JUDGES

Aisha Alli

Head of Research, Spear's

Alexis Campbell KC

Barrister, 29 Bedford Row

Annamaria Koerling

Managing Partner, Delfin Private Office

Annamaria Koerling (TEP, MA (Cantab), FCSI, ASIP) co-founded Delfin Private Office seven years ago with a mission to provide strategic, actionable, institutional-quality advice to those stewarding substantial wealth. The multi-disciplinary team at Delfin specialises in advising families and the offices that serve them on their target operating models and works with them to ensure that this aligns with their investment approach and arrangements. She specialises in advising families on complex, cross-border matters and offers ongoing support as a board member or member of their investment committees. Her three decades of experience enables her to offer the ‘whole of the market perspective’.

Billy Stephenson

Managing Director, Stephenson Executive Search

‘Our business has thrived, and our focus is on appointments in the family office, wealth management and asset management sectors,’ Stephenson Executive Search founder Billy Stephenson told Spear’s. ‘We partner with clients and help them across the whole of their business, appointing CEOs, CFOs and heads of divisions. ‘Supporting the continued drive for diversity is critical,’ he continued. ‘It is always our policy to present the best possible candidate, and we work hard to make sure that our selection pool is representative of the total population.’ The firm, he said, is a signatory of the Black Talent Charter and has ‘committed to help promote black talent in the UK’. Stephenson, a former Credit Suisse private banker, founded his firm in 2012. In addition to traditional recruitment services, it also provides high-level board reviews, advice on governance and non-executive hires.

Camilla Wallace

Partner, Wedlake Bell

Colin Rogerson

Partner, Mills & Reeve

David Sherborne

Barrister, 5RB

David is a leading barrister in the field of media and communication, specialising in privacy, confidentiality and defamation, as well as matrimonial and sports law. He is particularly well-known in the industry and press for his extensive reputation management practice, as well as his ground-breaking pre-publication injunction work. Although the majority of the high net worth individuals, world politicians, entrepreneurs, blue-chip companies and other influential organisations David has acted for are confidential, his representation of the following clients is a matter of public record: Diana, the late Princess of Wales; Benazhir Bhutto, Cherie and Tony Blair, Donald and Melania Trump, Chelsea Clinton, Sheikh Abdulla Al-Khalifa, Sir Paul McCartney, Michael Douglas, Jude Law, Kate Winslett, Sienna Miller, Kate Moss, Kelly Hoppen, David Walliams, Frankie Boyle, Sir Elton John and David Furnish, the Spice Girls, Paul Weller, Amy Winehouse, Harry Styles, Cheryl Cole, the Beckhams, Paul Gascoigne, Ashley Cole, Don King and Mike Tyson.

Deborah Eaton KC

Barrister, 1KBW

Deborah Eaton of 1 King’s Bench Walk, the KC at the top of many lists when children law matters are at stake, covers everything from abduction to the length of time parents spend with their children or the country they live in. She is instructed by the pre-eminent solicitors in the country and trusted with the most complex and consequential of cases. Her areas of expertise include internal and external relocation – in K v K [2011] she helped to shape the way international relocation cases are dealt with – as well as parental alienation, substance abuse, mental health and education issues.

Deirdre Fottrell KC

Barrister, 4PBB

Edward Devereux KC

Barrister, Harcourt Chambers

‘He is intellectually creative, always alive to appeal points and an excellent advocate in international children law,’ says a peer – a senior family solicitor – of Edward Devereux. At one point, Devereux was the youngest family lawyer to be appointed KC in the last 20 years. The Harcourt Chambers barrister’s reputation is clear from his superb CV, not least his involvement in 75 reported cases, including some of the most significant family law cases of recent years. He has appeared before the UK Supreme Court (on 11 occasions), the Court of Justice of the EU, the European Court of Human Rights and the US Supreme Court. Prominent clients include Rocco Ritchie, Sophie Turner and Archie Battersea. Among many other publications, he was the editor of Dicey, Morris & Collins (a leading legal textbook). He contributed the chapters on domicile and residence, children, legitimacy, legitimation and adoption, and mental incapacity.

Edwin Smith

Editor-in-Chief, Spear's

Edwin Smith is the Editor-in-Chief of Spear's, the multi-award winning media brand for high-net-worth individuals. His writing has also appeared in the Telegraph, Guardian, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Spectator, Esquire, Wired, Private Eye and other national titles. He is a regular commentator on the world of private wealth in the national press and provides analysis to private banks and law firms.

