Tony Pursall

Tony Pursall

Consultant  |  Mourant
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Estates: Planning

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Planning

Office Location

United Kingdom

Short Biography

Tony Pursall is a Consultant in the International Trusts & Private Client team at Mourant Ozannes, based in their London office. Prior to joining Mourant in 2016, Tony led the Trust and Private Client team for Europe and the Middle East at another leading offshore law firm. Tony was admitted as an attorney-at-law in the Cayman Islands in 2001 and as a legal practitioner in the BVI in 2005. He has 30 years' experience advising trustees, beneficiaries, protectors, banks and high-net-worth individuals on a wide range of trust and private client matters and has co-authored three books, Drafting Cayman Islands Trusts, Drafting British Virgin Islands Trusts and Guernsey Trust Law. Tony is the International Correspondent for Private Client Business and a member of the Trust and Succession Law Review Committee of STEP, BVI branch, that recommends new legislation to the BVI government.

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?


Stuart Dowding

Stuart Dowding

Head of Relationship Management, Private Clients, Guernsey  |  Intertrust Group
JURISDICTION

Guernsey

TOP SPECIALISMS

Family Office

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Planning

Office Location

Guernsey

Short Biography

Stuart, with over 30 years’ experience in the private wealth sphere, has gained exceptional working knowledge of trust and corporate structures and has supported many clients with matters ranging from family wealth asset protection planning to significant property portfolios for investment and development purposes. After building a successful career in Guernsey, Stuart relocated to Hong Kong and spent two years as managing director of First Names Trust Company, before returning to Guernsey at the end of 2018. As Head of Private Wealth in Guernsey, Stuart now leads a team of more than 60 people and is responsible for the delivery of the Intertrust Guernsey Private wealth strategy, collaborating with colleagues and offices around the globe. Stuart has proven leadership skills and thrives on building a strong team, to deliver a high quality services to our clients. Stuart is a STEP Member and Qualified Trust & Estate Practitioner.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

L'Atelier Joel Robuchon

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Under promise and over deliver

What was your first job?

KPMG's Trust team Orbis Management Limited

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

Any of the Harry Potter books!

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

Full integration of CSC


Steve Ward

Steve Ward

Managing Director  |  Aquitaine Group Limited
JURISDICTION

Guernsey

TOP SPECIALISMS

Family Office

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Contentious

Office Location

Guernsey

Short Biography

Steve’s speciality is providing tailored solutions for high net worth individuals with a particular focus on structures for international families. He sits on the boards of client companies, family offices as well acting as a protector for family trusts.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

Octopus

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Smile

What was your first job?

Working in the family business.

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Wine Dine Dictionary by Victoria Moore.

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

Greater demand for quality trustee and protector services.


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!


Sophie Denman

Sophie Denman

Managing Associate  |  Ogier
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Fiduciary

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Planning

Office Location

Guernsey

Short Biography

A STEP qualified trusts and estates practitioner, Sophie has extensive technical experience in advising trustees, settlors and beneficiaries in respect of complex and high-value wealth structures. Sophie advises fiduciary service providers, intermediaries and ultra-high-net-worth individuals in relation to non-contentious and contentious trust, foundation and other wealth structuring matters.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

Hook, Guernsey

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Don't be a doormat

What was your first job?

Waitress in a Thai restaurant

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?


Simon Davies

Simon Davies

Partner  |  Ogier
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Commercial Litigation

Dispute Resolution or Arbitration

Trusts: Contentious

Office Location

Guernsey

Short Biography

Simon specialises in contentious trusts, director's duties cases, commercial litigation, insolvency, fraud and asset tracing, shareholder disputes, professional negligence and insurance, reinsurance and regulatory disputes. Simon represented the Carlyle Group and Carlyle Investment Management in their successful defence of claims worth around US$2bn before the Royal Court and the Court of Appeal of Guernsey. Simon became an English solicitor in 1993 and became a Guernsey advocate in 2004. Prior to Ogier, Simon worked for 10 years at Ashurst in London, including 15-months on secondment to the Hashidate Law Office in Tokyo. Simon was the Global Head of Ogier's Dispute Resolution service line 2015-2018. Simon was the Bâtonnier, the statutory head of the Guernsey Bar, from October 2020 until October 2022. In October 2023, Simon was sworn in as a Lieutenant Bailiff and sits as a part-time judge in the Royal Court whilst remaining in private practice.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

It has to be one with Red in the name! Red, Tinto, China Red, Rosso or Rouge!

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Always be yourself.

What was your first job?

Saturday assistant in a sports shop. It was fantastic!

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson - an amusing book about driving across America which has inspired me to travel as much as possible to experience as much of the world, its peoples and cultures as possible.

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

I hope to sit two days per month as a judge in civil matters whilst maintaining a full-time contentious disputes and regulatory practice. I expect that there will be an increase in regulatory and insolvency disputes and that there will be greater innovation in the delivery of legal services locally and internationally.


Sarah Brehaut

Sarah Brehaut

Partner  |  Walkers
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Commercial Litigation

Dispute Resolution or Arbitration

Trusts: Contentious

Office Location

Guernsey

Short Biography

Sarah is a partner in Walkers' Guernsey Insolvency & Dispute Resolution Group specialising in contentious trust and insolvency matters. She is an experienced court-going Advocate who frequently represents clients in respect of contentious and non-contentious matters before Guernsey's Royal Court.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

Guernsey boasts "Octopus" which is fabulous.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Drafting is an art not a science.

What was your first job?

Waitress at a deer farm, not in a cocktail bar!

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

Catcher in the Rye

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

Continued blessing applications by Trustees.


Sandie Lyne

Sandie Lyne

Partner  |  Ogier
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Dispute Resolution or Arbitration

Insolvency

Trusts: Contentious

Office Location

Guernsey

Short Biography

Sandie is a Guernsey Advocate with extensive experience in contentious and non-contentious trust applications, restructuring, insolvency, and regulatory matters. She regularly advises in connection with complex and high value international matters with multi-jurisdictional elements.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

Red in Guernsey

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

What was your first job?

Call Centre

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

More restructurings and liquidity issues


Robert Pearce KC

Robert Pearce KC

Barrister  |  Radcliffe Chambers
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Charitable Planning and Philanthropy

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Contentious

Office Location

London, United Kingdom

Short Biography

Robert Pearce KC is sought after to advise and conduct litigation in the fields of private client, trusts, property law and charities. He is recognised as a leading individual across his core practice areas in Chambers UK Bar and The Legal 500 UK Bar, and as a star silk for charities work by Chambers UK Bar. He also has wide experience in the areas of professional negligence, capital taxation and commercial law. He was Standing Counsel to the Charity Commission for England and Wales, and is the Consulting Editor for the Charities volume of Halsbury’s Laws of England. He is an accredited mediator.

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?


Russell Clark

Russell Clark

Head of Trusts and Private Wealth, Guernsey  |  Carey Olsen
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Estates: Planning

Family Office

Trusts: Planning

Office Location

Guernsey

Short Biography

Russell Clark is head of the trusts and private wealth team at Carey Olsen in Guernsey. He advises on both contentious and non-contentious trust and private wealth matters. He also advises private clients on succession, estate planning and family governance and works across a range of structures including private, corporate, charitable, purpose and commercial trusts, foundations, family offices, partnerships and companies. Russell was elected as a member of The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law (TIAETL) and is a member of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS). He is also a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), having previously been Chairman of the STEP Guernsey Branch Technical Committee and a Branch Committee member for 18 years. He is ranked as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 UK, and as a Band 1 lawyer in Chambers HNW.

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?