Expertise

Judith acts on a broad range of trust and probate disputes, often with an international aspect. Her recent work has included claims under the Inheritance Act, will validity questions, rectification claims, claims against trustees and complex international trust restructurings. She has experience of cases involving the UK, Channel Islands, Bermuda, USA, France, Portugal, Monaco and Nigeria among other jurisdictions.

Judith also advises on matters in the Court of Protection involving those who lack capacity, and she has also acted on a number of appeals to the Privy Council.

She has experience of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation.

Experience

• Acting for the principal beneficiary in contentious trust restructuring proceedings in the Channel Islands, including the landmark Jersey Court of Appeal decision of G, H and K v SG Kleinwort Hambros Trust (CI) Limited and others [2023] JCA088 concerning the scope of the non-intervention principle
• Acting in long-running Court of Protection proceedings concerning the validity of lasting powers of attorney and an application for a lifetime gift and statutory will
• Acting for the successful appellants in two landmark appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council: Wong v Grand View Private Trust Company [2022] UKPC 47 and Bermuda Bar Council v Walkers (Bermuda) Limited [2019] UKPC 25

Career

Judith studied music at Cambridge University. She trained at Farrer & Co and spent three years at BDB Pitmans before joining Stewarts in 2021.

Accreditations and Memberships

Judith is an associate member of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS). She is also a member of the Contentious Trusts Association (ConTrA).

Publications and speaking engagements

• Regular contributions to ThoughtLeaders4’s Private Client and Disputes magazines, including on acting for minors and unborn children, the non-intervention principle, trustee capacity and challenges to estate executors
• ‘Stress testing trust processes and structures: can anything be bombproof?’ (speaking on a panel at ThoughtLeaders4 Private Client Guernsey and Jersey, September and October 2023)
• Articles for the International Family Offices Journal on ‘Recent trends in litigation’ (September 2023) and ‘A practical perspective on proper purpose’ (June 2024)
• MBL webinars on ‘Examining Public Trustee v Cooper applications’ (January 2023) and ‘Contentious Probate – A Round Up of Recent Case Law & Developments’ (September 2023)
• ‘PR Efforts for Complicated Clients – Privacy in a Time of Scrutiny’ (speaking on a panel at ThoughtLeaders4 Private Client Jersey, October 2022)
• ‘In the public eye’ (STEP Journal, August 2022)
• Featured on the episode ‘Prince Philip’s Will Must Be Secret for 90 Years’ on the podcast Is That Even Legal? (February 2022) and quoted on the same subject in an article by CNN (November 2021)
• ‘Testamentary capacity: Goodfellow for our times’ (Trusts and Estates Law & Tax Journal, July/August 2021)

Recognition

• Judith is listed as a key lawyer in The Legal 500.
• Judith is described in The Legal 500 as “super on the ball” and as “a very bright and hard-working associate. Extremely responsive, a pleasure to deal with and takes on lots of responsibility”.