Nicholas Brookes
Nicholas Brookes
Partner | Ogier
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Commercial Litigation
Estates: Contentious
Trusts: Contentious
Office Location
British Virgin Islands
Short Biography
Nick is BVI office head of Dispute Resolution. He has more than a decade's experience in BVI litigation, in particular in director and shareholder disputes, trust and estates litigation, insolvency, fraud and asset tracing, and general corporate and commercial disputes. He formerly worked as a commercial and chancery barrister in London. Nick has a specialism in trust, estates and contentious private client work. He ran the BVI aspect of Gany Holdings (PTC) SA v Khan and others [2018] UKPC 21, including successfully both in the Court of Appeal and Privy Council stages. He has also appeared in BVI aspect of the Scherbakov Estate case (Claim no. BVIHC (COM) 2018/134) and ran the Al Thani dispute (BVIHCVAP2021/0001) successfully at first instance and in the Court of Appeal, as well as working with a large number of other ultra HNW individuals and families.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
La Manoir
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Errors only become mistakes if you refuse to correct them.
What was your first job?
Insurance contract manager
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
A continual increase in HNW Middle East and Far East disputes and related issues (particularly from Dubai and Singapore), along with an increase in trust insolvency issues. There are also significant increases in Crypto disputes particularly with (at the time of writing) renewed buoyancy in crypto assets.
Naro Zimmerman
Naro Zimmerman
Deputy Head of Caribbean | JTC
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Family Office
Fiduciary
Trusts & Trusteeship
Office Location
Cayman Islands
Short Biography
Naro is the Deputy Head of Private Client Services for JTC’s Caribbean offices. Prior to this, he was the Head of JTC’s Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices, and he originally joined JTC as an Associate Director based in Guernsey. Having grown up in Guernsey, Naro started working in the fiduciary industry in 2004 and has remained in the industry ever since. His experience has been gained in both independent and bank owned fiduciary companies, with most of his career being spent looking after Middle Eastern clients with a particular focus on structures holding real estate. He is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and a Chartered Manager under the Chartered Management Institute (CMgr MCMI).
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Grand Old House
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
This too shall pass.
What was your first job?
Trust administrator at Fairbairn Trustees (now Suntera)
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
I prefer to learn their recommendations so I can understand why or what they learnt from that book.
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Increased regulation and transparency initiatives
Nancy Chien
Nancy Chien
Partner - head of department | Bedell Cristin
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Family Governance and Business
Family Office
Trusts: Planning
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
Nancy is head of Bedell Cristin's International Private Client practice. Nancy is a qualified lawyer in multiple jurisdictions and has over 20 years of experience in advising ultra-high net worth families on family governance as well as succession planning. Nancy has extensive experience in a wide range of offshore matters in both the private client area as well employee incentive arrangements. Nancy has considerable experience advising ultra-high net worth families, family offices and intermediaries on all aspects of private client structuring including the use of trusts and foundations, as well as related corporate law issues (including where such vehicles are used for philanthropic purposes). Nancy is ranked as a leading individual in Legal 500 2023 where her clients said "the depth of knowledge that Nancy clear has shines through in the advice she gives".
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
n/a
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Life is a marathon nor a sprint
What was your first job?
McDonalds
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
The Happiness Trap
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Having a more global outlook as clients' needs become more international. There will be more cross jurisdictional advice required which would require closer collaboration with advisors from other jurisdictions.
Matthew Paton
Matthew Paton
Barrister, Counsel & Attorney | 5 Stone Buildings
JURISDICTION
England and Wales, The Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands
TOP SPECIALISMS
Dispute Resolution or Arbitration
Estates: Contentious
Trusts: Contentious
Office Location
United Kingdom, Bahamas
Short Biography
Matthew's practice encompasses all aspects of traditional and commercial chancery in the areas of trusts and estates, related company matters, insolvency (including cross-border issues), and civil fraud and he regularly appears in the higher courts in the UK. He is recognised as a Leading Individual in Private Client (Legal 500) and Top Ranked in Chambers UK Bar for all Trusts & Estates related matters. Matthew is also ranked as a Leading Individual (Legal 500) and Top Ranked in both Chambers UK Bar for Offshore and Chambers Global (The Bahamas), regularly advising and appearing on matters from all of the principal offshore jurisdictions, including The Bahamas (where he is also called), Bermuda, BVI, Cayman, the Channel Islands, and the Privy Council (acting as the highest appellate court for those jurisdictions). More recently he has done work in St Kitts & Nevis and Grenada. He has also acted as an expert on Bahamian law in the English and US courts (Florida and NYC).
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Holborn Dining Rooms at the Rosewood (London)
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Breathe...
What was your first job?
Not sure it classifies as a job, however it was a (non-taxable - I was 10) income generator - washing cars!
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
Sapiens - a Brief History of Humankind byYuval Noah Harari
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
a growth in multi-jurisdictional instructions with a Caribbean focus
Matthew Howson
Matthew Howson
Counsel | Harneys
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Estates: Planning
Probate
Trusts & Trusteeship
Office Location
United Kingdom
Short Biography
I specialise in BVI and Cayman trust law, general private client and estate planning matters. My clients include individuals and families, trust companies and family offices, as well as institutional clients such as banks. My current practice includes creating, administering and advising on often complex trust structures. I also draft wills covering BVI assets, and administers BVI estates. My work invariably has an international and multi-jurisdictional dimension. I am a full member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP). I regularly speak to small and large audiences worldwide about succession planning, and also assists in developing new BVI legislation. I have contributed to publications such as the STEP Journal, Trusts & Estates Law & Tax Journal, Private Client Adviser, and LexisNexis Seminars. Prior to joining Harneys in 2016, I worked at leading London private client firm Penningtons Manches LLP.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
When based in the BVI I had a couple of favourite jerk chicken stands that my UK visitors enjoyed very much! These days, probably Hazev Canary Wharf.
