Walkers’ Trust and Trust Disputes Group was recently named Offshore Legal Team of the Year at the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners inaugural Private Client Awards gala.
This award was shared with Ogier, which was also cited. The event was designed to recognise excellence among private client solicitors, accountants, barristers, bankers and trust managers. This honour reflects the work of Walkers’ team in Cayman, the British Virgin Islands and London, states a press release, states a press release.
Andrew Miller, a senior associate in Walkers’ Trust Group, said. ‘Our expertise in Cayman and the BVI, where our attorneys have literally helped write the trust laws that are now in place, is second to none. Walkers clearly has the most knowledge of local laws and how to structure trusts to meet our clients’ goals.’
The STEP award was recognition of successful client work over the last 12 months on major cases dealing with Hastings Bass, no-contest clauses, and protectors’ powers in both the BVI and the Cayman Islands. For example, Walkers was involved in a landmark Cayman Islands decision in A v. Rothschild (2005) in which the Grand Court set aside a tax restructuring which had been carried out by a trustee who had been given incorrect tax advice. It has also been involved in major decisions for approval of high value compromises.
‘We’ve seen a rise in trusts and private client litigation in the past year in Cayman that mirrors trends in the US and the UK,’ said Sara Collins, a partner at Walkers and head of the Trusts Disputes Group. ‘We are seeing more cases in which the family or trustee is asking the court to help mitigate unintended tax consequences, or to sanction a restructuring or variation of the trusts, and fewer instances of real hostility between family members or towards the trustee. We are more and more often working towards identifying agreed solutions for which the court’s approval will be sought rather than being engaged in drawn-out fights which are likely to deplete the trust fund.’
Walkers’ Private Trusts Group establishes all types of Cayman, BVI and Jersey trusts for local and international trust companies, law and accountancy firms, banks and other institutions.
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