Channel Islands law firm Carey Olsen is branching out by opening a
new office in Cayman, and is proposing to add both Cayman and BVI legal
services to its service offering. Up until now, the firm has
only offered Jersey and Guernsey legal advice.
Carey Olsen is not the first Channel Islands firm to set its
sights on Cayman, but what makes its move interesting is that the new office will
be staffed by three former Maples and Calder lawyers - partners Jason Allison
and Jarrod Farley, together with associate Nick Bullmore, who will join Carey
Olsen as a partner. Previously the two
firms enjoyed an informal ‘best friends’ arrangement - when Maples decided to
close its Jersey office it referred all of its Jersey clients to Carey Olsen,
and Carey Olsen clients had access to Cayman and BVI legal services through
Maples. Although Carey Olsen managing
partner Alex Ohlsson was quoted as saying that his firm continued to maintain
an excellent working relationship with Maples and Calder, it is hard to imagine
that Maples are exactly delighted about this development. Indeed, the official line from the Cayman
grand dame of the legal world was distinctly cool: their statement noted that the
“relationship will be the subject of
ongoing discussions with Carey Olsen.”
By which I assume they mean it will be brought to something of an abrupt
end.
Ohlsson said that the decision to open an office in Cayman was a
result of the Cayman Islands’ growing popularity, particularly among businesses
based in or investing from or into Asia.
The formal launch of the Cayman office is scheduled for September.
The move will not leave Maples too badly off for fund lawyers – it
recently announced that it had recruited 7 partners and 3 associates from rival
law firm Walkers’ Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands following the sale
by Walkers of its trust company to Intertrust.
Carey Olsen’s BVI legal capability will be led by Guernsey-based
partner Andrew Boyce. Prior to moving to Guernsey, Andrew practised in the BVI
and is dual qualified in Guernsey and BVI law.
It will be
interesting to watch how easy Carey Olsen find it to make their mark in the
Caribbean. It is notable that whilst
some Channel Islands firms have had success in the Cayman Islands and vice
versa, a number have failed completely and none have really seriously
challenged the market leaders in their newly adopted territories.
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