Private Client Advisory and Litigation Forum: Paris

The Rt Hon Sir Robert Buckland KBE KC MP KC is the Head of Policy and Senior Counsel. Robert joined Payne Hicks Beach in March 2023.

Sir Robert was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain for over two years and served as HM Solicitor General for nearly five years prior to that.

He has over twenty-five years’ experience in practice at the Bar, both at the self-employed Bar and later as a Law Officer.  As Lord Chancellor, he was responsible for landmark reforms of Sentencing Law, Domestic Abuse Law and Divorce Law in England and Wales, and has immense direct experience both as a Bill Minister and as a backbencher in the development, scrutiny and passage of legislation through Parliament, including justice, constitutional law and national security legislation. He therefore has huge experience of criminal, constitutional and public law both as practitioner and law maker.

Professor Richard Wiseman has been described by a Scientific American columnist as ‘…one of the most interesting and innovative experimental psychologists in the world today.’  His books have sold over 3 million copies and he regularly appears on the media. Richard also presents keynote talks to organisations across the world, including The Swiss Economic Forum, Google and Amazon.

He holds Britain’s only Professorship in the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, and has published over 100 academic articles.  Richard has also created psychology-based YouTube videos that have attracted over 500 million views, is one of the most followed psychologists on Twitter ,and the Independent On Sunday chose him as one of the top 100 people who make Britain a better place to live.

A Member of the Inner Magic Circle, Richard acts as a creative consultant on several stage and television projects, including work with Penn and Teller, and Derren Brown.

Stella began her career with NatWest Bank, as a graduate trainee in 1991. She quickly moved into the Coutts private banking and trust subsidiary in Jersey before moving to Geneva in 1996. She has a wide range of experience of trust and company management including fine art, bloodstock, commercial and residential property, private equity, family offices and private trust companies.

Stella is a law graduate of King’s College, London (LLB Hons), an associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB) and a Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Stella is a much sought after speaker at trust conferences and is a regular tutor for the STEP Foundation and diploma courses. She is also on the editorial committee of Trusts & Trustees publication (Italian Version).

Rupert Ticehurst is head of dispute resolution at Maurice Turnor Gardner. He joined Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP in January 2019 and heads the firm’s Dispute Resolution team. His practice covers trust, probate and commercial litigation as well as private client advisory work. 

Emma has achieved top ranking in the Directories as a ‘Star Individual’ and has a reputation as the best technical family lawyer of her generation.

Admired for her outstanding intellect, efficiency and constructive approach, clients appreciate Emma’s strategic vision and the passion she brings to secure the best outcome for them. Emma is praised as a “superb, no-nonsense and efficient lawyer who can cope with big-ticket litigation".

Emma advises on complex and often high profile matters for high net worth individuals, their families and partners.

Her cases typically involve an international dimension and she often works in coordination with other cross-border trusted advisers, particularly in offshore jurisdictions and America.

Before joining the firm, Marine practiced with the tax departments of C’M’S’ Bureau Francis Lefebvre (2000-2002) and Bredin Prat (2002-2009).

Marine has developed notable expertise in corporate and corporate group taxation (tax consolidation regime, thin capitalization rules, etc.). She frequently assists the firm’s corporate teams on complex domestic or cross-border acquisitions and group reorganizations.

She provides regular advice to French and international groups as well as groundbreaking startups on complex acquisitions or reorganizations, including when advance tax rulings or informal contacts with the French tax authorities are required. Marine is also a recognized practitioner of individual taxation (family office, pactes Dutreil, etc.) and top management and employee incentive schemes (management packages, compensation schemes), including in an international context. Her area of expertise also covers the taxation of nonprofit organizations.

Marine is a member of the IACF (Institut des Avocats Conseils Fiscaux) and a regular speaker at HEC Paris Grande Ecole’s master programs (general education in taxation) as well as French or international seminars focusing on private clients taxation.

Clare specialises in succession planning and related legal and tax matters for multi-generational families and their family offices.

She works alongside some of the world’s leading private businesses and her practice focuses on how to help individuals developing their succession planning strategy and designing bespoke asset holding and wealth management structures including PTCs, limited partnership structures and foundations. Clare has particular experience of advising and supporting families on implementing family and corporate governance frameworks to support successful wealth transition. She also supports clients in developing their philanthropic strategy to enable greater and more effective wealth distribution.

Clare is recognised for her work having won multiple awards from the leading private wealth award bodies.

Prior to joining the firm, Clare was a Partner at PwC and also worked at Barclays Wealth, providing her with a real breadth of experience and commercial insight across the private client sector.

