Yindi Gesinde
Yindi Gesinde
Partner | Baker McKenzie
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Commercial Litigation
Dispute Resolution or Arbitration
Trusts: Contentious
Office Location
London, United Kingdom
Short Biography
Yindi is a partner in Baker McKenzie's market-leading Trust Disputes group in London and in the Firm's Global Investigations, Compliance & Ethics practice. Yindi advises clients (including trustees and high-net worth individuals) involved in disputes related to trusts, succession and private wealth, with particular experience in the Channel Islands and Bermuda. Yindi also has extensive experience advising on anti-bribery and corruption law and has coordinated multiple investigations into suspected bribery and corruption and advised clients about compliance risks around the world. In March 2021, Yindi was named by Law.com in its list of Top 25 Female Lawyers Under 40 and was described in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide as "a very, very valuable member of any team." Yindi sits on the Steering Committees of the Firm’s Africa Strategy and co-leads the Baker McKenzie London employee network for Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees, BakerEthnicity.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Lady of the Grapes in Covent Garden, which stocks wine almost exclusively by female winemakers
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
"Back yourself"
What was your first job?
Waitressing in the café at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
We All Know How This Ends by Anna Lyons and Louise Winter
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Ziva Robertson
Ziva Robertson
Partner | Charles Russell Speechlys
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Dispute Resolution or Arbitration
Office Location
United Kingdom
Short Biography
Ziva specializes in both contentious and non-contentious trusts, structuring and succession advice to ultra-high net worth individuals and their businesses.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
What was your first job?
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Tom McPhail
Tom McPhail
Senior Associate | Farrer & Co
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Civil Fraud
Estates: Contentious
Trusts: Contentious
Office Location
United Kingdom
Short Biography
Tom is a Senior Associate in Farrer & Co’s Contentious Trusts and Estates team. He advises executors, trustees, protectors, settlors and beneficiaries on a wide range of complex, multi-jurisdictional trust and estate disputes. He has particular expertise in claims involving allegations of fraud and breach of duty, global enforcement and asset tracing exercises and attacks on trusts on grounds of sham or invalidity. Tom has been named as a 'Rising Star' in the 2022-2024 editions of the Legal 500 directory as well as one of Best Lawyers "One to Watch" in 2023 and 2024 for Trusts and Personal Tax Law.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
What was your first job?
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Trevor Warmington
Trevor Warmington
Partner | Rawlinson & Hunter
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Accountancy
Trusts: Planning
Tax Advisory
Office Location
London, United Kingdom
Short Biography
I provide personal UK tax support, mainly to wealthy international individuals, families and Trustees but also British entrepreneurs or British nationals living abroad. This includes advising individuals coming to settle in the UK for the first time, those who visit regularly as a second residence, or who wish to return to the UK, and also international students. I manage all aspects of their tax compliance reporting in the UK, endeavouring to work alongside other professional advisers and family offices to offer his clients joined-up advice which is tax-efficient within a wider commercial context.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
What was your first job?
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Willem-Joost de Gier
Willem-Joost de Gier
Co-Founder | Cadell + Co Ltd
JURISDICTION
England and Wales, United States
TOP SPECIALISMS
Art and Cultural Property
Office Location
United Kingdom
Short Biography
Leading art adviser in the private wealth sector. Former global Board Member at Christie's. Co-founder of Cadell. Educated at Bristol University, Warwick Business School and INSEAD.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Any institution that has stood the test of time
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
There is always a reason why something seems cheap, find out why.
What was your first job?
Investment Banking
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
The Black Swan, N Taleb
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Continued and accelarating selling of art as part of the Great Wealth Transfer.
Xavier Isaac
Xavier Isaac
CEO | Accuro
JURISDICTION
Switzerland, Jersey, England and Wales, Mauritius
TOP SPECIALISMS
Fiduciary
Trusts & Trusteeship
Office Location
Switzerland
Short Biography
Xavier is co-founder and CEO of Accuro Group. In 2017 he led the management buyout that galvanized Accuro as the independent, values-driven and award-winning business it is today. Xavier drives Accuro's international strategy, mission and vision and advises clients on estate planning, taxation, philanthropy, and trusts. He is the treasurer of the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation and sits on the board of the Fondation Pacifique, a Swiss charity. Xavier holds a master’s degree in Law from Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), Magna Cum Laude. He is also a Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (TEP) and a former Vice-President of the Swiss Association of Trust Companies. He speaks French, English, Spanish and Dutch.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Balila, Lebanese restaurant in Geneva
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Always remain in control of your destiny
What was your first job?
