Macfarlanes LLP

Charles Lloyd

Charles specialises in private client disputes, particularly international trust and estates litigation. Charles has been the head of Macfarlanes private client disputes group since 2001. Charles has particular expertise in international trusts and estate litigation for high-net-worth individuals. He has a depth of experience in advising trustees, beneficiaries, protectors, executors, administrators in contentious situations arising out of disputes involving these structures. In particular, he advises on disputes relating to the succession of valuable family businesses held in complex structures, involving trusts, foundations, partnerships and other corporate entities, as well as cross-border estates. He has a depth of experience in Shari’a law succession disputes. He also works increasingly at the point of intersection between traditional private client litigation, white collar criminal, regulatory investigations and fraud.

Jacob Ward

Jacob specialises in domestic and international litigation, with a particular focus on trust disputes, international succession and estate disputes and fraud. He advises on a broad range of litigation both in England and across the world, including the BVI, Guernsey, Cayman, Cyprus and Hong Kong. He focuses particularly on: trust disputes, including removing or defending trustees, tracing assets, and disputes between beneficiaries; estate and probate disputes, including disputes over the validity of wills and claims against the solicitor who drafted the will; fraud claims, including tracing and recovering assets; and insolvency claims, including claims against former directors and recovering assets for creditors. Jacob edits the Contentious Matters section of the Butterworths Wills, Probate and Administration Service. Jacob is ranked as a leading individual in the 2021 UK Legal 500 guide.  He is a qualified solicitor advocate and sits as a Magistrate in London.

Jonathan Arr

He acts for high-net-worth individuals from the UK and around the world, trustees, protectors, wealth managers and multinational businesses. Jonathan has a wealth of experience litigating in both UK and international courts, including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, BVI, Jersey, Guernsey, Singapore, the Isle of Man and Mauritius. He acts on the full range of matters affecting private clients and their structures, including: applications to deal with mistaken advice or flawed decisions by way of rectification or revocation; breach of trust claims; fraud claims; disputes between family members regarding their interest in family trusts and the operation of underlying corporate entities; trustee directions and court approval/blessing applications; advice about and disputes involving loss of capacity by family members or fiduciaries; challenges to wills and Inheritance Act claims; and art and cultural property disputes. He has particular expertise resolving difficult and long-running disputes between beneficiaries of both English and offshore family trusts owning large multinational businesses. As well as acting in court and arbitration proceedings, he has also advised clients in numerous successful large-scale settlement negotiations and mediations, particularly in the context of family disputes. Jonathan is a member of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists. His work helping clients resolve mistakes and undo their consequences means Jonathan frequently acts for claimants on professional negligence claims. He also regularly acts for clients in commercial litigation, with particular expertise in disputes involving breaches of fiduciary duty and conspiracy, including high-value employment disputes in the High Court and employment tribunals, and associated internal investigations.

Elizabeth Doherty

Elizabeth specialises in international contentious trust, probate and succession disputes and related regulatory investigations, high-value family disputes and proceedings in the Court of Protection. Elizabeth acts for a wide range of UK and international clients including multinational corporations, trust companies, private companies and a diverse spectrum of high-net-worth individuals. She has substantial experience as a litigator in the UK courts and in foreign courts, including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands and has particular expertise in resolving complex and multi-jurisdictional disputes involving the trustees, beneficiaries and protectors of English and offshore family trusts, including through alternative dispute resolution. Elizabeth has acted for numerous clients in sensitive and highly confidential disputes in the Court of Protection and has advised fiduciaries who become involved in cross-jurisdictional regulatory investigations (including criminal investigations).