Ceris is a partner and head of the Charity and Philanthropy practice and head of the Immigration practice. Ceris' areas of expertise include tax, estate planning, family governance, charity law and philanthropy and immigration. She advises UK and non-UK domiciled and resident individuals, families, estates and trustees on UK and international tax and succession issues, establishing UK and offshore trusts, family limited partnerships and other cross border asset-holding structures.Ceris also has a wealth of experience advising on immigration, philanthropy and art and heritage property matters. Her wide-ranging experience means that, for clients, she is eminently qualified to take on the role of their trusted adviser.Ceris is well known for advising both grant-making and operational charities on matters of charity law and tax with a particular emphasis recently on governance and risk issues. She has twice won the "Trusted Advisor of the Year" award at the STEP Private Client Awards, a coveted accolade which is based on votes of STEP members. She appears on the 2019 Private Client Global Elite, which is the list of the world's elite lawyers advising UHNW.Ceris is named as a Leading Individual in the Legal 500 Directory and is ranked in Band 1 in the Chambers HNW guide 2020. She was named as one of the UK's Top Ten Tax and Trust Lawyers by Spear's Magazine in 2019 and 2020 and appears in the 2020 Spears 500. She was also ranked by Best Lawyers 2021 as a leading specialist in Charity Law, Art Law and Trusts and Personal Tax. Ceris is a trustee of Crimestoppers UK, Philanthropy Impact and National Philanthropic Trust Transatlantic and is Chair of the board of trustees of National Philanthropic Trust UK.
England - London • Private client
Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP
The ‘highly rated’ Fiona Poole has been promoted to the head of department at Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP – she leads a practice which ’provides magic circle advice in a friendly and boutique style way. They are the perfect combination of being intellectual and a pleasure to work with’. The agile team maintains its specialist focus on complex international and cross-border estate planning and succession structuring for UHNW clients. Clients include foreign royalty, English aristocracy, entrepreneurs, businessmen, traditionally wealthy families, trustees and private banks. Ceris Gardner has particular expertise in complex and high-value probates with an international dimension. Clare Maurice receives a steady stream of instructions from trustees, family offices and beneficiaries on a whole host of complex trust, estate planning and personal tax matters. Jennifer Chambers has considerable experience of establishing tax efficient structures for the preservation of assets and succession planning. The ’extremely clever’ Eesha Arora has an international client base. Paul Whitehead also plays a pivotal role in the department.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Market leading private client firm. Fiona Poole is entrepreneurial and empathetic. Ed Powles is very bright. Emma-Jane Weider is technically brilliant, with great people skills'.
‘Colin Senez - is well connected in the French speaking world. Eesha Arora - is incredibly bright and personable. Dominic Conde Cole - nothing phases Dominic and he is always available to take a call at short notice'.
‘The team is very dynamic and able to react on short notice. I also understand that the firm had been strongly promoting women for a long time already. The individuals are very knowledgeable and are good in providing responses to the point'.
'Claire Weeks and Clare Maurice are excellent. They have all demonstrated an incredible ability to master difficult legal and tax issues and provide advice that is succinct and to the point'.
‘Excellence throughout the team - the perfect private client niche offering. Eesha Arora - brilliant at considering all angles and giving clear, pragmatic advice. Already a star but becoming an ever brighter one, rightly so’.
‘All of the partners with whom I have worked are extremely impressive, as are their associates. They are a top choice for clients with significant wealth who require sophisticated UK tax and estate planning advice, including where there is a cross-border component'.
- 'Claire Weeks is a standout partner who is both technically masterful and a delight to work with. The team is easy to reach, a delight to deal with and always churns out comprehensive advice without one feeling that every second is 'on the clock'.
‘Paul Whitehead is a walking tax encyclopaedia with a superb ability to distil complex issues into easily digestible advice which is commercial and clear. Paul is on my speed dial for any UK tax matters'.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Clare is Senior Partner of Maurice Turnor Gardner. Her main specialism is international tax and estate planning for UK and non-UK domiciled individuals and families with complex assets located in many jurisdictions looking for solutions to the tax and structural challenges of global wealth. She also advises both resident and non-UK resident trustees on legal and practical issues which are relevant to them and their beneficiaries.Clare has a wealth of experience advising on philanthropy matters and, in particular, how to establish and operate charities. She has very valuable insight into the issues facing such enterprises as she has personally acted as trustee of a number of charities, both grant making and operating, chairing two such enterprises, Clare is a top-ranked Band 1 lawyer in the Chambers High Net Worth guide and is also ranked as a Band 1 individual by the Chambers Global guide, where she features in the International Private Client - Global-wide category. Clare is named as a Leading Individual in the Legal 500 Directory and a Notable Practitioner in Chambers & Partners (UK). She was ranked by Best Lawyers 2021 as a leading specialist in the area of Trusts and Personal Tax, and has been named as a member of the Private Client Global Elite by Legal Week for a number of years. She is also identified as one of Spear's Top Recommended Tax & Trust Advisers 2020.
Leading individuals
Jennifer is a partner and Head of the Private Wealth Team. She advises international and UK based private clients, family offices and trustees on succession and estate planning, UK personal and trust taxation and trust law matters as well as on philanthropy and charity issues.She has considerable experience of establishing tax efficient structures (including trusts, foundations and companies) for the preservation of assets and for succession planning purposes and has a strong heritage property practice advising individuals, trustees and charities on acquisitions, sales and loans of significant works of art and on related tax matters. She advises on Wills and has particular expertise of cross-border estate planning.Jennifer also advises philanthropists, charity trustees and those who transact with charities on charity law issues, philanthropy matters and tax efficient giving.Jennifer is ranked as a leading lawyer in the 2020 Chambers & Partners HNW guide and is also recognised in the most recent Legal 500 as a charity transaction specialist.
Next Generation Partners
Eesha is a partner and is experienced in advising international individuals, families and trustees. Her advice often includes establishing bespoke asset holding structures to hold family businesses, investment assets and luxury assets such as art and jets. She advises on personal tax (specialising in pre-arrival planning and the remittance basis), trusts and succession planning, with a particular focus on smooth succession between generations. Eesha’s succession planning often involves international Wills and she also advises on complex probates. As part of her practice and often as a first step, Eesha helps her clients with their immigration position, with a particular focus on Investor visas (Tier 1) and citizenship applications. Eesha is experienced in helping her clients realise their philanthropic aims, often by establishing family charities or advising on significant gifts.In 2019, Eesha was named as "One to Watch" by the Legal Week Private Client Global Elite. She was named as a key lawyer by the 2020 Legal 500 guide in the area of personal tax, trusts and probate.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Fiona Poole