David O'Hanlon
Partner | Guernsey
Private Client and Trusts
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We appreciate, beyond words, you 'being there'.
Client feedback -
David O’Hanlon is responsive and helpful – a good strategic thinker.
Legal 500 -
David O’Hanlon brings clears-sightedness, good sense and commerciality to difficult cases and handles them with skill.
Legal 500 (UK) 2023 -
David O’Hanlon – commercially minded, talented lawyer with sound judgement and good strategic insight.
Legal 500 2024 (UK) -
David O’Hanlon is smart and always engaged, not just from a legal perspective but also strategically.
Legal 500 -
An individual who stands out is David O'Hanlon.
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A calm and astute lawyer.
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David O’Hanlon is calm and understated but firm in his advice. Willing to take on board client strategic views and to advise having regard to the ultimate aims.
Legal 500 2022
Overview
David is a Partner in the Private Client and Trusts team in Guernsey. He has a broad experience of commercial litigation and professional negligence matters, often with cross-border or jurisdictional issues.
Experience
David has significant experience in trust matters and corporate disputes.
David has acted for trustees, investment banks and beneficiaries in contentious or semi-contentious matters, such as defending trustees against claims for breach of trust, acting in relation to variations of trust and advising trustees and beneficiaries on their obligations and rights in respect of the trusts.
Recent public matters include: Walker et al –v- Egerton-Vernon et al in which David acted for one of the former trustees of a settlement established by the late entrepreneur Jack Walker in defending a claim in excess of £100 million (and settled on confidential terms).
David advises directors, shareholders and corporate service providers on contentious corporate matters such as shareholder or board disputes, claims against directors and advice on issues such as potential conflicts of interest.
Recent work includes acting for the Independent Directors in Carlyle Capital Corporation Limited (in liquidation) and ors –v- Conway Jr and ors in their successful defence of a claim for in excess of $1 billion brought by the liquidators of Carlyle Capital Corporation Limited (in liquidation).
In regulatory disputes there are often fine lines between the usual wrangling with the regulator and something more serious – by matching our mix of experienced contentious and non-contentious lawyers to the particular problem at hand, we achieve better and more efficient outcomes. As regulatory experts, we frequently act on contentious matters and can leverage our experience to help clients achieve the highest regulatory standards and avoid common pitfalls.
Our dispute resolution specialists collaborate seamlessly with our corporate advisory and banking teams across jurisdictions to advise multinational corporations, trust companies, banks, funds, insurers, governments and directors. We provide a global perspective, working closely with our clients to ensure that they are best placed to respond to customer issues, fraud risks, rapidly changing market conditions and regulatory demands.
We represent beneficiaries, high-net-worth individuals, trustees, protectors and other power holders in a range of contentious and semi-contentious situations. Our lawyers have been at the forefront of the most complex, high-value private wealth litigation offshore.
We often deal with novel points of law, creating new and innovative solutions to meet the needs of our clients.
Given the international nature of private wealth, with clients and their assets spread across the world, we work as a joined-up global team so that our clients can benefit from the knowledge and experience wherever they may need it.
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