Clare Stanley KC

Professional liability

Clare specialises in professional liability claims against solicitors, accountants, brokers, directors and trustees.

• Accountants: negligent tax advice, negligent valuations.
• Directors: negligence, breach of fiduciary duty cases, fraud claims, tracing claims.
• Investment professionals: negligence, breach of fiduciary duty cases, fraud claims, tracing claims.
• Property professionals: negligent valuations.
• Solicitors: negligence claims, and also fraud and trust claims against solicitors.
• Trustees and fiduciaries: acts for beneficiaries, third parties, trustees in claims for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty cases, fraud, constructive trusteeship and asset tracing.

What the Directories say:

‘Fantastic attention to detail, real persistence in getting to the heart of a matter, tenacious and meticulous advocate. Extremely user friendly and popular with clients. Extremely responsive and genuinely cares about the outcome of a matter.’ (The Legal 500, 2023, Professional Negligence)

‘Clare is a pleasure to deal with and is very popular with clients. She is brilliant on her feet and has a calm, no-nonsense approach.’ (Chambers & Partners UK Bar, 2023, Professional Negligence)

“She is a go-to barrister for any professional negligence case with chancery issues.’; ‘Very approachable and personable, she gives good strategic advice that looks at all the commercial aspects and not just the law.’; ‘Great at assessing the strengths and weaknesses of difficult and complex cases. Very impressive grasp of the detail and the ability to distil it down.’ (Chambers & Partners UK Bar, 2022, Professional Negligence)

‘Clare is a total star. She is a fierce cross-examiner, super-smart, hard working and gets to the key issues instantly. She can quickly break down the most complicated of cases into comprehensible parts.’ (The Legal 500, 2022, Professional Negligence)

‘Her grasp of the law is phenomenal, and she has immense knowledge which is so wide-ranging. Fantastic in court, very persuasive, and knows how to get the judge on side.’ (Chambers & Partners UK Bar, 2021, Professional Negligence)

‘Clare is superb; she reads everything, understands all the nuances and gives clear pragmatic advice on the law (of which she has an exceptional grasp) and commercial considerations. Extremely client friendly and to top it off, fantastic advocacy skills.’ (The Legal 500, 2021, Professional Negligence)

‘Superb, a delight to work with. She is very clever and is great with clients.” “She’s very precise and incisive in the way she goes about things.’ (Chambers & Partners, UK Bar, 2020, Professional Negligence)

Recent cases (where parties are confidential, names have been anonymised):

• X Ltd v A firm of accountants – acting for claimant company in a negligence claim against its auditors for negligently failing to notify the directors of a massive fraud being perpetrated by third parties.  Claim raised issues of illegality, attribution, and ‘wilful default’.
• The Trustees of the A fund v A (a firm): acting for the trustees of a high value Guernsey trust suing well known private client firm of solicitors for negligent drafting of a trust instrument.
• Mrs X v B (a firm): acting for West End firm of solicitors in relation to allegedly negligent tax planning and restructuring work done in connection with a number of offshore structures.
• C & D v E (a firm): acting for well-known private client firm defending a claim that they gave negligent tax planning advice in relation to setting up of a disabled person’s trust.
• advising solicitors in a threatened claim by non-clients arising out of the solicitors acting for another party in litigation.
• advising solicitors in a claim that they had received money from non-clients on trust for the non-client, and paid it out in breach of trust.

Download Professional liability CV

Trusts, probate and estates: contentious

Particular areas of expertise:

• Contentious trust litigation between beneficiaries and trustees, and claims by third parties.
• Disputes involving wills, estates and family provision.
• International cross-border trust litigation.
• Trust arbitration
• Court of Protection

Recommended in the Directories as a Leading Silk for:

• Chancery Traditional (Band 1)
• Trusts (Band 1)
• Private Client: Trusts and Probate (Tier 1)
• Offshore (The Legal 500, Tier 1)

What the Directories say:

‘Clare is a titan when it comes to complex litigation. She is very bright and commands the respect of judges.’ And ‘Clare is the go-to silk for trusts litigation. A clear expert and a superb advocate, who is loved by clients.’ (Chambers & Partners UK Bar, 2023, Trusts – ranked Band 1)

