Nick is a Partner in our Private Client team. He advises on sophisticated private wealth planning, putting together plans that provide for family succession, the protection of the family business, the avoidance of family disputes, and all aspects of international family governance. He is a trusted adviser to a number of globally significant families and is well recognised for his understanding of family governance psychology.
He has a particular focus on acting for families in Asia, spending time in the region every month. His clients include trustees, overseas investors, family offices and many very wealthy entrepreneurs. A significant amount of his work is for international families, with a particular focus on South East Asia, China, Russia, Switzerland and the Channel Islands.
Nick advises on estate plans to provide efficiently for assets and family members in multiple jurisdictions, and is a specialist in all aspects of trust planning, especially in relation to trusts holding family businesses, and in relation to planning to avoid losses on divorce. He also specialises in UK taxation for individuals and trusts, and cross-border taxation co-ordination and advises banks and trust companies on technical aspects and practical application of the Common Reporting Standard.
He lectures throughout the world on private wealth issues. He has been classified in Who’s Who as one of the top ten private client practitioners in the world.
Nick is recognised as a Band 1 Ranked Lawyer in the Chambers HNW 2023 guide and is stated as “the godfather of Asian Family Governance work”. He is listed in the Hall of Fame in the 2024 edition of The Legal 500.
He joined Forsters with the rest of the Gowling WLG London Private Client team in May 2017. Prior to this, he was at Gowling WLG and its predecessor firms since 2002. Nick qualified as a Solicitor in 1982.