International estate planner at ABN Amro Bank in Luxembourg
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
Principles, Ray Dalio
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Digitalization of the trust industry for the benefit of our staff and clients
Xavier Nicholas
Xavier Nicholas
Partner | Forsters
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Family Governance and Business
Trusts: Planning
Tax Advisory
Office Location
United Kingdom
Short Biography
Xavier is the head of private client at Forsters. He trained and qualified at Macfarlanes in 2007, joined Forsters in 2009, and become a Partner in 2013. Xavier acts as a trusted advisor to wealthy families in the UK and internationally. He has particular experience in advising families and trustees with business interests. He has considerable expertise in advising on the establishment, taxation and operation of asset holding structures. Xavier advises on pre-arrival tax planning for individuals wishing to become UK resident, remittance basis planning for non-UK domiciliairies, and succession planning for those with assets in more than one jurisdiction. He frequently advises clients who have a US connection on the UK aspects of US/UK estate planning, and the interaction between UK and US taxes. Under Xavier’s leadership, the private client team at Forsters has been awarded the "STEP Private Client Team of the Year" for three consecutive years.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Socca, Mayfair
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
There is always a solution
What was your first job?
Waiter
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
The Magus by John Fowles
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
A continued growth in family governance work. Who knows what changes the general election might bring!
Stephen McMahon
Stephen McMahon
CEO | ARC Group
JURISDICTION
Guernsey, Jersey, England and Wales
TOP SPECIALISMS
Alternative Investments
Asset Management
Family Office
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
After an early consultancy career at PwC and the Bank of England, Stephen found himself on a search for the cutting edge of investment consultancy. He found a home at ARC in 2008, drawn by ARC’s innovation and ethical business practices (corny, perhaps, but true). Today he brings unrivalled enthusiasm to his role as CEO. Stephen’s passions are bringing order to chaos and applying theory to real-world scenarios, combining logic and imagination to solve challenging problems. He brings that experience to bear as a judge for the PAM Awards and a member of the Governing Body of the Lister Institute and the St Edmund Hall Investment Sub-Committee. Outside the office, Stephen fosters a love of niche racket sports and homebrewing.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Anywhere serving Jersey seafood!
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
You have two ears and one mouth - use them in that proportion!
What was your first job?
Roofer!
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
I'm a massive fan of Biggles books...
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Greater focus on true value additive services - AI will deal with the rest!
Stephen Richards
Stephen Richards
Partner | Withersworldwide
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Dispute Resolution or Arbitration
Guardianship and Mental Capacity
Trusts: Contentious
Office Location
London, United Kingdom
Short Biography
I enjoy helping families and fiduciaries sort messy situations and resolve intractable problems concerning trusts, estates, inheritance or diminishing capacity. I am a Partners in the Withers Trusts, Estates, Capacity and Inheritance Disputes Team and I have a particular focus on disputes concerning lack of capacity, vulnerability and undue influence. The issues that need to be grappled with in any dispute about such personal matters can be enormously emotive and it is important, whether acting for international families with global commercial interests or assisting those with purely domestic affairs, that the bigger picture and ultimate objective is kept firmly in view when battling in court or sitting round a table to try and find a sensible solution.
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?
What was your first job?
Paper boy
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
The Count of Monte Christo
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Stuart Adams
Stuart Adams
Partner | Mishcon de Reya
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Estates: Planning
Trusts: Planning
Tax Advisory
Office Location
United Kingdom
Short Biography
Whether clients require advice on legal and tax structuring for their business and investments, family and business governance, tax and estate planning or help with a vulnerable member of the family, I deliver tailored solutions to meet their needs. Key jurisdictions are Latin America, the Middle East, and continental Europe.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
When I am in Brazil on business, Figueira Rubaiyat, Sao Paulo. It is built around a 100 year-old Bengal fig tree and offers the best steaks in Sao Paulo.
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
In business, "to focus on the things you can control".
What was your first job?
A paper round I think.
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker.
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
A general election in 2024 bringing in a Labour government who intend to reform (even scrap) the UK non-dom tax regime.