Contentious business in Guernsey has been one of the major growth areas over the past ten years, but especially since the financial crisis of 2007/2008 which has seen an unprecedented growth in litigation taking place in the Royal Court of Guernsey, especially in the field of trust litigation, insolvency and restructuring, disputes involving investment schemes and professional negligence claims.  It is clear that the Guernsey courts have risen to the challenge admirably, handling with ease the complex and sophisticated cases that come before it and giving Guernsey a reputation as a first class international centre for dispute resolution and this is reflected in the growing quality of cross-border litigation which is taking place in Guernsey rather than in any other jurisdiction.  We sit on committees overseeing the development of the Royal Court civil procedure in Guernsey and in the reformation of insolvency legislation on the island.  

Trusts and estates

The field of trusts and estates litigation in Guernsey has seen massive growth over the past few years as more trustees, beneficiaries and other stakeholders involved in large scale commercial and family trusts seek to take action to protect their assets.  Many of these cases are heard in private but we have been involved in a very large number of them in recent years including various recent decisions regarding the jurisdiction of the Guernsey court over beneficiaries of a Guernsey trust and regarding the decision-making processes of trustees.  We are currently acting for the beneficiary applicant in Guernsey's first ever Hastings-Bass application; unlike Jersey, Guernsey has not legislated to deal with the position where a mistake has been made by a party in relation to the settlement of trust assets and it will be interesting to see how the Guernsey courts deal with the question in the absence of specific legislation but with the benefit of non-binding guidance from the UK Supreme Court.  

Insolvency and restructuring

Insolvency and restructuring matters have also significantly increased  since the financial crisis of 2008 and we are at the forefront of most of the cases coming before the Guernsey courts.  In the early days of the crisis, we acted on trading insolvencies such as for the liquidators of Wallace Barnaby (the Guernsey marketing agency), the liquidators of Zavvi Online (CDs and DVDs) and the liquidators of Woolworths in respect of local issues. 

As the immediate crisis receded, the focus was on property owning structures where loan to value ratios had plummeted and lenders were seeking to enforce their security before the value of assets disappeared altogether.  Notable recent insolvency instructions include acting for the administrators of Montenegro Investments in respect of Guernsey's first ever insolvent scheme of arrangement which led to a full return to creditors (many of whom were Channel Islands based) and a positive outcome for members, acting for the European Care Group on Guernsey's first ever pre-packaged administration, where the assets of the Guernsey-registered company were sold immediately on the appointment of the administrators to the benefit of the 6,000 care home residents across the UK, and acting on the liquidation of Huelin-Renouf Shipping, a matter with very much a local flavour to it.  

The Ogier team was also involved in the first ever recognition of a foreign-appointed receiver by the Royal Court of Guernsey and are currently acting for the Carlyle Group in Guernsey's largest ever civil claim, a claim in excess of $1bn brought by the liquidators of Carlyle Capital Corporation, a Guernsey-incorporated company.  We also act regularly for liquidators in bringing claims against directors and third parties and advise banks and other financial institutions on enforcement of security rights and customary law procedures such as saisie.  

Professional negligence

The other key growth area for us has been in the field of professional negligence, mainly acting for Guernsey-based corporate or trust service providers in defending claims brought against them by disaffected shareholders or beneficiaries.  This type of claim has increased in recent years, primarily again as a result of the financial crisis as stakeholders seek to recover losses incurred as a result of the market crash.  However, we have been involved in a number of professional negligence claims against quantity surveyors, architects and other parties involved in large scale construction projects, often involving Guernsey premises and/or Guernsey construction professionals, such as the recent litigation involving the Royal Chambers and Royal Terrace in St Peter Port.  

Shareholder and director disputes 

Finally, we have seen a number of disputes involving shareholders and/or directors of Guernsey companies or other types of vehicles, primarily being used as investment funds.  We acted for Tetragon Financial Group, the Guernsey company which successfully struck out Guernsey's first-ever derivative action (where the long-established common law rule in Foss v Harbottle was imported into Guernsey law) and regularly act either for minority shareholder alleging unfair prejudice or for boards of directors (often Guernsey-based) defending such claims.  

Simon Davies, who set up the office, is Head of Dispute Resolution and Mathew Newman is a partner of Ogier Dispute Resolution, Guernsey.