DEPARTMENT PROFILE

Lennox Paton

Offshore: Trusts

4 ranked individuals

Band 1

Bahamas

High Net Worth 2021 View ranking table

chambers review

department information

Ranked Individuals

Chambers Review

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Lennox Paton has a deep bench of highly experienced lawyers who advise on contentious and non-contentious trust matters for clients such as high net worth individuals, family offices, trust companies and other institutional clients.

One market commentator says: "The team is highly competent. There is a wide range of subject matter experts in the firm." An industry source comments: "They provide a very good quality of service to clients, I really enjoy working with them." A third source is impressed by the firm's group of attorneys, saying: "They are reachable, responsive and practical in their approach, and they all demonstrate very good expertise in their practice area."

Notable practitioners

Arthur Seligman leads the trusts and foundations team and advises individual and institutional clients on contentious and non-contentious trust and probate matters. An industry source says Seligman "has an excellent knowledge of his craft. He is very easy-going and I can always reach out to him with whatever question I have."

Senior partner Brian Simms QC is "brilliant and one of the top-dog litigators on the island," according to one market commentator. Simms has extensive experience in all aspects of Bahamian trust law, with a noted ability in major trust litigation. Another source says: "He is very capable, very creative and very good technically."

Commercial litigator Marco Turnquest has in-depth expertise in advising beneficiaries and trustees in high-value trust disputes. An interviewee says: "He has been very practical in trust litigation matters."

Michael Paton advises high net worth individuals, trust companies and other institutional clients on a wide range of non-contentious trust matters, including the establishment, administration and restructuring of trusts. A lawyer states: "If you are talking about trusts, Michael has a very good reputation locally. He speaks the lingo." An adviser notes that Paton is "very knowledgeable on the funds side."

Department Information

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Overview

The trusts team has a wealth of experience representing private and institutional clients in a multifaceted array of trust matters. The clientele includes HNW and UHNW private individuals, private banks, trust companies, family offices and private companies.

The team is notably strong in the area of trust litigation and is recognized in the most substantial international offshore cases, often involving complex trust disputes with a multi-jurisdictional issue.

Many attorneys serve on government advisory boards tasked with the enhancement of the trust and private client sector while continuously monitoring other developments in the international trust arena.

The department is significantly bolstered by its consultant Dr. David Hayton, a former Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice and co-author of Underhill and Hayton, Law of Trusts and Trustees, one of the leading textbooks for practitioners.

Examples of cases:

Matteo Volpi v Delanson Services Limited and Gabriele Volpi - a Supreme Court decision which provided important clarification on the jurisdictional limits of the Bahamian Court to assist in trust arbitration proceedings.

Brian Simms QC and Marco Turnquest successfully appeared in both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in the landmark decision on service out of the jurisdiction and Section 91A of the Trustee Amendment Act, 2011.