Stephenson Harwood

Jonathan Conder

  Jonathan is a partner in Stephenson Harwood’s private wealth group and advises UK and international private clients, trustees, foundations, family offices and private banks on all aspects of tax, trust, estate and succession planning, regulatory, immigration and philanthropic issues. He also has significant experience in assisting families and trustees in responding to tax investigations and resolving disputes. Whilst the majority of his clients have some sort of UK connection, a significant portion do not. As a result he is very experienced in complex cross-border estate planning, coordinating matters for clients whose family members and assets are located in or affected by different legal and tax systems. Having spent four years as an in-house counsel to a bank in Bermuda, and many years as a partner in private practice, he puts forward workable solutions to his clients, be they individuals or private banks and corporate trustees, taking into account both perspectives. Jonathan travels widely to see clients in the UK and overseas and regularly lectures or chairs conferences attended by clients and other industry professionals. He also publishes journal articles on topical issues and is frequently quoted in the national and industry press.

Emily Osborne

An experienced private wealth advisor, Emily provides international tax and private wealth advice to families and trustees of family trusts on a variety of issues, including moving to the UK; the use of wealth preservation structures such as offshore trusts, foundations and companies; the ownership of UK residential property and tax disclosures and the reporting of beneficial ownership under the various global initiatives. She advises clients on the law of domicile and residency, including ensuring the availability of tax efficient sources of funds to draw on after becoming UK residents. Emily is an expert on international pension schemes and other remuneration structures and advises on IPPs, EFRBS, QROPS and QNUPS, acting for both scheme trustees and their members.

James Quarmby

Recently recognised as "tax & trusts lawyer of the year" (Spears' Wealth Management Awards 2022), James is the head of our private wealth team. James is widely regarded  as one of the leading practitioners in the UK and is described in the Chambers HNW Guide (2019) as “very much a figurehead of the industry…… he carries a lot of experience”. James has a wide ranging practice, advising on UK and international taxation, residency and domicile, offshore pensions and trusts, asset protection, succession planning and HMRC disputes. James is one of the most prominent private client lawyers in the UK and frequently appears in the press and broadcast media (Sky News, BBC TV News, BBC Radios 2 / 3 / 4 / 5, Bloomberg TV and the BBC World Service). He writes and lectures widely on tax policy. The private client publication "e-private client" names James, for the last 8 years running, as a "Top 50 Most Influential' in the private client industry. As well as being a solicitor, regulated by the SRA, he is a Registered Tax Technician, regulated by the Association of Tax Technicians (ATT). He is an active member of STEP and a contributing editor for Lexis/Nexis.

Michael Rutili

Michael is a trusted adviser to numerous, mostly European, private clients, their families and businesses.  He has experience advising on a wide range of UK and international matters involving tax, estate planning and succession issues. Michael has developed a unique practice assisting private clients and their businesses which straddles both advisory and litigious angles. Michael's non-contentious practice involves advising individuals and families relocating to, leaving or with interests in the UK on the most appropriate and efficient tax and estate planning.  His understanding of the most common issues and criticalities in the various jurisdictions involved (especially European ones) enables him to better understand clients' needs and concerns and work seamlessly with the other advisers involved. The second main pillar of Michael's practice is of a more contentious nature, involving disputes involving entities and structures (trusts, foundations, companies), successions and tax matters. Michael also takes a pre-emptive approach, stress-testing clients' wealth planning structures and affairs in order to reduce the risk of future litigation.