Supported by an ‘excellent’ clerking team, members of Serle Court regularly represent clients in major litigation. Thomas Fletcher acts unled against Richard Wilson KC and Oliver Jones in JTC Employer Solutions Trustee v Garnett, a High Court claim seeking the rescission of trust appointments on the grounds of mistake. Amy Proferes is acting in the factual complex Re Klein, a probate case where the estate was tied up in shareholdings in fifteen companies. Jonathan Harris KC is instructed in Kea Investments v Wikeley Family Trustee, where his client was able to obtain rare anti-enforcement injunctions in this case concerning an allegedly fraudulent agreement - the matter involved cross-border litigaiton involving New Zealand.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
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Profile
Position
Thomas is a trusts and estates specialist. He has extensive experience in high-value, complex trusts and estates matters with a cross-border dimension and has been involved in some of the most legally significant cases in these areas across the common law world. His practice covers the full range of contentious and non-contentious private client work in England and internationally, including trust administration applications, breach of trust claims, contentious probate, family provision, professional negligence and taxation issues affecting the administration of trusts and estates. He has considerable experience in overseas jurisdictions, including Bermuda, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, the Bahamas, the Turks & Caicos Islands and the BVI.
Thomas has appeared as Counsel at every level of the court hierarchy in England and Wales from the High Court to the Supreme Court. He has also appeared twice before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and in courts in several offshore jurisdictions. He is called to the Bar of Bermuda (ad hoc).
Thomas is the editor of the key practitioner works in trusts and estates, namely Lewin on Trusts, Theobald on Wills and Williams, Mortimer & Sunnucks: Executors, Administrators and Probate.
Recommended as a Leading Junior in the latest Chambers UK Bar, Global and HNW directories for Chancery: Traditional, Trusts and Offshore, Thomas is described as “literally indispensable. A complete workhorse, he is really one of the team and rolls up his sleeves. He is incredibly bright and very diplomatic.” He is also ranked in the Legal 500 UK Bar (Private Client: Trusts and Probate) and English Bar Offshore.
Thomas’s practice also covers the whole range of commercial and chancery work. He has been instructed in several heavy commercial disputes involving trusts or estates elements. He also has a growing practice in charities work, particularly related to the administration of charitable trusts and similar structures.
Career
Year of Call: 2009.
Memberships
Chancery Bar Association
COMBAR
Education
MA Cantab (First Class)
LLM (Distinction), Queen Mary, University of London
Content supplied by Serle Court
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Arron Snipe in particular has been a pleasure to work with - always available, thorough and goes above and beyond to assist.'
- 'Serle is a top class set in the chancery field, with some of the most able practitioners.'
- 'The chambers has a very good reputation for trust and probate litigation and for general commercial litigation.'
- 'Excellent clerking team.'
- 'The set has strength in depth in private client work, with a focus on high-value and offshore work.'
- 'Serle Court are a very strong set and have a number of the best barristers in the field. They are particularly impressive in those cases involving commercial, offshore or more complex structures.'
- 'Serle Court is the go to and class-defining, excellent across the board.'
- 'The clerks are universally excellent. Responsive and knowledgeable.'