James Gleeson

James Gleeson

Partner  |  Dickinson Gleeson
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Dispute Resolution or Arbitration

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Contentious

Office Location

Jersey

Short Biography

James Gleeson TEP is an Advocate of the Royal Court of Jersey and a non-practicing English qualified solicitor. James is a founding Partner of Dickinson Gleeson. James has nearly 25 years’ experience of dealing with complex commercial disputes in Jersey and other offshore / international jurisdictions. He has a wide-ranging commercial litigation practice which encompasses insolvency and asset recovery, trust and estate, shareholder, funds and other corporate disputes. James acts for ultra HNWI, HNWI, financial institutions, law firms, executors, settlors, trustees and beneficiaries. He has also frequently been called by foreign courts to appear as an expert witness of Jersey law, regularly appears before Jersey’s senior courts and is recommended in all leading legal directories.

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

Bohemia

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

Understate your position and let the tribunal reach its own view.

What was your first job?

Cleaning targets at Crabbe Activity Centre

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

Life a User's Manual by Georges Perec

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


James Dickinson

James Dickinson

Partner  |  Dickinson Gleeson
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Dispute Resolution or Arbitration

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Contentious

Office Location

Jersey

Short Biography

I am an advocate of the Royal Court of Jersey. I have over 25 years of experiencing of acting in relation to complex disputes. My practice is focussed upon trust and estate disputes and corporate disputes.

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

The Oyster Box in St Brelade's Bay, Jersey

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

The greatest risk in life is to take no risk at all. (This advice was given to me by my late father and led to the formation of Dickinson Gleeson.)

What was your first job?

Picking stones off a ploughed field in my mid teens.

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday

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

Not much..


James Campbell

James Campbell

Partner  |  Ogier
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Family Office

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Planning

Office Location

Jersey

Short Biography

"Good technical knowledge and leads a strong team who understand the way in which Jersey trusts and company businesses work." Legal 500 UK, 2024. James has extensive experience advising professional trustees, family offices, intermediaries and high-net worth families (both internationally and locally) on all aspects of Jersey trusts, foundations and estate planning together with all related company and commercial law issues. He is also experienced in establishing private wealth structures across multiple luxury asset classes to include yachts, classic cars, super cars, art and fine wine. He is part of Ogier's Aviation and Marine sector group.

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

La Gavroche in London

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

Get to the point!

What was your first job?

Building site labourer

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth

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

Increase in charitable and philanthropic structuring.


Holly Thebault

Holly Thebault

Associate  |  Mourant
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Commercial Litigation

Dispute Resolution or Arbitration

Trusts: Contentious

Office Location

Jersey

Short Biography

Holly is an Associate in the Jersey Litigation and Dispute Resolution team at Mourant, and works on a range of commercial disputes with a particular focus on trust litigation. Holly trained and qualified at Mourant, and has practised there since, having successfully completed the Jersey Law exams in 2021. Holly has worked on a number of high profile and high value matters in Jersey. Holly has contentious trusts experience, including having acting for both beneficiaries and trustees in relation to cross-jurisdictional and high value structures and disputes. Holly has also assisted on a number of regulatory matters, including appeals against regulator decisions, and disclosures to local and foreign authorities (including under the tax information exchange legislation).

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

I have quite a few favourites, but if I had to pick, I'd say Petchi in St Helier, Jersey.

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

Be curious and ask questions.

What was your first job?

I worked at a beach shack serving ice cream during the summer when I was a teenager, and got paid £5 per hour for the pleasure!

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Science of Nutrition – Rhiannon Lambert

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

We are all facing a very uncertain economic and political climate at the moment, which I am certain will throw up a whole host of changes, and if the last few years have taught us anything, it's hard to predict what those changes might be – so I guess a future (or perhaps continuing) change/theme in my practice will be adaptability.


Henry Wickham

Henry Wickham

Partner  |  Ogier
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Estates: Planning

Probate

Trusts & Trusteeship

Office Location

Jersey

Short Biography

Henry advises on all aspects of Jersey trusts, foundations and estate planning and related corporate law issues. He is widely experienced in both local and international will and probate matters and has particular expertise in the administration of high net worth and multi-jurisdictional estates as well as complex succession planning and will drafting.

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

Green Island

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

What was your first job?

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Chimp Paradox by Stephen Peters

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

Increasing awareness of: (1) mental capacity issues; and (2) the need for digital assets advice.


