The Trust & Estates Litigation Forum 2025 agenda is meticulously crafted with input from our distinguished attendees, ensuring that each session addresses the most pressing and relevant issues in the field. From thought-provoking discussions to expert-led presentations, this year's agenda promises to deliver unparalleled insights and opportunities for collaboration. Stay tuned for the full details, including the lineup of speakers who will lead these impactful sessions. Be sure to check back soon to discover how this agenda will elevate your expertise and influence.

Previous Year's Agenda: Until the new agenda is released, take a look at last year's agenda to get a sense of the high-caliber content and engaging discussions that make this event a global must-attend for Trust & Estate Litigators.

Day One: Sunday 4th February 2024

12:00 - 13:00 Arrival & Lunch

13:00 - 13:10 Welcome Comments from the Chairs
Charles Lloyd, Macfarlanes, UK
Dakis Hagen KC, Serle Court, UK
Tina Wüstemann - Bär & Karrer, Switzerland

13:10 - 14:00 The Kid Is Not My Son
Is the intended parent of a child born of a New York surrogacy arrangement the child's parent and therefore within the class of beneficiaries of a trust for the settlor's children and their parents? The intended parent applies to court for a declaration that she is. Her application is opposed by the legitimate adult children of the settlor (who are certainly within the class).
Elspeth Talbot-Rice KC, XXIV Old Buildings, UK
Joshua Rubenstein, Katten, USA
Constance McDonnell KC, Serle Court, UK
Elizabeth Doherty, Macfarlanes, UK

14:00 - 14:40 Newsworthy
What makes something newsworthy, and how can we stop it becoming news? This panel will look at how this can be weaponised and the need for and ability to have hearings in trust cases out of the public glare.
Andrea Zavos, Booble Hatfield, UK
Claire Goldstein, Harneys, BVI
Robert Lindley, Conyers, Cayman, BVI

14:40 - 15:00 Coffee Break

15:00 - 15:40 ‘Heirship Rights” today - more or less a recipe for litigation?
The panel will consider how forced heirship and clawback rights in fact operate in
present day conditions and recent appellate level decisions on their interaction with
trusts/testamentary dispositions - leading to a very modest proposal intended to provoke
debate.
Andrew De La Rosa, ICT Chambers, Cayman Islands
Aurelie Conrad-Hari, Bär & Karrer, Switzerland
Marco Cerrato, Maisto e Associati, Italy

15:40 - 16:20 Trustees in the Firing Line
The panel will consider the growing burden of regulation, recent developments in
sanctions affecting trusts, conflicts of interest and the difficulties presented when the
court gives non-binding guidance.
Jonathan Speck, Mourant, Jersey
Sue Millar, Stephenson Harwood, UK

16:25 - 17:30 Boardroom Discussions: Letters of Wishes - we are we after Wong
Will following a settlor's wishes never get a trustee into trouble, and
other questions.
Geoff Kertesz, Stewarts, UK
Jo Verbiesen, Port Nicholas, New Zealand

16:25 - 17:30 Boardroom Discussions: Conflict of Interest, Fraud and Getting 'Ripped Off': The Art World in 2024
Art is a uniquely powerful tool for fraud, deception and money laundering - it can be difficult to value accurately, it is portable and easily hidden and documentation is often very weak. The market is essentially unregulated with purchases and sales often conducted by and through intermediaries or the use of shell companies.
Willem Joost de Gier, Cadell + Co
Sharon Cohen Levin, Sullivan & Cromwell

16:25 - 17:30 Boardroom Discussions: Trusts and Divorce: Relocation and Enforcement
Family matters in an international context provide a host of delicate issues for advisers. In this session, we will discuss a broad range of topics ranging from the need to review pre-existing planning in the event of relocation to the enforcement of foreign decisions, in particular freezing orders or final awards against fiduciaries and trust assets.
Mark Harper, Hughes Fowler Carruthers, UK
Philippe Pulfer, Walder Wyss, Switzerland
Marcus Dearle, Miles Preston