Jo qualified as a solicitor of England and Wales in 2008, working as a private client solicitor in the UK before beginning her trust career at Summit Trust International SA in Geneva in 2011. Jo has a wide range of experience in trust and company management, providing bespoke private client trusteeship to ultra-high value, complex international trust structures, within which an array of real assets are managed, including fine art, vintage cars, shipping fleets, yachts, private equity, operating businesses and commercial and residential property. Jo is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). In 2018 and 2020, Jo won Trustee of the Year at the Citywealth Magic Circle Awards. Jo speaks English and French.

Ashling Cashmore heads up Charities Aid Foundation's Impact Accelerator: a team of over 20 experts in strategic impact advisory, grantmaking and social investment. Her career has spanned social impact consultancy, philanthropy advisory, and strategic communications advisory. Ashling has supported companies, investors, foundations, and non-profits across the world in their quest for social impact and has extensive experience advising HNW and UHNW clientele.

Phyllis Townsend is Partner in the Wealth Management practice in London, Chair of the EMEA Wealth Management Steering Committee and a member of the Firm's Global Wealth Management Steering Committee. Phyllis works with clients on a broad range of wealth management matters, including those with a particular focus on investment structuring. Phyllis is listed in Chambers HNW Guide, including as a "Foreign expert in Middle East-wide", Legal 500 and Legal Week's "Private Client Global Elite - Ones to Watch". Phyllis is a member of the Founding Committee of Thought Leaders 4 Private Client Next Gen Wealth. Phyllis joined in 2012 from Rothschild Wealth Management & Trust where she was legal counsel in London and Zurich.

Phyllis' main practice is advising trustees, family offices and high-net worth individuals on cross-border tax, asset protection and investment structures, including via trust and family office structures. Phyllis often advises on pre-UK arrival planning and provides ongoing advice to UK resident non-UK domiciled individuals and families with connections to the US, Europe and Middle East. Phyllis has experience in tax investigations. Phyllis also advises financial institutions on regulatory and compliance issues and in relation to their wealth management offering.

Andrea is head of the private client & tax department and a member of the contentious trust & estates team.

She specialises in advising individuals, trustees and trust companies in complex, high value disputes both domestically and internationally. Andrea is aware that family relationships are often at stake and approaches the resolution of disputes with that in mind. She is highly regarded for her ability to engage with clients and other professionals in a sympathetic and constructive manner. She is able to absorb the emotive issues whilst focussing on the end game when acting for family members or trustees.

She works closely with wealthy families on generational succession planning including wills, trusts, wealth protection structures and pre and post nuptial agreements.

Chris co-heads the Impax Sustainability Centre and is the Global Head of Policy & Advocacy at Impax Asset Management, a specialist investor focused on opportunities arising from the transition to a sustainable economy.

The Policy & Advocacy team is responsible for advising Impax’s investment teams on the impacts of public policy and leads the firm’s work to support the development of new policies to accelerate a net-zero, nature-positive transition.

Chris joined Impax in 2019.  Prior to joining Impax, Chris worked on climate policy for the UK Government for more than a decade, where he led the UK implementation of the European carbon trading system and the UK delegation to the international climate negotiations. Later, as Director of Climate Change at Ricardo Energy and Environment, Chris supported more than 15 countries in developing and implementing their national climate pledges under the Paris Agreement. 

Chris is an active member of the policy committees and advisory councils of industry associations including UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and the Investment Association.  He is co-chair of the Transition Plan Taskforce’s asset manager working group and a Climate Change Commission for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

Chris has a BA Hons in Classics from the University of Cambridge and an LLM in Environmental Law from University College London.

Christian is Managing Partner of Collas Crill LLP in Guernsey and heads up the dispute resolution practice, leading a team of talented litigators with strong expertise in contentious trust and probate matters.

If there is a high value dispute between trustees and beneficiaries; between bank and customer/investor; between commercial entities; between majority/minority shareholders; against directors; or within a contentious liquidation Christian and his team are likely to be acting for one of the parties.

He is among the leading litigators at the Guernsey Bar.  He is ranked in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame; a member of the Private Client Global Elite; the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS); STEP, and is also a CEDR accredited mediator.

Charlotte Fraser

Charlotte is a partner in Farrer & Co’s Contentious Trusts and Estates team. She acts for executors, settlors, beneficiaries and trustees on a wide range of trust and estate disputes, both onshore and offshore.

Charlotte has extensive experience of complex domestic and multijurisdictional trust disputes involving breach of trust, beneficiary rights of information and jurisdictional issues. Charlotte has particular experience of claims involving fraud and asset tracing and has represented both claimants and defendants in connection with freezing injunctions and disclosure orders. Charlotte frequently advises on succession issues including validity claims, capacity and construction issues as well as claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.

