Jersey - Dispute resolution
The most active and time-consuming matter at many litigation practices on the island is the Alhamrani case, the largest piece of trust litigation ever seen in Jersey. The first stage of the Alhamrani trial started in November 2008 and was expected to last until the summer of 2009, involving claims worth over US$120m.
Appleby has a strong team, recently boosted by the appointment of Michael Cushing to the partnership and the appointment of two junior lawyers. Michael O’Connell has an excellent reputation for being ‘very talented‘, ‘clever, commercial, sensible, courteous‘ and ‘calm under intense pressure‘. Although managing partner, he spends 70% of his time on litigation. Fraser Robertson is ‘incisive and learned‘, and acted for Prince Jefri Bolkiah in the Brunei Investment Agency case. David Benest is also highly rated.
Bedell Cristin is acting for Sheikh Mohamed Ali M Alhamrani and four of his brothers in the Alhamrani case. Anthony Robinson (‘very strong intellectually and good in court‘) leads a team that has been substantially strengthened by the appointment of two new partners, Lisa Springate and James Gleeson, and the recruitment of a senior associate from the Cayman office of Maples and Calder. David Cadin focuses on white-collar crime and regulatory matters.
Carey Olsen’s Robert MacRae - who is acting for Russa Management Ltd, one of the two trustees involved in the Alhamrani litigation - is ‘an excellent advocate‘ who is ‘great fun to work with‘, ‘impressive and effective‘. William Grace, who has a regulatory focus, has ‘excellent technical skill‘. Nicolas Journeaux is also well regarded.
Crill Canavan’s team has been boosted by the appointment of Kathryn Purkis to the partnership. She ‘combines the intellectual capacity of a special Chancery counsel with tremendous commercial nous‘, and has been acting for the first defendant in the Alhamrani litigation. Senior litigator Nuno Santos-Costa, who also worked on Alhamrani, has ‘a good rapport with the local judiciary‘ and ‘broad enough shoulders for the heaviest of cases‘. Damian James is ‘articulate in court‘, and has been acting in a massive proprietary claim against an insolvent estate.
Mourant du Feu & Jeune’s Jonathan Speck is ‘exceptional‘, a ‘brilliant wordsmith‘, ‘very measured, well organised, effective and persuasive‘, and has a ‘strong team‘ with ‘top-class advocates‘. He has been heavily involved in the Alhamrani litigation, where he advised JP Morgan on the issue of whether the costs of a neutral trustee should automatically be subject to taxation.
Ogier’s ‘excellent‘ team is headed by the ‘impressive‘ Kerry Lawrence, who advised the Brunei government, through the Brunei Investment Agency, on successfully securing the return of misappropriated assets worth several million pounds. Matthew Thompson is ‘extremely supportive‘.
BakerPlatt is an ‘excellent‘ litigation boutique with a market-leading reputation for criminal work, including fraud, and a ‘particularly strong‘ regulatory, fiduciary and insolvency disputes practice. Stephen Baker advised the R2R Fund on proceedings that led to the Jersey Financial Services Commission (FJSC) reversing its position. Simon Franckel has now left the firm.
At Voisin, Ashley Hoy is strong on fraud, and acted for the beneficiaries of the Halabi Family Trusts in litigation relating to the shareholdings in the Shard of Glass’s holding company. He has also been advising Alfa Bank, Russia’s biggest private lender, on its attempt to recover around US$1bn of debt. The team has grown with the hire of Jeremy Berchem from Mourant du Feu & Jeune.
Walkers’ team, which can call on the firm’s network of offices for multi-jurisdictional actions, has been boosted by the hire of a trust litigation associate from Bedell Cristin. Paul Nicholls, whose experience includes money laundering matters, heads the team, and has been advising on one of the largest regulatory actions in Jersey.
Hanson Renouf is a niche commercial litigation practice with ‘very satisfied‘ clients. Mark Renouf is ‘imaginative, creative and assertive‘. In addition to his insolvency practice, he has been heavily involved in the Mubarak litigation (which clarified the grounds on which foreign courts’ orders may be enforced against Jersey trusts), acting as guardian ad litem of minor and unborn beneficiaries.
Ozannes’ Jersey litigation team has grown with the hire of new partner Matthew Jowitt from the Jersey Law Officers’ Department. The ‘solid‘ Mark Temple is a ‘delight to work with‘, and has been instructed by Abu Dhabi-based investment company Injaz.
Litigation boutique Sinels is particularly strong in trust litigation, where it primarily acts for beneficiaries. It also acted for a number of the Alhamrani trustees. Philip Sinel is a ‘good tactician‘; for one client ‘an aggressive approach was required in the case to make the point, which he did successfully‘. Christopher Lakeman has now left the firm.
Bois Bois has two experienced commercial litigation partners with a track record in asset tracing, partnership disputes and trust litigation.