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
To juniors, don't feel you have to spend your whole career in an onshore law firm if you don't want to. You can practise your private client law by Caribbean beaches or Asian skyscrapers. My offshore career has given me lifetime friends and many memories.
What was your first job?
Cinema popcorn selling which taught me a few skills transferrable into law.
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
One interesting aspect of offshore Private Wealth is that we follow events round the world. Every year we see different jurisdictions and different client bases finding new uses for offshore structures.
Mark Rowlands
Mark Rowlands
Principal | Kobre & Kim
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Commercial Litigation
Dispute Resolution or Arbitration
Trusts: Contentious
Office Location
British Virgin Islands
Short Biography
Mark Rowlands specialises in complex international and cross-border disputes and investigations with a focus on contentious trusts, corporate and investment structures, duties of fiduciaries, and sanctions. Mark is regularly instructed by ultra-high-net-worth individuals to advise and act in connection with complex matters often involving multiple jurisdictions and engaging private, public, and regulatory issues. Before joining Kobre & Kim, Mark practiced at another leading BVI law firm, where he handled a wide range of matters involving contentious trusts, complex fraud, and corporate insolvency. Before that, he practiced as an independent barrister at the chambers of Sir Geoffrey Cox KC, the former Attorney General of England and Wales, specialising in commercial chancery, insolvency and property law. In 2014 he opened and managed an affiliate office of chambers in the Ebene Cybercity, Mauritius, specialising in private-client, insolvency, and arbitration work.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
El Rincon Latino, Sea Cow's Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Everything you say should be focused on your client's situation and helping them move forward: even if you're breaking bad news, always have strategies at the ready with which to ameliorate the problem or solve it altogether.
What was your first job?
Restaurant pianist
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
The Daughter Of Time, Josephine Tey
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Increased litigation in various jurisdictions concerning Russia sanctions, scope of general licences, interpretation of prohibitions and offences, use of litigation tools to resolve structural issues affecting trusts and companies.
Josephine Howe
Josephine Howe
Partner | Ogier
JURISDICTION
Jersey, British Virgin Islands
TOP SPECIALISMS
Charitable Planning and Philanthropy
Family Office
Trusts: Planning
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
Based in Ogier's Jersey office, partner Josephine acts for a wide range of professional trustees, high net worth families and family offices on all Jersey and BVI law issues concerning trusts and foundations as well as philanthropy, probate and regulatory matters. Her principal areas of expertise include advising on the establishment, ongoing administration and restructuring of complex trust structures, family offices and private trust companies, together with all related company and commercial law issues.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Petchi, Jersey
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Measure twice, cut once (relevant to more than DIY!)
What was your first job?
Waitressing
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
This year I have been recommending the Dublin 'Trilogy' by Caimh McDonnell (the name is misleading as there are more than 3 books)
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Advisory work in relation to the exercise of trustee powers for their "proper" purpose as well as the ongoing impact of sanctions and pre-emptive structuring prior to the UK elections
Joseph de Lacey
Joseph de Lacey
Solicitor | Fieldfisher
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Estates: Contentious
Fiduciary
Trusts: Contentious
Office Location
London, United Kingdom
Short Biography
Joseph is a litigator who specialises in complex trusts, estates, Court of Protection, and charity disputes. He is frequently instructed on complex and high value offshore trust disputes.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
The Delaunay
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Write as if you are writing to someone from Mars.
What was your first job?
Waiter.
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
Hurricane Season (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Increased capacity disputes, and more and more litigation initiated by young beneficiaries.
Joanna Poole
Joanna Poole
Partner | Farrer & Co
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Estates: Contentious
Guardianship and Mental Capacity
Trusts: Contentious
Office Location
London, United Kingdom
Short Biography
Joanna is a partner in Farrer & Co's Contentious Trusts and Estates team. She advises trustees, beneficiaries and charities on the full range of onshore and offshore contentious trusts and estates matters. Clients come to Joanna for assistance with probate claims, claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975, constructive trust claims, proprietary estoppel claims and breach of trust claims. She has particular experience of defending the validity of trusts against third party attacks on grounds such as sham. She also advises on professional negligence claims against trustees, lawyers and accountants where there is a trust or estates angle.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Spring @ Somerset House
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Never deliver bad news on a friday if you can avoid it!
What was your first job?
Working at the local SeaLife Centre
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
Mary Kondo's The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up!
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Adapting to the presence of AI
Henry Mander
Henry Mander
Partner | Harneys
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Estates: Planning
Family Governance and Business
Trusts: Planning
Office Location
Cayman Islands
Short Biography
Henry is an experienced international private client lawyer and Global Head of the Private Wealth team at Harneys. He advises on all areas on Cayman and BVI trusts and succession planning structures, acting for a wide variety of UHNWs, family offices and trustees. He has particular expertise in relation to the use of STAR and VISTA trusts for holding family business. In recent years, he has provide expert testimony on Cayman trusts laws to courts and arbitration panels and has acted as the court appointed representative for certain beneficiaries in complex international trust proceedings.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
The Brasserie, Cricket Square, Grand Cayman
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Never judge a book by its cover
What was your first job?
Working on a conveyor belt in a ring binder factory
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
A Very Private Life by Michael Frayn
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
A good number of restructuring exercises following tax changes in Brazil and the new government in Argentina