Chambers UK 2020

Silks

Alan Boyle QC: "Fantastically focused and committed, he strikes a perfect balance between being sympathetic with clients and utterly combative when fighting for them in court." "His clear and authoritative advocacy is impressive."                 

Frank Hinks QC: "He's very responsive and we got a great result because of Frank's advocacy skills. He's very hard-working and very engaged."

Elizabeth Jones QC: "She is a hardcore trusts person and she's excellent." "She's a famously tenacious opponent and very strong on her trust knowledge."

Richard Wilson QC: "He's a delight to work with. He's obviously very bright, knows the law and can apply it. He's an able advocate." "He is a brilliant advocate and he gets to the point easily and quickly. He turns work around very quickly."

Dakis Hagen QC: "He's a very pleasant and articulate man. He is a clear and sensible advocate and he's the sort of silk you know will be very client-friendly."

Juniors

William Henderson: "He's absolutely first rate, with really super technical expertise. He has an excellent bedside manner in terms of breaking down complex issues for the client and being a reassuring and knowledgeable member of the team."

Giles Richardson: "He's really cornered the market as a senior junior. If I have a knotty issue with an international element and want a tough, bright junior, he's at the top of my list."

James Brightwell: "He's obviously technically very sharp, very down to earth and he doesn't waffle around. He's a genuinely nice person." "He has a very well thought through approach and particular expertise in Channel Islands matters."

Legal 500 2020

Silks

Alan Boyle QC: "A master tactician with highly polished client skills and a tenacity to get the right outcome."

Frank Hinks QC: "A highly experienced and very effective silk in the offshore trusts field."

Elizabeth Jones QC: "She takes no prisoners and it is comforting having her on your team in complex and tense matters."

Philip Jones QC: "His written work is first class; he is also calm and unflappable in court."

Dominic Dowley QC: "A hardworking silk of note."

Philip Jones QC: "He is experienced in offshore trusts."

John Machell QC: "Super user-friendly, commercial, practical and really knows his stuff"

David Blayney QC: "A very smart silk."

Jonathan Adkin QC: "His advice and advocacy are spot-on."

Richard Wilson QC: "An able and nimble advocate with excellent judgement."

Prof Jonathan Harris QC (Hon.): "Deep knowledge of the law; commercial, pragmatic advice; fantastic to deal with – the full package."

Constance McDonnell QC: "Is one of the most intelligent barristers at the Chancery Bar and identifies key points of law and factual issues which would be missed by other counsel."

Juniors

Andrew Francis: "A well-regarded junior practitioner."

William Henderson: "Is a calming presence who is great with clients and focused on achieving the best outcome for them."

Giles Richardson: "A silk in all but name, a complete workhorse with phenomenal ability to pick up a huge and complex case and master it overnight."

James Brightwell: "A go-to barrister for highly technical and tricky trust matters – he is a calm and reassuring presence."

Jonathan Fowles: "Has the ability to distil very complex concepts and make them accessible and understood by a lay client."

James Weale: "Is confident, robust and has formidable advocacy skills – he is all over the detail but never forgets the big picture."

Appleby Trust (Mauritius) Limited v Crociani [2018] JCA 136A:

Dakis Hagen QC was instructed for Appleby in Appleby Trust (Mauritius) Limited v Crociani [2018] JCA 136A, the substantive appeal in the long-running and high value Crociani litigation in Jersey. The appeal was allowed to the extent that the equitable compensation to be paid by the main appellants was substantially reduced. The judgment addressed circumstances in which a court will decline equitable compensation as a matter of discretion, even when a breach of trust is established. Stephanie Thompson has since been instructed with Dakis for Appleby in the ongoing litigation and Giles Richardson has advsed another party in related matters. 

A v A; A v Line Trust Corporation Corporation & Ors (2017/CACIV/01):

Richard Wilson QC, Prof Jonathan Harris QC (Hon.) and James Weale appeared in the Gibraltar Supreme Court and Court of Appeal for various parties in Line Trust Corporation v W & Ors, in which a trustee applied for declarations as to the validity of deeds excluding beneficiaries from benefit under a trust. The former beneficiary sought to challenge the validity of the deeds of exclusion in English matrimonial proceedings and asserted that the Gibraltar Court did not have jurisdiction to hear the trustee's application. 

Habberfield v Habberfield [2019] EWCA Civ 890:

Judgment was handed down on Thursday 23rd May 2019 after the judge ruled in favour of the Respondent, Lucy Habberfield, in an inheritance dispute. The court heard that Lucy Habberfield had been promised that the family dairy farm would be bequeathed to her by her late father. However, following a fight with her sister, Sarah, Lucy left the family home and subsequently brought a legal claim for the farm she was promised. 