Charlotte is ranked Band 2 for Private Wealth Disputes in the Chambers High Net Worth directory and as a Next Generation Partner for Contentious Trusts and Probate in the Legal 500 directory. She is also recognised for her Civil Fraud expertise.

Colin enjoys a broad practice that includes advising on immigration, succession planning, asset preservation and post-death administration of estates.

He has a particular interest in matters involving a cross-border element and works directly with foreign advisors to ensure that his clients’ objectives are achieved in all concerned jurisdictions.

Colin is ranked by Chambers & Partners (HNW) for his expertise in Immigration: High Net Worth Individuals, with commentators noting “Colin doesn’t intimidate or patronise: he knows his stuff backwards and he’s excellent at assessing risks in a really clear way and helping inform the client’s perspective.” Others add “Colin Senez is really great at what he does. He has a broad knowledge of immigration law and has a really good working knowledge of the clients’ options.” 

Jessica is a private client partner specialising in risk and disputes in relation to trusts and estates.

Jessica has accrued extensive trust litigation experience both in England and offshore. Her cases have included both seeking and defending the removal of trustees, protectors and executors; rectification and variation of trusts; setting aside and defending trusts on the basis of sham allegations; challenging trustees’ decisions and advising trustees on making decisions in contentious circumstances; challenging trustees’ fees; claims for breach of fiduciary duty; and associated professional negligence proceedings against tax and legal advisors. 

Equally, Jessica frequently advises on probate and estate disputes, including invalidity claims, capacity and construction issues, as well as claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.

Jessica has also built up particular expertise in advising trustees and beneficiaries on issues of trust law in the context of divorce proceedings – both in relation to proceedings in the Family Division and in the corresponding offshore trust jurisdictions. 

Michael is a partner in the divorce and family team.

Michael advises on all aspects of family law (including prenuptial agreements) with particular emphasis on the resolution of financial issues for wealthy individuals, whether married or unmarried and often with international interests. Michael has acted in numerous divorce cases involving trusts and businesses. Michael also has extensive experience of children law matters, including international relocation.

Michael’s breadth of work involves close liaison with many other specialist practice areas at Withers including the contentious trusts and estates team and the wealth planning teams in London, US, Switzerland and Asia.

Clients include city professionals, entrepreneurs and business people, owners of landed estates, sports and music stars, politicians, and their spouses/partners.

Michael is a certified family law arbitrator, and a trained collaborative lawyer. He has been a member of Resolution’s Cohabitation Committee since its inception in 1995.

Michael has for several years been listed as a leading family lawyer in the legal directories (including Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, Spears, and Citywealth) in which he has variously been described in recent years as ‘a real class act’; ‘measured, sensible and knows his law’; ‘highly intelligent, very efficient and a pleasure to deal with - a really strong practitioner’; ‘is just excellent and often sought after by high net worth individuals’; and a ‘first-class lawyer’.

Stéphanie advises families on all their wealth management tax matters, notably cross border. 

Her expertise is particularly recognized in the following areas:

French-US strategies: she assists numerous US persons with their relocation to France or investments in France, as well as French individuals relocating or investing in the US;

Wealth planning via trusts for foreign families, notably US persons, having French connections;

Assistance to families and family businesses in their structuring, development, and estate planning in a domestic and international context.

Stéphanie won the Geoffrey Shindler award for “Outstanding Contribution to the Profession” granted by STEP in 2017 for her success in challenging the French Registry of Trusts before the French Constitutional Court in 2016.

Stéphanie is recognized by Who’s Who Legal in the category dedicated to Private Clients: “Stéphanie Auferil ranks highly among peers for her well-known practice advising families on cross-border wealth management and tax matters.”

Chambers & Partners describes her as follows: “Stéphanie Auféril is  an outstanding technical lawyer and is able to explain complex tax and civil law concepts to busy clients in a way that is thorough, but easy to understand,” says a source, who adds: “Stephanie has a lovely way with clients, making the client feel comfortable that she has the appropriate expertise without causing the client to feel intimidated.”. She is individually ranked in band 1 in their HNW guide.

Stéphanie is a member of STEP (Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners). She is an active member of the IACF Wealth Management Commission (Institut des Avocats Conseils Fiscaux) and IAETL (International Academy of Estate and Trust Law). and ACTEC (the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel)

Stéphanie is a founding partner of Arkwood SCP. She was previously Principal at Baker & McKenzie in Paris, in charge of Wealth Management practice.

Jennifer acts for a wide range of international and UK-based families, individuals and trustees, advising on estate planning, wealth structuring and trust issues. She is committed to working with families, and those that advise them and their often complex structures, to achieve successful succession between generations.

