David  O'Hanlon

David O'Hanlon  

Partner | Guernsey

Private Client and Trusts

  • David O’Hanlon – commercially minded, talented lawyer with sound judgement and good strategic insight.
    Legal 500 2024 (UK)
  • David O’Hanlon is responsive and helpful – a good strategic thinker.
    Legal 500
  • An individual who stands out is David O'Hanlon.
  • 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
  • A calm and astute lawyer.
  • David O’Hanlon brings clears-sightedness, good sense and commerciality to difficult cases and handles them with skill.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2023
  • We appreciate, beyond words, you 'being there'.
    Client feedback
  • David O’Hanlon is smart and always engaged, not just from a legal perspective but also strategically.
    Legal 500

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.

"I enjoy working as part of the client's team to achieve the outcome they need. This often requires a view of the bigger picture as well as the immediate litigation the client is facing. "

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).

*Business Assistant
Caroline West

Caroline West

 
My services
Contentious risk and regulatory
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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.

Corporate disputes
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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.

Trust disputes
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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.

Read more
18 Oct 2024

Collas Crill builds on strong rankings in 2025 Chambers UK Guide

Collas Crill's Guernsey and Jersey teams have upheld the firm's rankings across all practice areas in the 2025 Chambers UK Guide, with a notable promotion to Band 3 for Jersey's corporate and finance team. There were some firsts for individuals with Davi...

12 Oct 2022

BTI v Sequana

On 5 October 2022, the Supreme Court handed down their landmark judgment in the long-running case of BTI v Sequana[1]. It is "a momentous decision for company law" (in the words of Lady Arden who gave one of the leading judgments) that addresses fundamen...

8 Jun 2022

Where there’s smoke there’s a fire(

We discuss the difficulties of enforcing onshore judgments in offshore jurisdictions in an article published in the latest issue of the STEP Journal (full citation below). The article focuses on the offshore jurisdictions of the British Virgin Islands,...

4 Dec 2020

Untangling the Webb v Webb

In a recent decision the Privy Council has had the opportunity to consider the circumstances under which a trust may be declared invalid due to the reservation of powers by its settlor. In Webb v Webb the Court determined that a trust was invalid because...

9 Apr 2020

Government support for Guernsey businesses

This guidance is current up to 08 April 2020 The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly changed the business landscape, with increasing restrictive measures on day-to-day life to contain the spread of the virus already having a significant impact on...

20 Mar 2020

First aid guide for directors

We are facing an unprecedented period of adversity. The offshore financial services industry and the local communities that we serve, like the rest of the world, are not immune to the impact of the Coronavirus. From a business perspective, the recent pan...

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Event 5 Apr 2023

Directors' Duties Conference

Event 6 Nov 2023

Collas Crill in New York

Event 14 Nov 2022

Serle Court conference

Event 5 Nov 2019

Collas Crill Conference

Event 9 May 2018

Private Client Dining Club

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