104

Legal Focus

JULY 2013

Private Client

Andrew Mold Wilberforce Chambers

Email: amold@wilberforce.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)20 7306 0102 Web: www.wilberforce.co.uk

This month, Lawyer Monthly’s ‘Specialist Advocate' feature focuses on the private client. Personal wealth planning, including offshore structuring, wills, trusts and charities and the administration of estates are just a number of areas clients want to preserve their personal wealth. To find out more about the issues surrounding private client work, we speak to Andrew Mold from Wilberforce Chambers.

Please tell us a little about yourself and your professional background.

I am a barrister of 10 years’ call specializing in commercial and traditional chancery work at Wilberforce Chambers in Lincoln’s Inn. I act both as an advocate and provider of specialist legal advice to clients who face the prospect of litigation (or want to avoid going down that path!).

Please explain a little about your work and what type of case you typically deal with.

Most of my work involves dealing with trusts of some description or relationships of a fiduciary nature.

enough to act in the well-known Charman v Charman case which remains the leading decision dealing with the treatment of trust assets as a resource of a divorcing beneficiary. As well as dealing with the English law aspects of this area, I am also frequently instructed to advise about the potential enforcement of orders of the English Court in overseas jurisdictions in which the trustees or trust assets are based.

What is the most efficient way in which private clients can deal with litigation?

I am typically instructed when things have

not gone according to plan or there has been a falling out between the relevant parties. This may arise in the context of a private family trust (for example a beneficiary is dissatisfied with the way a trustee is administering the trust and seeks the trustee’s removal) or a business arrangement (such as a dispute within a pension scheme or an investment fund).

What are your key areas of practice for private clients?

I tend to work on a wide variety of cases involving both onshore and offshore trusts. One particular area in which I have gained a lot of recent experience is dealing with trusts in the context of ancillary relief proceedings. I was fortunate

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It is tempting to say that the best advice is to stay out of Court, however, proceedings cannot always be avoided. Some situations – for instance resolving an ambiguity in a trust deed – can often only be resolved by an application to Court. If litigation is necessary, I think it is important at the outset for clients and their advisers to think hard about the best long-term strategy. Too often, decisions are taken with only the short-term in mind and then regretted when the other side does not play ball and significant costs have been racked up.

What are the most challenging aspects of your role? How do you navigate the challenges that arise?

Often, what is more important than knowing the law (which may be uncontroversial) is having a complete mastery of the factual matters in a case. For someone who has not lived and

breathed the events in real time (unlike the client), it can sometimes be quite a challenge to achieve this. However, doing so is essential. A significant upside of going through this process is that almost every case gives me an opportunity to learn about different areas outside of the law.

Have there been any recent legal developments that have affected your practice area?

The majority of the legal developments that affect my practice arise out of new case law decided by the Courts. In the trusts context, the Courts have been required to apply and adapt rules and principles often of some antiquity to modern circumstances and business structures. A very recent development that will have a significant impact on my own work is the Supreme Court decision in Pitt/Futter v HMRC [2013] 26 dealing with the so-called rule in Hastings-Bass and the setting aside of voluntary dispositions on the ground of mistake.

It appears that the

circumstances in which the Hastings-Bass rule are likely to be invoked will now be limited. The eagerly awaited Supreme Court decision in Petrodel Resources Ltd v Prest was handed down last month and it is likely to have a major influence on future ancillary relief cases.

What do you enjoy most within your career?

The satisfaction of getting the best possible result for the client, after putting in so much hard work. I also enjoy the adrenalin rush from appearing in Court. LM