‘Her ability to cut to the chase on offshore trust matters is her particular skill.’ And ‘She is a very forceful advocate and a firm opponent.’ And ‘She is incredibly confident and robust in her approach. She fills those around her with confidence.’ (Chambers & Partners UK Bar, 2023, Offshore)

‘Clare is a formidable advocate. Her preparation is as thorough as it is possible to be, and her oral presentation is both forceful and compelling.’ (The Legal 500, 2023, Private Client: Trusts and Probate – ranked Tier 1)

‘Clare is a calm presence in contentious litigation – her clarity of thought, clear direction, impressive responsiveness, generous accessibility, and enormously fun personality make her an absolute pleasure to deal with. Her advocacy is clear, forceful, and convincing.’ (The Legal 500, 2023, Offshore – ranked Tier 1)

‘Clare is a pleasure to deal with and is very popular with clients. She is brilliant on her feet and has a calm approach. She knows trusts law back to front but also has a very strong strategic vision’ (Chambers & Partners UK Bar, 2023, Chancery: Traditional – ranked Band 1)

‘Great on her feet and quickly gets a sense of where the judge is heading. Clare is excellent with clients and always has a fresh strategic perspective to offer. She is completely across the finer points of trusts law and never loses sight of the clients’ broader aims. She is a pleasure to work with and delivers excellent results.’ (Chambers & Partners UK Bar, 2022, Chancery: Traditional)

‘She is outstandingly good, has terrific insights and is also very user-friendly.’ And ‘She’s really excellent in both her written submission and oral submissions’ (Chambers & Partners UK Bar, 2022, Offshore)

‘A skilled advocate who builds great relationships with clients. Clare combines a down to earth approach with an encyclopaedic and authoritative knowledge of trusts law. She is thoroughly across the detail yet maintains a clear strategic focus and is completely committed to pursuing the best result for the client.’ (The Legal 500, 2022, Private Client: Trusts & Probate)

‘A highly skilled and utterly fearless advocate, and a first choice for representation in any contentious trusts or estate situation.’ (The Legal 500, 2022, Offshore)

Recent cases (where parties are confidential, names have been anonymized):

• Halabi v Equity Trust [2022] UKPC 36.  Acted for the successful Jersey appellant in what is now the leading case on distribution of trust assets in an insolvent trust. Trustee’s lien, priorities between former and present trustee in relation to claims for exoneration and reimbursement.
• In the estate of Reginald Bond (current). Acting for two of the beneficiaries of a valuable estate defending a claim that their father lacked capacity to make his will and/or that he did not know and approve its contents.
• Re the Estate of S (2022). Advising executor of a high value estate in relation to the proving of a copy codicil which incorporated the terms of an (invalid) will by reference.  Presumption of revocation where the original will cannot be found.
• Equity Trust v Velarde [2021] EWHC 1528 (Ch). Acting for trustees of an Isle of Man trust in construction application for a determination as to whether a provision in the will of the life tenant was the exercise of the power of appointment under the trust in favour of all three of her children.
• Re X Trusts (2021) advising trustees as to the role of a protector in the context of a trustee’s application for blessing.
• PTNZ v AS [2020] EWHC 3114 (Ch). Dispute about very valuable English law trusts with Jersey trustees.  Dispute about the construction of the trust instrument and whether a new protector had been validly appointed.  Also considers the role of the protector in that case (who had wide veto and consent powers)
• Ali v Taj [2020] EWHC 213 (Fam): power of the Probate Registrar to order executors to file an inventory and account of the administration of an estate under the Administration of Justice Act 1925 s.25.
• Re LG and others (2020): acting for trustees of two English trusts which together held a majority shareholding in a privately owned trading company, seeking court blessing for a sale of all of the trusts’ shares to a third party.
• Re E Trust (2020): acting for complaining beneficiaries of an English trust which holds property portfolio through a corporate structure; momentous decision of trustees to appoint some of trust assets to the other beneficiaries, and thereafter to exclude them from benefiting.
• Y v C (2020): acting for beneficiaries in a 1975 Act claim by the Deceased’s former partner claiming share of a high value estate which comprised illiquid non-majority shareholding in a family company. Executors did not remain neutral and were ordered to pay the claimant’s costs.

Download Trusts, probate and estates: contentious CV