Although my main area of practice is in resolving tax, trust and corporate disputes, I’d like to help environmentally conscious/sustainability focused companies to deliver measurable growth, to use my creativity, legal skills and developing technology to provide platforms for participation, raise awareness and support change.
I assist company shareholders and trust beneficiaries resolve governance disputes through the courts but I am interested in developing decentralised, open and autonomous organisations; blockchain-based investor-directed venture capital funds, governed by a code rather than by “leaders” with membership and voting rights represented by electronic tokens and using “smart” contracts with or as an alternative to a body corporate. This has been an area I have been researching as a potential investor in climate change, art, music and store of value assets such as crypto currencies, collectibles and precious metal.
For example, I would like to collaborate with likeminded friends to invest in holistic and regenerative agriculture and biodiversity and how it can produce healthy food, improve the environment/biodiversity, certified carbon negative, sequester carbon in healthy, drought and erosion resistant soil and earn carbon credits.
As a dual qualified lawyer (English and New Zealand), I have spent most of my career working on international business issues, dispute resolution, international finance and domestic and international tax issues applicable to people, businesses and funds.
As the partner of a firm of solicitors in London for 20 years (until 2013), at the request of several HNW clients, I set up and ran an “offshore” trust company. This led to much international experience in international corporate “structuring” namely advising investors on formation of holding and trading structures and the UK and New Zealand tax consequences.
I advised on using UK holding companies, UK limited partnerships and drafted and advised on various structures.
At the request of a firm of IFAs, the trust company set up and ran an overseas pension scheme and the company and I assisted fund managers on the formation of overseas pension schemes and assisted with and advised on overseas pension transactions.
- Nationality: British/New Zealand
- Ph: UK: +44-7854-405-180, NZ +64-21-156-6156
- Admitted the New Zealand bar: 18th February 1988
- Admitted as English Solicitor 5th April 1991
- Called to the English Bar: 27th November 2013
- Tenant at Field Court Chambers: 6th January 2014 – present (currently associate member)
