Eight Stewarts’ lawyers feature in this year’s Private Client Global Elite guide to lawyers advising UHNW clients worldwide, more than in any previous year. All four partners in our Trust and Probate Litigation are listed in the top tier; four more lawyers, including three Divorce and Family partners, are recognised for Private Client Excellence.
PCGE says:
“Entry into our esteemed categories is a privilege granted through peer nominations. This ensures that membership is a reflection of an individual’s professional standing and contributions to their field, fostering a community rooted in mutual respect and acknowledgment.”
Trust and Probate Litigation
Head of department James Price is acknowledged as a market leader for dispute resolution and contentious trusts and estates work. Asked by PCGE about current trends, he noted we are likely to see “continued large scale contentious trusts restructuring and increased numbers of capacity issues.”
Geoff Kertesz specialises in complex litigation relating to trusts and estates, often with an offshore element but also wholly domestic. He describes the essential skills of a private client lawyer as “empathy, patience, and the ability to rise above your opponent’s needlessly aggressive correspondence.”
Marcus Parker has more than 25 years’ experience as both an English lawyer and as a Cayman-based professional trustee. PCGE highlights his work ‘stress-testing’ trust structures, “which involves a detailed examination of new and existing structures to make sure they can withstand and resist potential future disputes.”
Emma Holland is acclaimed for her work on trusts, estates, probate and capacity issues. “Much of the work I do is international in nature, frequently involving offshore jurisdictions and conflicts of private international law,” she says.
Senior associate Jemma Goddard is also ranked in the guide for the first time. “I specialise in a broad range of UK and offshore trust and estates litigations,” Jemma says. She also has a “particular interest in cases involving capacity issues.”
Divorce and Family
Partner Lucy Stewart-Gould has “particular experience in disputes involving assets held in trust”. This year’s guide highlights the case of Standish v Standish, which Lucy successfully acted for the husband as the Court of Appeal reduced the wife’s divorce award by £20million (45%).
Jenny Duggan is also ranked again by PCGE. She “has extensive experience in a wide range of high-value cases involving complex financial and trust structures, often with international and ‘non-marital’ wealth considerations.”
Sophie Chapman is listed in the guide for the first time. As well as a “particular expertise in divorce cases with an international dimension”, she is “recognised for her pragmatic approach to assisting clients to resolve the arrangements for their children,” the guide notes.
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