Chambers Review
Provided by Chambers
Private Wealth: Trusts - UK
What the Team is Known For
Serle Court is well regarded for its leading expertise in contentious and non-contentious trusts matters, both in England and offshore. Instructing solicitors make particular note of the set's "extensive experience and deep talent at all levels of seniority." This is reflected in its broad practice which includes high-value trusts disputes, claims made under the Inheritance Act 1975 and allegations of fraud. Its barristers are also frequently active in high profile trusts cases in a number of other jurisdictions including Bermuda, Guernsey and the Channel Islands. Recently, its members have appeared in several standout cases such as Lorenz v Caruana, a claim that assets left under a will were held on the terms of a secret trust.
Nicholas Hockney and Daniel Wheeler are the practice directors.
Strengths
This is the best trusts set I have worked with. Their clerks are really responsive and helpful.
The clerks are second to none, brilliant to work with and people who really get it. They're responsive, pleasant to deal with and are going from strength to strength.
Serle Court's clerks are fantastic. They are always very responsive and great to deal with.
Notable practitioners
Dakis Hagen KC is an exceptionally well-known trusts practitioner who is frequently sought after for his work on trusts within divorces and estate management. He is often instructed in the most high profile litigation matters.
Dakis is such a charming and effective advocate, and has unbelievable intellectual power which he wears quite lightly. He's able to lead judges through analysis like others really can’t.
A measured and considered barrister, who has a wonderful manner with clients and is a delight to work with.
Dakis is very thoughtful about cases and analyses them well. He always gives clear advice.
Dakis is excellent. He thoroughly understands the law, he's pragmatic and he's tactically flexible.
Dakis' command of case law is unparalleled. He knows all the authorities backwards and judges really listen to him. When he speaks he carries a lot of weight, as he has a thorough command of the area.
Elizabeth Jones KC has a wide-ranging chancery practice, which involves a notable focus on complex trust and probate matters. She is particularly well known for her offshore expertise and is able to deal with high-value and multi-jurisdictional disputes. Her expertise extends to contentious trust cases which involve elements of fraud or asset tracing.
Elizabeth Jones is able to work efficiently and actively reads into the underlying documents. She handles complex offshore matters with ease and has a commanding leadership presence.
Elizabeth is absolutely fantastic. She's very good at being no-nonsense with clients while making them understand she is on their side.
Elizabeth is a titan. She is brilliant, can unravel really knotty situations and has the ear of the court.
Liz is phenomenal. She is unflappable and a great team player. Everyone looks up to her. She cuts through all the nonsense and comes up with the solutions everyone is looking for.
Emma Hargreaves has built a strong reputation for her work for a variety of clients, including trustees and beneficiaries. She has experience of acting in both domestic and offshore matters in this area, and has handled many trust restructurings and breaches of trust claims.
Emma is all over the detail in complicated cases and can distil the tricky issues. She is very responsive and client-focused.
Emma is a silk in junior's clothing, who is great as part of a team. She is brilliant to work with, she gets on top of clients' objectives and she thinks laterally to achieve their aims.
Emma Hargreaves is thorough, extremely knowledgeable and highly personable.
Emma is very bright and fast-working. She gets on top of huge amounts of information very quickly.
Emma is an incredibly fierce advocate, who is phenomenal at commercial strategy.
Giles Richardson KC handles a wide range of trusts litigation and advisory work. He has been engaged in particularly significant trusts matters in a variety of courts both in the UK and overseas. Sources recognise his extensive experience in locations such as Jersey, Guernsey and the BVI.
Giles is super sharp and inspires the utmost confidence in solicitors and lay clients. He is a smooth advocate, well regarded by his opponents, who quickly gains the ear of the court.
Giles blends excellent insight and understanding of the law with a ready commercial and tactical vision. She is huge fun to work with at the same time.
James Weale is an experienced junior who acts in major trusts disputes both in the domestic courts and in multiple offshore jurisdictions. He further handles significant commercial disputes.
I think James is excellent. He is technically and academically very strong.
James is excellent, really user-friendly and quick at turnaround. He's happy to engage in strategic conversations.
James is a great junior, who is confident and direct. He has no hesitation in running proceedings and expertly considers all the risks and negatives associated with the case.
James Weale is an excellent senior junior. He delivers silk quality work and is engaged and responsive. In short, he's all the things you want in a modern barrister.
Richard Wilson KC handles a large volume of domestic and offshore trusts litigation and has been involved in a number of significant breach of trust disputes. His caseload includes a number of substantial disputes in the Bahamas, Guernsey, Jersey, the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar. He has significant knowledge of private international law issues relating to trusts.
Richard's mastery of trust law, combined with an unflappable courtroom presence and razor sharp advocacy, makes him the go-to silk for high-stakes, multi-jurisdictional disputes.
Richard is excellent to work with. He's very prepared and totally immersed in the case.
Richard has incredible trusts knowledge and is outstanding. He will give you the support technically, but is also very friendly and approachable. I trust him absolutely.
Richard is excellent, easy to deal with and super smart.
Stephanie Thompson is particularly known for her foreign jurisdiction trust litigation, acting in Bermuda, Jersey and New Zealand. She also has experience in international trust arbitration.
Stephanie Thompson is brilliant. She performs so far above her year of call.
Stephanie Thompson is just brilliant. She has incredibly good judgement.
Thomas Fletcher is a specialist in trusts and estate matters, both domestic and offshore. The vast majority of his work is contentious, but he has further experience of drafting a range of trusts instruments and associated documents. He is also a frequent contributor to various leading trusts textbooks.
Not only does Thomas know the law backwards, but the tone of his written communication is so well judged and persuasive.
Thomas Fletcher has amazing brain power and has been a great resource for us when we've been faced with difficult questions. He has an incredibly in-depth understanding of the world of trusts.
Thomas Fletcher is very good technically. He has a good manner with clients, is highly responsive and is aware of all the twists and turns in a case.
I find Thomas very down to earth, accessible and commercial in his advice. He can distil the necessary legal principles and apply them very effectively to the commercial context of the case.
Thomas is a walking encyclopaedia, but he's also an incredibly normal person, who is easy to deal with. He is incredibly intelligent and great at dealing with knotty trust problems.