17:30 - 19:00 Free Time

19:00 - 20:00 Welcome Drinks

20:00 - 22:00 Welcome Dinner

Day Two: Monday 5th February 2024

09:00 - 09:10 Opening Comments from the Chairs
Charles Lloyd, Macfarlanes, UK
Dakis Hagen KC, Serle Court, UK
Tina Wüstemann - Bär & Karrer, Switzerland

09:10 - 10:10 'Learning Lessons from Hollywood' with Oscar Winner, Gareth Ellis-Unwin and Elspeth Talbot-Rice KC

10:10 - 11:00 Debate: Have Offshore Jurisdictions Departed Too Far From Orthodoxy
Let battle commence: Have the unrestricted variations, extensive reservation of powers, closed hearings, hasty Hastings-Bass reversals and "fire-walled in" jurisprudence gone too far in the offshore world, or are these developments merely sensible, expedient public policy-based protections from the aggressive over-reach of the onshore courts? You decide.
Rachael Reynolds, KC, Ogier, Cayman Islands
Fozeia Rana-Fahy, MJM, Bermuda
Gilead Cooper KC, Wilberforce Chambers, UK
Jessica Henson, Payne Hicks Beach, UK

11:00 - 11:15 Coffee Break

11:15 - 11:55 Mental Capacity
This session will focus on navigating issues around capacity and undue influence, from the initial meeting and taking of instructions to the making (and defending) claims based on lack of capacity and available remedies.
Stephen Richards, Withers, UK
Sarah Brehaut, Walkers, Guernsey
Andrea Dorjee-Good, Schellenberg Wittmer, Switzerland

11:55 - 12:35 Total War: Fighting Dirty
Litigation can be brutal. But just how brutal can it get? This session explores the most
aggressive tactics and dirtiest tricks that can be brought to bear in trust and estate
litigation.
Basil Zirinis, Sullivan & Cromwell, USA/UK
Graeme Kleiner, Charles Russell Speechlys, UK
Johannes Gasser, Gasser Partner, Liechtenstein

12:35 - 13:35 Boardroom Discussions: Solving the Unsolveable
Some family disputes end up in a litigation disaster when members of a family and their lawyers do not put any limits on the scope of the dispute. We will discuss what our role as litigators is (if any) to avoid the escalation of a family disputes and the tools available in different jurisdictions to help clients get back from the self-made disasters. Is there a "resolution first" principle that could be adopted for litigators to help clients avoid descending into chaos?
Jeremy Gordon, Farrer & Co, UK
Werner Jahnel, LALIVE, Switzerland

12:35 - 13:35 Boardroom Discussions: You've Made Your Beddoe, Now Lie In It!
Litigation Funding and trustee's duties and applications. How does litigation funding change the landscape for trustee duties? How does it changed the landscape for Beddoe and other trustee applications? Can you secure it given the trustee's duties of confidence to the beneficiaries? The panel will lead an interactive discussion around these and many other related questions affecting litigation funding and the trustee's duties.
Nicholas Holland, McDermott Will & Emery, UK
Edward Grundy, Hereford Litigation, UK

12:35 - 13:35 Boardroom Discussions: "Non binding guidance" from the Court in blessing applications
A helpful steer to trustees (and beneficiaries) or a breach of the non-intervention principle?
Andreas Kistler, Carey Olsen, Jersey

13:35 - 17:35 Lunch & Leisure Time

19:00 - 22:00 Gala Drinks Reception & Dinner Under the Stars

Day Three: Tuesday 6th February 2024

09:30 - 09:35 Opening Comments from the Chairs
Charles Lloyd, Macfarlanes, UK
Dakis Hagen KC, Serle Court, UK
Tina Wüstemann - Bär & Karrer, Switzerland

09:35 - 11:00 Brunch Open Forum
Shan Warnock-Smith KC, ICT Chambers/ 5 Stone Buildings, Cayman Islands
Anthony Poulton, Baker McKenzie