Private Wealth Disputes
High Net Worth Guide 2024 : London (Firms)
Band 1
About
Provided by Baker McKenzie
Baker McKenzie has one of the leading trusts and private wealth litigation groups in the world. High net-worth individuals, trustees, fiduciaries and private wealth banks seek our representation in high-stakes litigation, trusting us for our experience and discretion.
Working closely with colleagues in our Tax and Financial Institutions groups, we represent clients in disputes related to trusts, inheritance, succession, wills, pension funds, investment loss and artwork. We also advise on family governance mediation, crisis management, and reputation protection and defamation.
We regularly act in the highest value cross-border and multi-party trust litigation and our cases are amongst the highest value disputes to be litigated in their respective jurisdictions and we have trusts expertise in all key wealth markets. We have decades of experience working with the major lawyers, private banks and trust companies in the key offshore jurisdictions, with an in-depth understanding of their features and idiosyncrasies.
Chambers Review
Baker McKenzie uses its wealth of resources and expertise to assist private clients globally. The firm often takes on the most significant cross-border trust disputes that require specialist tax and litigation knowledge.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"Baker McKenzie are very impressive, extremely thorough and very comfortable dealing with top-tier trust litigation. The team are very experienced."
"They have handled many complex workstreams very efficiently without once dropping the ball. They have consistently had all bases covered, operating with both breadth and depth."
"The team at Baker McKenzie is high-end and impressive. The team is one of the best in the City."
"Baker McKenzie are very impressive, extremely thorough and very comfortable dealing with top-tier trust litigation. The team are very experienced."
"They have handled many complex workstreams very efficiently without once dropping the ball. They have consistently had all bases covered, operating with both breadth and depth."
"The team at Baker McKenzie is high-end and impressive. The team is one of the best in the City."
Notable Practitioners
Anthony Poulton is a highly respected private client litigator who often handles significant, precedent-setting cases.
"He's a brilliant lawyer and incredibly good coordinator of difficult cross-border cases with second-to-none experience."
"Anthony Poulton never fails to provide razor-sharp, pragmatic and strategically minded insights into any given problem at hand."
"Anthony Poulton is a leader in his field. He commands the confidence of the team and clients, and is a very smooth operator."
Gemma Willingham regularly advises trustees on offshore settlements and beneficiaries in disputes as part of an established private wealth practice.
"She's an extremely sophisticated operator. She's also got a brain like a sponge and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of everything that has happened."
"She's technically superb. She's always looking for a solution. She's a real class act and straight-talking."
"Gemma grasps all the nuances of each issue and is able to address many complex issues simultaneously without ever dropping the ball. She comes up with effective solutions."
Yindi Gesinde handles offshore breach of fiduciary claims and has further expertise in compliance and investigations.
"She is very good at keeping the client advised and taking instructions before responding to other parties' lawyers."
Luke Richardson is a senior associate who handles private wealth disputes as part of a broader litigation practice.
"Luke dissects out the key issues and tackles them in a solution-oriented, sophisticated way. His powers of observation are second to none, enabling him to provide profound insights."
"Luke Richardson is a highly articulate and very bright solicitor. His ability to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of the various options is unparalleled."
"He's a senior associate at the heart of major cases and is very clever. He is very well organised, good at dealing with clients, and extremely committed to the case."