Maryam Oghanna

Practice Areas

Maryam is a Senior Associate and Solicitor Advocate in the Contentious Trusts and Estates team.

She advises on a broad spectrum matters for high net worth individuals, trustees and professionals, across numerous jurisdictions. Her experience includes advising on claims relating to breach of trust, dishonest assistance, trustee removals, validity challenges, issues relating to mental capacity and charity law. She also works closely with her private client colleagues in an advisory capacity on a variety of matters including sanctions, trust structuring and family governance.

Maryam is qualified in England & Wales and advises on matters across multiple jurisdictions worldwide. Some examples include:

Advice to fiduciaries:

acting for a trustee in relation to a number of matters arising out of various family trusts including a dispute between the protector and the beneficiaries;

advising an international property company in a dispute with a trust company in Jersey;

acting for an international bank to defend a claim for dishonest assistance and breach of fiduciary duty brought by administrators of a company.

Advice to beneficiaries:

advising a group of beneficiaries on a number of matters concerning allegations of breach of duty by professional trustees and the protector;

acting for a beneficiary seeking to remove the trustee of family trust, resulting in a successful removal and replacement of the trustee;

advising a beneficiary of a complex trust structure in the context of an acrimonious family dispute.

Capacity:

acting for the appointed committee of an incapacitated individual in Hong Kong in relation to a family dispute regarding the division of her estate.

Charities:

advising a range of charities with differing structures on all aspects of governance;

has extensive experience of advising new charities on registration with the Charity Commission;

acts for charities in a contentious context, including disputes arising out of orders of the family courts.

Other experience:

Sanctions: advising clients in relation to the novel and changing sanctions and regulatory issues, including on recent sanctions relating to Russia;

Art Law: acts for individuals, investors, galleries and art dealers on art law and luxury assets on a regular basis;

Professional negligence: advises clients on professional negligence claims against solicitors and other professionals.

Pro bono and trusteeships:

Maryam is dedicated to working with vulnerable people and increasing access to justice. She has represented numerous litigants in person in the County Court, Employment Tribunal and High Court.

Professional Memberships

Maryam is a member of the Law Society, The Contentious Trust Association, The Charity Law Association and a student member of ACTAPS.