Helen Butterfield

Helen Butterfield

Senior Private Banker  |  Coutts & Co
JURISDICTION

England and Wales, Switzerland, Monaco, Gibraltar, Jersey

TOP SPECIALISMS

Family Office

Private Banking

Office Location

London, United Kingdom

Short Biography

I am a Senior Private Banker with over 20 years experience looking after European and US private clients and their families. I provide advice to help them navigate the unique opportunities and challenges facing families of wealth and co-ordinate their financial affairs to ensure their wealth is sustained and aligned to their family ambitions. I help build a team around clients using other Private Client Global Elite members when required, combining the expertise of Coutts to build a flexible financial strategy designed to ensure wealth is suitably structured and that capital is used efficiently.

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

Has to be the amazing Coutts dining rooms at 440 Strand

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

Be reliable! Clients love that i am always on hand to help and guide

What was your first job?

Serving Champagne at Ascot

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Silk Road

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

I think there may be changes linked to new tax policies but we roll with the changes and embrace the chance to connect with our clients.


Guillaume Staal

Guillaume Staal

Partner  |  Dickinson Gleeson
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Commercial Litigation

Dispute Resolution or Arbitration

Trusts: Contentious

Office Location

Jersey

Short Biography

Guillaume advises clients in respect of a range of issues including contractual disputes, enforcement of foreign judgments and associated freezing and disclosure orders and insolvency matters. Guillaume has been involved in a range of innovative Jersey cases including securing an interim freezing order over a trust in aid of proceedings brought by a non-beneficiary before overcoming the ‘firewall provisions’ of the Trusts (Jersey) Law 1984 to obtain directions in Jersey giving substantial effect to an English order setting aside the trust, one of Jersey’s first statutory Hastings Bass and mistake cases, and establishing that a common intention constructive trust may (as a matter of Jersey law) arise in relation to a loan account to a Jersey company. Guillaume graduated with an LLB English and French Law from King’s College London and a Maitrise en droit (French law degree) from La Sorbonne, Paris. Guillaume is also a native French speaker.

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

The Rigatoni

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

Prepare everything as if you were the one ultimately required to argue the point(s) in Court. As a graduate starting a legal career that advice served as a useful reminder to always ensure that evidence and legal arguments were considered as thoroughly and carefully as possible - instead of leaving that to more senior colleagues.

What was your first job?

Working for Her Majesty's Attorney General in Jersey assisting with criminal prosecutions.

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

Ken Follett, The Pillars of the Earth

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


Gilead Cooper KC

Gilead Cooper KC

Barrister  |  Wilberforce Chambers
JURISDICTION

England and Wales, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, The Bahamas, Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Hong Kong SAR

TOP SPECIALISMS

Art and Cultural Property

Estates: Contentious

Trusts: Contentious

Office Location

United Kingdom

Short Biography

Before coming to the Bar, Gilead enjoyed a brief career in publishing, editing books on photography, popular science and astronomy. He also spent a couple of years teaching in pre-revolutionary Iran. Gilead joined Wilberforce Chambers in 2015, specialising mainly in trusts and estates litigation. He has a particular interest in Art Law, as well as NFTs and digital assets. He occasionally sits as an arbitrator.

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

The Garrick

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

tantum religio potuit suadere malorum

What was your first job?

Waiter. I was terrible at it.

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Matter with Things, by Iain McGilchrist

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

The proportion of offshore work has been increasing steadily over the past few years; I hope that continues.


Fred Milner

Fred Milner

counsel  |  Mourant
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Family Office

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Planning

Office Location

United Kingdom

Short Biography

I have worked in the trusts and private client industry for approximately 30 years and held senior roles in law firms and trust companies. Before moving back to Jersey in 2016 I worked in Geneva for 11 years. My core areas of expertise are succession planning and the use of trusts and other structures in achieving optimal succession outcomes. I am very interested in family office structuring, investment management arrangements (including ESG considerations), governance of family structures and philanthropy. I speak frequently at conferences and contribute to various publications. During my career I have had dealings with many jurisdictions, in particular: Guernsey, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and the UK. I speak fluent French and good Spanish.

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

Chez Fred

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

Give it a go!

What was your first job?

Gardener

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

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

More high value structures and more regulatory pressure


Gail McCourt

Gail McCourt

Head of Private Client Fiduciary Services  |  RBC Wealth Management
JURISDICTION

Jersey

TOP SPECIALISMS

Family Office

Fiduciary

Trusts & Trusteeship

Office Location

Jersey

Short Biography

Responsible for the award-winning team of Fiduciary Management and Technical Trust specialists in the Channel Islands, providing solutions to help clients preserve their wealth and create a meaningful legacy. A member of the WME Executive Committee, and several RBC Boards.

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

Petchi

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

You'll only regret the things you didn't do.

What was your first job?

Spectroscopic Camera Manufacturer

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

Anything by Patrick Radden Keefe

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