Trust Arbitration

Barry Leon, a Canadian, is an independent arbitrator and mediator. Barry is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and an International Mediation Institute (IMI) Certified Mediator. He is experienced in arbitrating and mediating corporate and commercial, contract, shareholder and business breakup, intellectual property and technology, natural resources, and construction disputes. Barry was the Presiding Judge (Commercial Division), Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, in the Territory of the Virgin Islands, known as the BVI Commercial Court, from 2015 to 2018. In that capacity he presided over a range of international commercial disputes involving parties from around the world, including shareholder and corporate disputes, insolvency matters, contractual disputes, fraud and asset recovery proceedings, judgment enforcement and arbitration assistance and arbitral award enforcement.

Gilead’s practice has a strong international element. He has appeared in the courts of Hong Kong, the BVI, Bermuda, Cayman and Nevis, and has been involved in litigation in Jersey, Guernsey and Gibraltar. In 2017 he provided expert advice in relation to the Panama Papers in Imran Khan’s action against Nawaz Sharif in the Pakistan Supreme Court which led to Sharif being removed as prime minister. Gilead specialises in complex, high-value disputes, often involving allegations of fraud, breaches of trust and fiduciary duties, and professional negligence. He also has “a notable specialism in matters involving art and antiquities” (Chambers & Partners). He has been involved in a number of restitution claims before the Spoliation Panel, and often advises and represents major national museums and galleries. He acted for the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre in a dispute over some human remains that formed part of the collection of the Natural History Museum. Gilead recently represented the trustees in In the Estate of the Eighth Earl of Bathurst, in which the Dowager Countess, as life tenant of a trust of family heirlooms, unsuccessfully claimed the right to enjoy the chattels in specie. He also acted for the Earl of Cardigan in his dispute with the trustees of the Savernake Estate: in one action, which went to the Court of Appeal, the trustees sought the court’s sanction for a sale of the trust’s prize asset, Tottenham House; in a separate action, the Earl of Cardigan succeeded in removing one of the trustees, and obtained repayment of unauthorised remuneration as well as compensation for breach of trust.

David Brownbill QC specialises in international trust, company and financial services disputes and advice. His experience covers international trust, corporate and commercial structuring; investment funds, commercial trusts and pensions; political risks, international sanctions, investment disputes and bilateral investment treaties. David’s litigation work covers all matters within these fields, in both the English and the Commonwealth courts. David has been called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, has appeared in the courts of the British Virgin Islands, Cayman, Gibraltar, and the Isle of Man and regularly advises on cases in Anguilla, Antigua, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Jersey, Guernsey, Hong Kong, the Middle East and Singapore. Clients value his ability to manage cases whose size, complexity and profile make them extremely difficult to handle. David has, accordingly, acted in numerous international and offshore trust, company and commercial disputes, including substantial fraud and asset recovery claims, both in England and overseas. David has also acted in various disputes concerning investment funds including a number of Madoff related matters. David advises on the transactional as well as the litigation aspects of investments funds and commercial trusts generally and is regularly instructed to advise on complex trust and corporate documentation. David is well known for his ability to devise innovative solutions to problems, particularly in cases where tax and other transactions have gone awry. David has for many years been concerned in the planning of international estates and family enterprise succession, including devising complex family governance and control structures.

Ben Giaretta is Partner and Co-Head of Internation Arbitration at Fox Williams LLP. His experience spans a number of industry sectors, including oil & gas, mining, petrochemicals, telecommunications, shipping, insurance, construction, engineering and infrastructure. He has represented clients on disputes throughout the world, including Europe, Africa and the Americas, and particularly in Asia: he lived and worked in Singapore for seven years. He appears as counsel in international arbitration and often sits as arbitrator: he has been appointed as sole arbitrator, party nominated arbitrator, presiding arbitrator and emergency arbitrator, on many occasions. Ben is on the panels of arbitrators of several arbitration institutions, including the SIAC, the HKIAC, the AIAC and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and he is a Chartered Arbitrator, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators.

Dancia Penn, OBE, QC is an arbitrator and mediator, and a practising lawyer based in the Virgin Islands and a former Attorney General of BVI. She has the unique distinction of serving at the highest levels in all three branches of Government – Executive, Legislative and Judicial – having also served as BVI Deputy Governor, Deputy Premier, and Minister of Health, and a Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal. Her extensive legal experience, in the Caribbean and beyond, encompasses contentious and non-contentious corporate, commercial and regulatory matters including in financial services, insolvency and shareholder disputes, and a wide range of other areas of private law including trusts and estates, as well as public law matters. Dancia is an arbitrator and mediator with 33 Bedford Row Chambers in London and Arbitration Place in Canada. She is also Co-Founder of Caribbean Arbitrators based in BVI and was recently appointed Vice-Chair for The English-Speaking Caribbean of The Carbon Neutral Online Dispute Resolution Platform. She is a member of the International Trust Arbitration Organisation’s Research Council. Dancia is an accredited member of the Arbitrator Roster of the BVI Labour Arbitration Tribunal and is regularly chosen as a party representative on that and other tribunals. She typifies diversity in arbitration in terms of gender, race and geography, and is included in The List of Arbitrators of African Descent with a U.S. Nexus. Dancia is highly regarded for her broad and extensive experience and expertise, her competence and sound judgment, and her balance, equanimity, cultural sensitivities, integrity and fairness.

Steven is a partner at Withers in the trust, estate and inheritance disputes team. He specialises in the resolution of disputes relating to the formation or administration of trusts and estates in a UK and international context. Recent cases have included disputes relating to trusts and estates in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, Singapore, Cayman Islands and Bermuda. He also advises on charity law matters, including dispute resolution where UK charities are involved.