Lord Justice Lewison, who sat with Lord Justice Moylan and Lady Justice Rose dismissed the appeal and acknowledged that Jane Habberfield (Appellant) will need to pay her daughter £1.1million to compensate for her devotion to the family holding.  Richard Wilson QC acted for the Appellant (instructed by Wilsons Solicitors).

Lehtimaki v Children’s Investment Fund Foundation [2018] EWCA Civ 1605.:

Will Henderson acted for the independant trustees in the potentially game-changing case of Lehtimaki v Children’s Investment Fund Foundation [2018] EWCA Civ 1605. The Court of Appeal held that, at least where they were few in number, members of charitable companies owed fiduciary duties to the charity and could not vote in their decisions unless they had acted or were threatening to act improperly. At the time of writing there is an outstanding application for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Illot v The Blue Cross [2017] UKSC 17:

Khan v Gany Holdings [2018] UKPC 21:

Alan Boyle QC, Richard Wilson QC, and Zahler Bryan appeared for the successful respondents in this case involving allegations that a trustee had wrongfully failed to account for trust assets worth $100m and that an appointment by trustees should be set aside.

Please click here to view the judgment.

Ubbi v Ubbi [2018] W.T.L.R 1039:

James Weale acted for the defendant in Ubbi v Ubbi [2018] W.T.L.R 1039 an Inheritance Act Claim which was the subject of a week-long trial in the High Court. The judgment is the first decision in recent years to have considered the principles applicable to claim brought by minor children of the deceased. 

Please click here to view the judgment. 

Gupta v Gupta [2018] EWHC 1353 (Ch):

Constance McDonnell QC appeared in May 2018 against James Weale in Gupta v Gupta [2018] EWHC 1353 (Ch) a contentious probate dispute in which her client propounded a will made by his Indian mother. The deputy Judge considered detailed evidence and arguments about the testatrix's ability to read and understand English, and concluded that the will was vaild. 

Please click here to view the judgment. 

Bidzina Ivanishvili & Ors v Credit Suisse & Ors:

Sophie Holcombe continues to be instructed as junior counsel on behalf of the former Prime Minister of Georgia and his family as beneficiaries of two trusts which suffered multi-million dollar losses due to the mismanagement of an investment portfolio said to be worth over USD 1 billion in Bidzina Ivanishvili & Ors v Credit Suisse & Ors. Litigation has now been commenced in New Zealand, Bermuda and Singapore. In August 2018 Credit Suisse Life unsuccessfully attempted to strike out part of the beneficiaries claim in the proceedings taking place in Bermudqa (see the judgment of the Supreme Court of Bermuda [2018] SC (Bda) 67 Civ)

Investec Trust (Guernsey) Ltd v Glenalla Properties Ltd [2018] UKPC 7:

Kathryn Purkis  and James Brightwell obtained judgment in and undertook the costs arguments in respect of the Privy Council decision of Investec Trust (Guernsey) Ltd v Glanalla Properties Ltd [2018] UKPC 7. This case confirmed (amongst other things) that the private international law status of trustees (at least of Channel Island trusts), and that notwithstanding the Jersey legislation, a creditor must nonetheless access trust funds by being subrogated to the trustee's indemnity from the fund. 

Please click here to view the judgment. 

Hagen v Hagen:

In July 2017 the widely reported financial remedy proceedings in the Hagen v Hagen divorce reached the High Court. The case (which settled mid-trial and remains subject to reporting restrictions) involved the family behind Viking River Cruises. Dakis Hagen QC and Charlotte Beynon acted for the husband, Alan Boyle QC and Nicholas Harrison represented the adult daughter, and Emma Hargreaves appeared for another interested party. Jonathan Adkin QC and Adil Mohamedbhai had appeared for a corporate party at an earlier stage of the litigation.

A v D [2017] EWCOP 8:

Will Henderson appeared in A v D [2017] EWCOP 8 which addressed the relationship between the compromise in the Chancery Division and the Court of Protection's jurisdiction to order the making of a statutory will giving effect to that compromise. 

Please click here for the judgment. 

Moreno de la Hilja v Lee [2017] EWHC 634 (Ch):

In Moreno de la Hilja v Lee [2017] EWHC 634 (Ch) Jonathan Fowles, led by Jessica Simor QC of Matrix Chambers, acted for the widow and estate of the famous late actor, Sir Christopher Lee, in successfully resisting the lifting of a stay of the enforcement of a European Enforcement Order in respect of a judgment being challenged in the Spanish courts.

Please click here to view the judgment.

Henchley v Thompson [2017] EWHC 225 (Ch):

Richard Wilson QC and James Weale appeared in the High Court for the successful claimants in Henchley v Thompson, which raised interesting questions about whether a trustee owed an absolute duty to provide accounts and the form that a trustee's account should take.

