Nick Williams

Nick is a partner in Ogier's Jersey Dispute Resolution team specialising in contentious restructuring, contentious trusts matters and cross-border commercial litigation. He leads the Jersey Dispute Resolution team and co-chairs the firm's global Regulatory Group.

Background and experience

Nick is recognised by Chambers UK and Legal 500 for dispute resolution, with clients consistently highlighting the commercial and practical nature of his advice.

Nick has a broad experience of complex and often multi-jurisdictional commercial litigation.  Nick's practice and recent experience includes:

Contentious and semi-contentious trust work - Nick advises on a range of trust and fiduciary matters including in relation to trustee duties and powers, rights of beneficiaries, breaches of trust, validity of trust instruments and mistake/Hastings Bass applications.  His clients include many of the major trust companies in Jersey, and he frequently advises on complex and high value structures.  Nick specialises in applications to the Jersey Royal Court in connection with trust issues.  Recent experience includes the exercise of Trustee powers and duties in the context of family disputes and divorces.

Contentious regulatory and enforcement matters - Nick advises financial services clients on the scope of their regulatory duties, as well as on related questions of civil and criminal liability.  Nick advised a major client in relation to a significant regulatory investigation undertaken by the Jersey Financial Services Commission and associated enforcement remedies.

Contentious restructuring and insolvency - Nick has successfully acted for applicants in a range of contentious insolvency matters.  Nick acted for Grant Thornton as liquidators in the just and equitable winding-up of Huelin Renouf Shipping.  He also acted for EVIC, the minority shareholder applicant in the successful winding up of a closed-ended fund (the first fund in Jersey to be wound-up on the basis of loss of substratum).  Nick is currently acting for liquidators of an insolvent company, in breach of duty claims against former directors.  He has general experience in cross-border insolvency issues, and in advising both companies and liquidators on insolvency issues generally.

Corporate and fund litigation - Nick advises on a broad range of corporate issues including directors’ duties and shareholder rights. In particular, Nick has acted both for and against companies in minority shareholder actions (both statutory unfair prejudice and common law derivative actions).  Nick has also acted in connection with a number of non-contentious company applications, including the two largest ever Jersey Shareholder Schemes of Arrangement.

Nick joined Ogier in 2007, having previously practised in England with Clifford Chance.  He was admitted as a Jersey Advocate in 2010, and became a Partner in 2013.

Admitted in:
2010 - Jersey
2003 - England and Wales