Appleby

Corporate

David Dorgan has established himself as one of the leading lawyers in Jersey uniquely combining strengths in private client, corporate and finance work. He is a Jersey Advocate and Notary Public with 24+ years’ experience and is a Partner in the Corporate department and of the Private Client and Trusts teams.

David re-joined Appleby in 2025, having previously been a partner and Group Head of its Private Client & Trusts practice in Jersey for 7 years between 2015 and 2022. Prior to that, he was a partner of another top 10 offshore law firm. Between 2022 and 2025 David assisted in the furtherance of a law firm connected to a FTSE250 global fiduciary business before being enticed back to Appleby.

He has a significant specialism in private and commercial trusts and foundations, focusing on providing technical advice on their establishment and on-going administration which is tailored for the practical and commercial requirements of clients. He has extensive experience of drafting bespoke and complex trust instruments, foundation regulations and company documents for high and ultra-high net worth individuals and families, preparing bespoke will trusts and providing documentation for SPV, philanthropy, charitable and non-charitable purposes.

David also has considerable experience in corporate and finance matters, in particular transactions involving trustees refinancing or selling and/or purchasing trust fund property and/or high net worth individuals or families entering entrepreneurial ventures. He has also provided opinions to foreign courts, foreign revenue authorities and institutional lenders on complex issues relating to trust and corporate issues.

David has a particular specialisation in structuring for Middle Eastern clients and holds the Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ) from the Charted Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI) and Ecole Supérieure des Affairs (ESA).

David has worked with Digital Jersey since 2021 and is one of the key architects of Jersey’s first data trust (called “LifeCycle”) to trial whether data could be collated, stored, analysed and shared using a Jersey law governed trust. He continues to work with Digital Jersey in the development and creation of subsequent data trusts to pioneer Jersey’s approach to shape the future of data-given structuring in a highly regulated industry.

The Law Society of Jersey The Jersey Society of Notaries The Notaries Society of England and Wales The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Jersey Finance’s Working Groups for Trusts, Charities and Foundations Digital Jersey’s Working Group for Data Stewardship