Baker & Partners LLP

Baker & Partners is a specialist independent offshore litigation and dispute resolution practice.

The firm: Baker & Partners was founded in 2003 and has been at the forefront of some of the most complex and high-value litigation in Jersey. It takes the view that no legal problem is unsolvable. Every step it takes is directed to protect and advance its clients’ interests. The firm’s advice is always straightforward, objective and independent. It remains conflict-free by not operating an associated trust company or financial services business. Its lawyers have extensive practical experience in the courts of not only Jersey but also England, Wales, Cayman and BVI. Their skills, both inside and outside the courtroom, allow Baker & Partners to achieve its clients’ aims in an efficient and cost-effective way.

Types of work undertaken
Trust disputes: Baker & Partners acts for beneficiaries, trustees and other fiduciaries on a range of contentious trust matters including acting in long-running litigation relating to the administration of a substantial family charitable trust which resulted in orders for the removal of the corporate trustee. The firm currently acts for BNP Paribas Jersey Trust Corporation in Crociani v Crociani, one of the biggest trust disputes in Jersey in recent years. The firm acted for the plaintiff in a £30m claim for breach of fiduciary duty of a former director of a Kenyan company and against a major Jersey financial services provider for its role in dishonestly assisting in a fraud that lasted over 30 years. The firm regularly advises and acts for trustees and beneficiaries in respect of breach of trust claims; asset tracing and constructive trust claims; trustee applications for directions; disputes over trust administration and the exercise of powers; and the removal and/or substitution of trustees.

Civil and commercial litigation: Baker & Partners has a leading reputation for resolving high-value, and often complex, civil and commercial disputes. The firm acts for local and international businesses, banks and financial institutions as well as consumers in a range of actions including shareholder disputes; banking litigation; civil fraud claims; breach of contract/covenant claims; injunctions and disclosure orders; conflict of laws and jurisdiction disputes and financial product mis-selling claims.

Fraud, asset tracing and recovery: Baker & Partners has unparalleled experience in bringing and defending major international fraud claims and asset recovery actions before the Jersey courts. The firm acts for foreign governments, NGOs, multinational corporations and private individuals in some of the most complex and high-value political corruption, forfeiture and judgment enforcement actions, including asset tracing claims; confiscation proceedings; freezing two injunctions; disclosure orders; search and seizure orders; civil fraud claims and fraudulent breach of trust claims. The firm has successfully acted in ground-breaking asset tracing litigation to secure US$23m for the Federal Republic of Brazil, and in separate litigation brought by the Republic of Mozambique to recover the proceeds of bribes.

Matrimonial: Baker & Partners is often involved in cases with cross-jurisdictional issues and advises families with complex financial portfolios and structures. The firm has extensive experience of advising clients with high-net-worth matrimonial assets and family trust structures. In the context of matrimonial disputes regarding family trusts, Baker & Partners has also advised trustees on contentious issues including allegations of sham trusts, disclosure, submission to the jurisdiction of the English High Court and enforceability of judgments from the English High Court and other foreign jurisdictions.

Regulatory and investigatory: Baker & Partners’ compliance, risk and regulatory specialists now provide significant commercial experience of Jersey’s and other offshore financial services industries under one efficient offering alongside its legal capabilities. The firm is regularly instructed by regulators, financial institutions and private individuals to advise and act in an array of often highly complex and challenging situations.  In 2020 Baker & Partners has also established Baker Regulatory Services to further strengthen it’s regulatory offering.