A significant part of Jennifer's practice is advising UK and offshore trustees on their duties and decision-making, and providing UK tax advice in connection with complex trust structures.  She helps trustees and families with the creation, management and reorganisation of structures with a focus on ensuring successful transfer of wealth between generations.  She is frequently involved in providing succession advice in a broad sense, including working with families in relation to good governance and philanthropic concerns.    

A large number of the families she looks after are multi-national and typically own properties, businesses and hold investment across a number of countries.  Jennifer assists families and individuals who are non-UK domiciled in relation to pre-arrival planning and pre-deemed domicile planning.  She also has experience of acting for individuals involved in the literary and entertainment worlds, and the particular issues that arise in connection with their estates, both in terms of lifetime planning and after their death.

Jennifer has extensive experience in acting for large landed estates.  She works with estate owning families and trustees, with a key focus on managing succession.  She works collaboratively with property and other colleagues to provide forward-looking commercial advice, and regularly assists with complex inheritance tax issues, trust restructuring, and helping resolve trustee-beneficiary issues for large estates.  She particularly enjoys working as a team with other professionals involved with landed estates, working together to find proactive solutions for families who want to see their inherited wealth prosper for future generations.

Her experience of trust matters and advice to trustees and families means she is frequently involved in aspects of UK and offshore trust litigation and non-contentious applications to court, and works closely with the firm's contentious trusts and estates team.  She has particular experience in acting as independent administrator or trustee following a probate or trust dispute.

Clients look to Jennifer as a trusted adviser and appreciate her sensitive and thoughtful approach to complex family matters, including difficult issues such as capacity, family breakdown and reputation concerns, as well as her technical expertise.

Mark Hubbard is a litigator with a reputation for contentious trust and estates cases, civil fraud, regulatory and disciplinary matters, company, insolvency and commercial litigation, as well as advisory work in those fields. His practice has a substantial offshore and international element. Mark has particular experience of litigation in the Bahamas, the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey and Switzerland.

He is praised by clients for his quick grasp of complex cases, reliability and the quality of his advocacy, advice and client skills, he "comes up with commercial, practical and creative solutions" (Legal 500, 2016) and is described as "a very assured senior junior who is quick to grasp issues"(Chambers UK Bar 2017, Civil Fraud) and "very impressive in court"(Chambers HNW 2016).

His most recent cases include Marr v Collie 2017 (Privy Council, Bahamas, Trusts); Dinglis Properties v Dinglis Management [2016] 4 WLR 72 (civil fraud, freezing orders); Re K Trust [2016] WTLR 1225 (Guernsey, protectors, trusts); S v S [2015] 1 WLR 4592 (family, Jersey trusts) and Re Fenox (UK) Ltd [2015] All ER(D) 38 (Jan) (insolvency, arbitration).

Mark is the author of Protectors of Trusts (OUP, 2013), the first edition of an international practitioners work and of articles including "When ‘fraud’ does not unravel all", Trusts & Trustees 2013; "More about Schmidt", TQR 2014 and "Control & Ownership: and what's yours is mine too", TQR 2016. He is regularly asked to speak on domestic and offshore legal topics at home and abroad.

Hannah’s practice is dedicated to advising private individuals faced with disputes relating to trusts, wills and estates, whether involving purely UK law and entities or with one or more international elements. She also holds a diploma from the Institute of Art & Law and is experienced in dealing with chattels disputes, again frequently involving multiple jurisdictions.

Florentino Carreño is an expert in asset structuring between countries and generations, the application of double-tax treaties and the international automatic exchange of information for tax purposes. He also focuses on structuring private equity, hedge funds and insurance.

He developed his career at the firm’s London office from 2006 to 2009. An academician of The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, he was its president from 2020 to 2022. He is also an international fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. This experience has enabled him to acquire in-depth knowledge of common law wealth structures.

He is a member of the Madrid Bar Association, of the International Bar Association, of Global Elite, of the International Union of Lawyers and member of its presidential committee.

He lectures in the Master in European Union Law at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), and is a member of the program's academic board. He also lectures in the masters in tax at UC3M and Universidad de Navarra in Madrid.

He has written several books and articles on his specialty for the general and specialized press in Spain and abroad.

He regularly speaks at courses and conferences.

John co-founded Spring Equity Partners after a 12-year career at Mirabaud Group, where he served as Executive Director.

Committed to ensuring that his clients’ portfolios are managed by people who think like principals, not agents. John is a seasoned investor, having been a member of the Mirabaud Group’s Investment committee for many years. He led the investment offering for the UK Market and headed the Geneva-based UK Desk. Prior to joining Mirabaud, he worked for an alternative investment firm in New York focusing on distressed and macro strategies.

A passionate philosopher, John obtained an MA in Classics from Cambridge and read Philosophy at the Sorbonne (Paris-I). He lives in Geneva with his wife and two children.