Elaine Dobson

Head of residential property, Taylor Wessing

Hugh Wigzell

Partner, Farrer & Co

Hugh Wigzell, a partner at Farrer & Co who qualified as a solicitor in 2012, is a residential property specialist focused on high-value conveyancing, also acting for banks and borrowers in secured lending transactions. According to the firm, Wigzell has extensive experience in acting on the sales and acquisitions of new-build properties – including some of London’s most iconic developments – and often represents buyers based outside of the UK. Recent examples of his secured lending work include representing a private bank in the refinancing of a property valued at £45 million owned by an off-shore structure, securing a loan of £22.5 million.

Jo Livingston

Independent

Mark Borkowski

Founder, Borkowski

For over four decades, Mark Borkowski has stood as one of the UK’s most sought-after advisors on crisis and reputation. His expertise has consistently proven invaluable, and he navigates high-profile individuals and brands through complex media storms, safeguarding their reputations during times of crisis. As the founder of Borkowski PR, Mark has cultivated more than your typical PR agency; it has evolved into a sanctuary for individuals and brands grappling with the relentless scrutiny of the twenty first century news cycle. Iconic figures like Jimmy Page and Terry Gilliam have turned to Mark, trusting him to protect their legacies with the same fervent dedication he extends to emerging talents. His reach extends beyond celebrity circles, with Mark regularly advising Britain’s top legal minds, seamlessly integrating PR strategies into high-stakes legal battles.

Mark Somers

Partner, Somers Partnership

Matthew Woods

Partner, Withers

Morag Ofili

Barrister, Edwin Coe

Tax barrister Morag Ofili leads the private wealth tax disputes offering at Edwin Coe. With a focus on advising high-profile individuals and international families, she has provided her expertise across a gamut of tax-related issues including commercial fraud, conduct/fairness proceedings against HMRC, insolvency-based disputes, professional negligence, failed tax planning and cross-border tax investigations. Prior to joining Edwin Coe, Ofili cut her teeth at Big Four firm EY then later served as managing associate at Mishcon de Reya and Harbottle & Lewis. She also spent time at the criminal bar where she specialised in corporate and financial crime.

Nichola Gray KC

Barrister, 1 Hare Court

Nick Dogilewski

Partner, Exeter Partners

Nick Dogilewski, managing partner of Exeter Partners, has been providing consultancy, human capital services and exclusive executive search with a global reach for nearly 20 years. His client base mainly consists of investment banks, wealth management boutiques and family offices. The successful entrepreneur took over his father’s recruitment business, revamped it, steered it through a financial crisis and has now run it for many years. Dogilewski’s expertise in finding and training talent has attracted many high-calibre clients, including leading Tier 1 banks, boutique investment houses and family offices. Exeter Partners takes pride in its practice of ‘trading on discretion’, has a successful track record and aims to give clients true confidence in their choices.

Nigel Tait

Managing Partner, Carter-Ruck

Paul Ayres

Global chair of private client services, BDO

Roarie Scarisbrick

Partner, Property Vision

Rupert Phelps

Adviser

Rupert Phelps has had a storied career. Having risen to the rank of Captain in the Life Guards, he began to make his way in the City with Merrill Lynch, which he has described to Spear's as 'an aggressive American bank with an international presence, a meritocratic culture and excellent training'. Phelps is now an independent and valued adviser to a number of single family offices. With an encyclopedic knowledge of the people involved in the high net worth financial industry he consults on stewardship, strategy, philanthropy, governance and succession planning. He also chairs the Gull's Egg Luncheon, which raises significant sums for charity each year.

Salamander Davoudi

Co-founder, Tancredi

Former Financial Times journalist Salamander Davoudi co-founded the Tancredi Group in 2015 to offer a bespoke communications service with a ‘results-driven’ approach, acting for corporates, private equity firms, luxury brands and private individuals. ‘Clients consider me to be their Praetorian Guard,’ Davoudi says. Her decade at one of Britain’s most respected newspapers – reporting on European businesses as well as from the paper’s Washington DC bureau – often informs her work, giving her a richer perspective than those who have never worked for ‘the other side’. When it comes to crisis communications, Davoudi adds that the firm’s philosophy is to grasp the issues as quickly as possible and develop a strategy to ensure the accurate representation of facts in the media and by third parties.

Sara Mansoori KC

Barrister, Matrix Law

Simon Chadowitz

Partner, Fladgate

Stuart Ritchie

Chair of the private client commitee, ICAEW