Nicola Bruce

Practice Areas

Nicola is a Partner in the Private Client & Trusts department of Appleby’s Bermuda office.

Nicola joined Appleby in January 2024 and has a wealth of experience in offshore private client work, having worked in Bermuda for many years advising on both trust law and trust litigation. Nicola has acted for some of the world’s highest net-worth international families on complex matters including the establishment, amendment and restructuring of trusts, and transactions involving substantial business assets held in trust. Nicola who studied law at Cambridge University, was trained at Clifford Chance in London.

Nicola has acted as a director of high-value trust and holding companies, providing her with a deep personal insight into the complexities of acting as a trustee.

Nicola has extensive experience of trust litigation, including, in particular, court applications to restructure trusts and extend their perpetuity periods. She has also acted for a party to one of the most significant (multi-billion dollar) trusts cases to be heard in the Bermuda Court of Appeal. Nicola is experienced in giving legal opinions on Bermuda trusts and the ability of their trustees to enter into transactions.

Nicola’s experience covers not only private family trusts, but also substantial charitable and philanthropic trusts, a key area of interest. Additionally, she has experience establishing and advising in relation to commercial purpose trusts, particularly in the insurance sector.

Nicola has extensive experience advising on trusts in the workplace, both onshore and offshore, having advised a pensions regulatory body and some of the largest pension schemes in the world. She has advised on disputes involving workplace trusts, including claims of workplace discrimination and breach of the employment contract in relation to such arrangements. She has advised on the establishment, amendment, re-structuring and termination of complex employment-related trusts (including defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes and executive share schemes), and sat on a working committee which advised the Bermuda Pension Commissioner on pension law reform. Employee benefit trusts are a key area of interest for her.

Finally, Nicola, who has spoken at international conferences on trust matters and authored or co-authored chapters on Bermuda private client law, has also been involved with trust law reform initiatives and has advised the Bermuda government on new trust laws. She currently sits on the Bermuda Trust Law Reform Committee.