Please click here to view the judgment

RBC Trustees (CI) Limited v Stubbs [2017] EWHC 180 (Ch)::

Constance McDonnell QC acted for the settlor of a trust in RBC Trustees (CI) Ltd v Stubbs [2017] EWHC 180 (Ch): and presented opposing arguments in an otherwise consensual application by trustees for rectification or rescission of a deed of revocation and new appointment. Richard Wilson QC acted for the claimant. 

Please click here to view the judgment. 

AAZ v BBZ [2016] EWHC 3361 (Fam):

Dakis Hagen QC was among the counsel appearing for the applicant wife in AAZ V BBZ [2016] EWCH (Fam) where Haddon-Cave J had granted the applicant the largest reported financial award on a divorce in English history (£453m). The case involved (among other things) a Bermuda trust and a network of Manx and Panamanian companies.

Please click here to view the judgment. 

Inchbald v Inchbald [2016] EWHC 3215 (Ch):

Richard Wilson QC and Oliver Jones represented the first defendant in a high-profile probate dispute involving a want of knowledge and approval challenge to the last wills of the famous designer, Michael Inchbald.

Please click here to view the judgment.

Gestrust SA v Sixteen Defendants [2016] EWHC 3067 (Ch):

Constance McDonnell QC appeared for the trustee in Gestrust v Sixteen Defendants [2016] EWHC 3067 (Ch), an application for directions as to how direct companies which were ultimately wholly owned by the trust in relation to proceedings brought against those companies by a third party associated with several of the beneficiaries. The court considered whether the companies should be treated as trusts assets, and the extent of the trust's Bartlett duties.

Please click here to view the judgment. 

AF v MF & Ors [2016] EWFC 65:

Emma Hargreaves acted for the Husband and Jonathan McDonagh acted for the Husband's father in financial remedy proceedings giving rise to issues including the extent to which a Liechtenstein foundation worth over £60m established by the Husband's father was a "resource" available to the Husband and whether the court had jurisdiction to transfer outright to the Wife certain assets owned by the foundation by way of variation of a "nuptial settlement". An anonymized judgment will be published shortly. 

Please click here to view the judgment. 

Grupa Ozarow v Clean Energy Trading CL:

Professor Jonathan Harris QC (Hon.) and Sophie Holcombe acted for the defendant company trading in Carbon Credits in successfully discharging an ex parte injunction obtained in support of Polish proceedings on the basis, inter alia, that the relevant EU jurisdiction rules were arguably infringed.

Please click here for the judgment.

Elliot v Simmonds [2016] EWHC 732 (Ch):

James Weale acted for the defendant in the first reported decision to consider the nature and scope of the (passive) procedure for challenging a will set out in CPR 57.7(5).

Please click here to view the judgment.  

Van der Merwe v Goldman [2016] 4 WLR 71:

Richard Wilson QC and James Weale acted for the claimant and his wife respectively in Van der Merwe v Goldman [2016] 4 WLR 71. To prevent a significant tax charge, the claimant sought to set aside a settlement on the grounds of equitable mistake following the decision of the Supreme Court in Pitt v Holt [2013] 2 AC 108. HMRC intervened, represented by Philip Jones QC. The court gave guidance on the circumstances in which the doctrine would be engaged and its relationship to contractual mistake. 

Please click here to view the judgment. 

Barker v Baxendale Walker [2018] 1 WLR 1905:

The appeal in Barker v Baxendale Walker, a professional negligence action concerning a fiscally ineffective employee benefit trust was heard by the Court of Appeal in October. The judgment is likely to provide clarity on the meaning of section 28(4) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984. Dakis Hagen QC was among the counsel who appeared for the appellant and was assisted by Oliver Jones and Eleni Dinenis. 

Please click here for the judgment.

Davidson v Davidson [2016] EWHC 549 (Ch):

Davidson v Davidson was a high-profile family trust dispute over the ownership of more than £17m of jewellery, paintings and objets d'art. Justin Higgo and Zahler Bryan acted for parents claiming in conversion for the return of the chattels from their children, represented by Giles Richardson and Sophia Hurst. The case settle shortly before trial.

Please click here to view the judgment. 

Dawson-Damer v. Taylor Wessing [2015] EWHC 2366 (Ch)::

Richard Wilson QC appeared in the latest instalment of the High Court proceedings in Dawson-Damer v Taylor Wessing which raised important issues concerning compliance by solicitors with Data Protection legislation and the extent to which legal advice privilege can be asserted by a trustee against a beneficiary. Richard also acts for the claimant in related proceedings in The Bahamas and Bermuda.

Please click here to view the judgment.