those areas, the common thread is an understanding of the legal process.
Expert witness work has become an important part of that evolution. Giving independent evidence in proceedings carries significant responsibility. It requires deep subject-matter expertise, analytical discipline and transparency of method, as well as a willingness to stand behind conclusions under examination by opposing counsel. The trust involved in those appointments is something we value highly.
Over the past decade, we have also developed specialist depth in areas including sovereign disputes, enforcement advice and cryptocurrency investigations, drawing on experience accumulated across hundreds of matters.
“The hardest cases require more than information alone,” Joana said. “They require judgement – understanding which avenues are worth pursuing, distinguishing an interesting finding from a useful one, knowing what evidence can properly support an argument, and understanding how investigative work fits within the wider legal and commercial strategy of a dispute.”
That depth has been built not only through the matters we have worked on, but through the people who have developed their careers at Raedas. Our growth has been largely organic, with colleagues taking on greater responsibility and leadership as the firm has evolved. Tobias Vollmer’s promotion this year as the first internally promoted Partner since Raedas was founded is one example of that progression.
Our work continues to be recognised by the legal market. In 2026, Raedas again received Band 1 rankings from Chambers & Partners for both Business Intelligence & Investigations and Asset Tracing & Recovery, with Nicholas Bortman, Joana Rego, Andrew Wordsworth, Isabel Asquith and Tobias Vollmer all individually highly ranked.
From three founders in one London office, we have grown into a team with different professional, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, united by a highly specialised focus.
As Andrew reflected: “We started Raedas ten years ago with the objective of learning how to be more helpful to our clients from the legal profession. Our aim for the next ten is to continue this process, learning more and growing with our clients both nationally and internationally, as the knowledge of enforcement and international litigation spreads. We are very happy to be part of this exciting journey.”
We do not know precisely what the disputes landscape will look like in another decade. What we do know is that complex disputes will continue to require people who can make sense of incomplete information, produce evidence to exacting standards and exercise judgement about what really matters.