Walkers

Advocate Adam Cole is a partner in Walkers' Guernsey Insolvency & Dispute Resolution team, with wide commercial litigation experience and a particular interest in contentious insolvency matters, regulatory enforcement referrals and trust disputes. He has been practising for over a decade and has been admitted in Guernsey since 2014. Prior to that Adam worked with a major international firm in London, specialising in insurance-related litigation. Adam is a member of the Association of Restructuring and Insolvency Experts (ARIES) and was awarded a Distinction for the STEP Advanced Certificate in International Trusts Disputes.

Alex Wickens

Alex Wickens is an experienced Banking & Finance lawyer specialising in real estate financing and Islamic financing matters in Walkers' Guernsey law team.He is ranked as a Rising Star for Guernsey Banking & Finance work by Legal 500.Alex has almost a decade's experience in private practice in Guernsey, and advises clients on complex structuring arrangements on acquisitions and disposals of UK commercial real estate assets, advising on both borrower and lender side.He also advises on Islamic finance structures in respect of real estate holdings, and on fund financing matters.Alex also has in-house experience, having undertaken a six-month project with a Guernsey financial services provider.

Alison Ozanne

Alison is a partner and head of the Guernsey Dispute Resolution team. She is recognised in Legal 500's "Hall of Fame". Alison has considerable experience in relation to trust, banking, insolvency and insurance litigation, as well as general corporate disputes. She appears regularly in front of the Royal Court and Court of Appeal. Alison is a regular speaker at conferences in Guernsey, the UK and internationally, particularly in relation to trust litigation corporate governance and AML issues

Chris Hutley-Hurst

Chris Hutley-Hurst is a Senior Counsel in Walkers' Investment Funds & Corporate Practice Group in Guernsey.Chris is a Guernsey Advocate with considerable experience as an offshore lawyer – he advises on all aspects of investment fund and corporate transactions, including investment fund formation, acquisitions, disposals and regulatory matters.He also advises on economic substance and taxation matters, having worked as a tax lawyer while practising onshore.Chris has experience of working in London and New York.

Craig Cordle

Craig Cordle is a Partner in Walkers' Guernsey Investment Funds & Corporate Practice Group specialising in all aspects of the structuring, restructuring, merger, sale, establishment and operation of listed and private investment funds, including private equity funds, real estate funds, single asset vehicles/SPACs and other collective investment arrangements. In addition, Craig advises on the merger and acquisition of private and listed companies, schemes of arrangement and regulatory and competition issues. Craig is an asset management lawyer with 14 years' experience in private practice, most of which was spent in the asset management, funds and capital markets teams of two leading international law firms in the City of London. Since moving to Guernsey in 2016, and re-qualifying as a Guernsey Advocate, he continues to work with a number of vehicles listed on exchanges in London and across Europe, including The International Stock Exchange (TISE). He has been consistently recognised for the quality of his advice by Chambers UK, Legal 500 and IFLR 1000. Admitted in: Guernsey – 2018 England & Wales - 2008

Helena Lavin

Helena Lavin is a Senior Associate in Walkers' Guernsey Insolvency and Dispute Resolution Group, specialising in contentious insolvency and trust matters. She has been practising in Guernsey for around seven years – prior to that she worked in the Middle East, and with law firms in England, and also worked as in-house counsel. Helena has broad expertise acting for and advising predominantly international clients in disputes often with a multi-jurisdictional element, and is a member of ARIES and INSOL International. Having a particular interest in contentious insolvency and trust matters, her cases have involved acting for trustees, beneficiaries and other parties to trusts in seeking disclosure from trustees, obtaining injunctive relief pertaining to trust assets, applications to vary trusts and challenged Beddoe applications. She also has extensive experience acting for directors, shareholders and other stakeholders in a wide range of disputes covering breach of fiduciary duties, professional negligence, enforcement of judgments and contested winding up proceedings.

Jamie Bookless

Jamie Bookless is a Senior Counsel based in the Guernsey office. He joined Walkers in 2020 and is a member of the Guernsey Insolvency & Dispute Resolution team. Jamie specialises in complex and high-value commercial disputes and insolvency matters. Jamie regularly acts for large commercial clients, corporate trustees, major accountancy firms and investment banks. Jamie also has experience of competition law disputes, and disputes over data protection legislation and contentious regulatory matters.

Jessica Robinson

Jessica Robinson is a senior counsel based in Walkers' Guernsey office, specialising in advising on M&A transactions, corporate restructurings and corporate finance matters. Her experience includes M&A transactions involving regulated trust company service providers, as well as a major Middle East acquisition for Amazon.com Inc. Jessica has worked in Walkers' BVI, Guernsey and Jersey offices, and advises on BVI, Cayman and Guernsey law. Prior to moving offshore, she practised in the London office of a major international firm for five years, during which time she completed two secondments with major banking clients. Jessica also completed another secondment with a major international bank in Jersey, providing training and designing and implementing robust internal legal procedures. Jessica speaks French.

