Clare Stanley KC KC > Chambers of Brian Green KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Wilberforce Chambers is recognised as an ‘excellent commercial Chancery set’, offering specialist expertise across various areas including banking and finance, insolvency, fraud, and commercial contract disputes. In a notable cryptocurrency dispute, John Wardell KC leads Bobby Friedman and Sri Carmichael in representing the claimant in Tulip Trading LLP v Bitcoin Association following a hack on the computer of CEO Craig Steven Wright, raising questions about whether Bitcoin developers owe fiduciary duties to fraud victims. Alan Gourgey KC represents principal defendants in Bourlakova v Bourlakov, a case involving assets worth nearly £3bn belonging to the late Russian businessman Oleg Burlakov. Additionally, in Mitchell v Al Jabar, Clare Stanley KC defended Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber regarding whether directors of BVI companies owe fiduciary duties post-liquidation.

Wilberforce Chambers is a go-to set for offshore contentious trust mandates, and is praised for having some of the ‘leading barristers in the world for international trusts work’. It is home to the reputable Brian Green KC and Robert Ham KC, who regularly handles traditional private client work, as well as cases involving elements of tax and pension schemes. Clare Stanley KC frequently appears before the courts of the Channel Islands, Cayman, and the BVI regarding trust cases. She acted for the claimant in Halabi v Equity Trust (Jersey) Ltd, which is now a leading case regarding the proper distribution of assets when dealing with an insolvent offshore trust. Gilead Cooper KC is particularly skilled in contentious property and trusts matters. Turning to the juniors at the set, Anna Littler is a key name to note, as is Elizabeth Houghton, who represents clients in novel Chancery matters that often have an international element.

Wilberforce Chambers boasts ‘a very strong bench of experienced offshore barristers, both junior counsel and silks‘, who frequently represent clients in high-profile cases in the Bahamas, Bermuda, the BVI, the Cayman Islands, and the Channel Islands. For Thomas Lowe KC, offshore merger litigation is a key area of practice, while Clare Stanley KC is skilled in commercial Chancery matters surrounding issues of fraud, insolvency, and asset tracing. John Wardell KC is strong in disputes concerning joint ventures, company law, and breaches of fiduciary dates, and he is representing the defendant in a case regarding allegations of unlawful means conspiracy through a group restructuring attempt against a company with shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Raiffeisen International Bank v Scully Royalty). Business-related matters, including litigious mandates surrounding banking and financial services, are a notable strength of Terence Mowschenson KC. The set also has a strong bench of juniors, including Graeme Halkerston, who is a specialist in offshore mandates, especially those from the BVI and the Cayman Islands, as is Tara Taylor, another active member of chambers. Taylor is acting for one of the defendants in an application that is part of a larger piece of litigation involving allegations of misappropriated funds totalling $4.4bn against the former chairman of one of Kazakhstan’s largest banks, along with several other associates (JSC ‘BTA Bank’ v Ablyazov and others).