People

Charles qualified with Macfarlanes in 1992 and became a partner in 2001. Charles specialises in international commercial litigation including fraud and asset tracing, large scale international disputes, arbitrations, trusts litigation and contractual disputes.

Charles has particular expertise in contentious trusts and probate work. He is the head of the Trust and probate litigation group. Recent highlights include:

• obtaining worldwide freezing orders on behalf of a Russian family for over $500m in a trust related dispute involving litigation in a number of European and offshore jurisdictions;
• obtaining worldwide freezing orders for $180m on behalf of Wall Street investors arising out of a fraud concerning an Eastern European privatisation programme involving coordination of a number of pieces of litigation in numerous jurisdictions;
• trust litigation in Liechtenstein arising out of a substantial dispute between the family owners of valuable international corporate entities whose shares are held in a Liechtenstein trust;
• advising trustees in a probate dispute concerning a £100m estate in which allegations of undue influence, testamentary capacity, and proprietary estoppel were raised; and
• advising a Saudi Arabian family in relation to a substantial probate fraud, jurisdictional dispute involving issues of succession under Sharia law and conflicts of laws.