Kim Paiva

Kim Paiva is a Group Partner in Walker's top-tier Guernsey Banking & Finance team – she has 15 years' experience in private practice in onshore and offshore roles, and leads the Guernsey acquisition finance and general secured lending team. Kim has a broad range of expertise encompassing Banking & Finance and Corporate law matters, and specialises in acquisition and asset financing deals, advising borrowers and lenders predominantly in London and within the Channel Islands on matters of Guernsey law. She is part of the market-leading Walkers Global Aviation Group, and advises both owners and financiers in relation to transactions involving aircraft registered or to be registered on 2-REG (Guernsey's Aircraft Registry). Kim has ten years' experience advising on Guernsey law, and also advises on leveraged finance, and in acquisitions of regulated trust and company services providers. Having spent five years practising in South Africa's largest law firm, Kim also works with clients from South Africa on funds and private capital matters, advising clients in respect of asset protection and succession planning structures.

Nitrisha Doorasamy

Nitrisha Doorasamy is a private capital and trusts lawyer with substantial in-house experience as a corporate trustee and fiduciary specialist.Nitrisha is an associate in Walkers' Guernsey Private Capital & Trusts team specialising in non-contentious private client work, including drafting and the establishment of trust, foundation and family office structures.She is an affiliate member of STEP who spent more than six years in the trusts team of a major South African banking group before moving offshore and joining Walkers in 2018.Nitrisha's practice is geared around supporting local trust companies and HNWIs on asset protection and succession planning issues.She also works with Walkers' Guernsey corporate law team on the intersection between trust and company law, and issues involving companies underlying trust structures.

Rupert Morris

Rupert Morris is a partner and head of Walkers' Private Capital and Trusts Team in the Channel Islands. Based in Guernsey he has almost 15 years' practice as a private wealth specialist focusing on private client advisory and structuring work.Rupert also has significant experience since qualifying as a Guernsey Advocate in 2010 as a contentious practitioner, appearing before the Guernsey courts at all levels, particularly in respect of Beddoe, Public Trustee v Cooper and Saunders v Vautier applications as well as applications to vary the terms of trusts.He is recognised as one of the leading lawyers in his field in Guernsey, sits on the STEP Worldwide Council and is the Chair of STEP's Guernsey branch.Rupert is instructed by many leading fiduciaries, financial institutions, government departments and UHNW individuals in respect of all aspects of local and cross-border advisory and structuring work, impact investment, charitable structures, and regulatory matters including investigations and dawn raids.

Sarah Brehaut

Sarah is a partner in Walkers' Guernsey Insolvency & Dispute Resolution Group specialising in contentious insolvency and regulatory disputes. She is an experienced court-going Advocate who frequently represents liquidators in respect of contentious and non-contentious matters before Guernsey's Royal Court in relation to compulsory and voluntary winding-up, and holds the BPP Certificate of Proficiency in Corporate Insolvency (for which she received the highest exam result in the country). Sarah also advises and represents directors of regulated entities in respect of regulatory investigations and disputes. She has significant experience in all aspects of commercial dispute as well as considerable experience of appearing in the Magistrate’s Court, Royal Court and Court of Appeal.

Sarah Ash

Sarah is a Group Partner in the Employment team, based in Guernsey. Sarah advises on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law, including tribunal claims and procedure, contracts of employment, internal grievance and disciplinary matters, managing sickness absence, misconduct and capability issues, dismissals, discrimination, employment policies and procedures, redundancies and aspects of mergers, acquisitions and disposals.Sarah has experience in advising companies in a broad range of industries including financial services, insurance, legal and media. She also has in-house secondment experience working within both employment legal and HR teams and spent time in a major international bank where she gained invaluable experience of employment related matters from the client's perspective.

Victoria Pratt

Victoria is a Senior Counsel in Walkers' Guernsey Employment Law Group. Her employment law practice includes specialisms in data protection, executive exits and team moves and employment connected with regulated financial services business. Victoria's data protection work focuses on staff data (including data subject access requests and cross-border data transfers), frequently in the context of regulated industries, mergers & acquisitions and litigation. Her practice relating to senior exits and team moves involves advising both employers and employees on contentious exits and enforcement of post termination restrictions as well as constructive and unfair dismissal. Having worked as a commercial and fiduciary lawyer in London and Guernsey, and attaining STEP qualifications prior to specialising in employment work, Victoria has relevant experience of working within a regulated environment. Victoria is a Guernsey Advocate and Notary Public and also advises on housing and immigration matters.

Zoe Hallam

Zoë Hallam is a Group Partner in the Banking & Finance team in Walkers' Guernsey office, having previously spent eight years in the firm's Cayman office.Zoë advises on a broad range of finance-related matters, with a specialised focus on Fund Finance, Real Estate Finance and Islamic Finance transactions. In the Fund Finance sector she has advised both borrowers and lender on subscription facilities, NAV facilities and GP financing and her clients include leading international banks, alternative lenders and fund managers.

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