Collas Crill
Trust disputes and both plaintiff and defendant-side director litigation form the bedrock of Collas Crill‘s dispute resolution practice, which also represents clients in broader corporate and insolvency matters. Practice head and managing partner Christian Hay handles complex cross-border trusts disputes, in addition to being a qualified mediator and arbitrator. Gareth Bell acts on a wide variety of cases, including those relating to directors' duties, professional negligence and other commercial disputes, while Michael Adkins covers regulatory, public law and insolvency issues. David O’Hanlon and Ben Havard both handle contentious and semi-contentious trust disputes. Nin Ritchie and James Tee, recently promoted to group partner and partner, respectively, advise financial institutions on a range of issues, including regulatory and insolvency matters.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
'Proactive and very much integrated as part of a wider team. Very much more than a postbox and involved in all strategic decisions in a significant case. Reliable and available.'
'In my opinion, the expertise of Gareth Bell in dispute resolution is excellent. The team also provide excellent back-up in any periods of his absence.'
'Collas Crill is an excellent Guernsey law firm who, with their collaborative approach, are easy and a pleasure to work with. They seem to have good knowledge and coverage in specialist areas. In my case, a dispute with very difficult and well known devious characters, they have quickly understood all the complex issues.'
'Christian Hay very quickly understood the issues that I had been dealing with in Switzerland, the UK and elsewhere, including West Africa. He grasped how difficult life had been dealing with corrupt individuals who could hire the most expensive lawyers in any jurisdictions. He has been incredibly supportive and a pleasure to deal with on all fronts.'
'My experience with law firms (other than Collas Crill) is that they operate on "auto-pliot" and do not think through the issues with vigour. Quite often, my experience with other law firms is that they forget details and sometimes miss big issues. Collas Crill diligently and thoroughly think about the issues concerning what is best for the client and then create a strategy to execute. They put the client first rather than themselves, in my opinion.'
'David O'Hanlon - commercially minded, talented lawyer with sound judgement and good strategic insight.'
'The breadth and depth of this team is quite astonishing. They have an excellent knowledge base, superb client management skills and are my go-to for offshore sanctions-related work.'
'Nin Ritchie is an incredible lawyer. Her insight, commerciality and legal acumen mean that she is a trusted pair of hands for sanctions and regulatory litigation work. I am always incredibly impressed whenever we get the chance to work together.'
Key clients
- Grant Thornton Channel Islands
- Maurizio Totta
- Guernsey Housing Association
- White & Case
- Payne Hicks Beach
- Withers
- Kingsley Napley
- Keystone Law
- CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang
- Wedlake Bell
- Mishcon de Reya
- Zhong Lun
- Geneva Trust Company (formerly Rawlinson & Hunter S.A.)
- Caldwell Associates
- Artemis Trustees Limited
- Bank Julius Baer & Co
- Investec Bank Channel Islands
Work highlights
- Defended two former directors of an insolvent construction company against a claim in excess of $1.5bn, brought by the current liquidators alleging breach of their common law duties as directors, fraudulent and wrongful trading, and breach of their fiduciary duties.
- Acted on behalf of newly appointed trustees in an ongoing dispute between the beneficiaries and outgoing trustees in relation to the restructuring of a £100m trust.
- Representing Kroll, as the liquidators of Moro Sphinx, in claims against former directors and a related company, NDF Investments.
Lawyers
Next Generation Partners
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Christian Hay