MJM Barristers & Attorneys

Agathe Holowatinc
March 2018 marks the 5th anniversary of the Bermuda Law Blog. Developed in 2013 as a way to communicate legal trends and topics relevant to Bermuda, including policy developments, cases, legislative changes and posts of general legal interest, it effectively scrapped the posting of ever-so-quickly dated "publications" documents delivered through the firm website as a link to a formal downloadable PDF.  We were stepping outside the box in the hopes that visitors to our blog would find it more engaging, informative and useful.  Although the road ahead was uncertain, the firm's directors gave the thumbs up for its development. They saw that blogging could offer a terrific opportunity to extend the value and scope of our legal experience to our clients and legal colleagues in areas of current interest through posts that are written in an accessible way. Andrew Martin put it really well when he said "Blog posts create a user friendly expression of ideas and information across the spectrum of work we do and give us an opportunity to demonstrate a high level of competence in our core areas of practice, as well as provide practical and informative guidance which we hope our clients and the wider legal community will find of interest.” Here's to dynamic and forward-thinking leaders, I thought to myself.

Agathe Holowatinc
MJM Limited is pleased to announce that its Dispute Resolution Team is Ranked BAND 1 in Bermuda in results released today by Chambers & Partners in the Chambers Global 2018 rankings. Chambers reported the following: What the team is known for Distinguished, independent Bermudian firm that is widely respected in the jurisdiction. Maintains a very strong reputation for domestic Bermudian cases and is regularly instructed by the government of Bermuda on a variety of constitutional and public law matters. Also possesses expertise in a broad range of other areas, including trust and employment disputes.

Fozeia Rana-Fahy
Meritus Trust Company Limited v Butterfield Trust (Bermuda) Limited [2017] Bda LR 82 In October 2017, Chief Justice Kawaley ruled that an outgoing trustee is neither entitled to retain any part of the trust assets as security for its equitable indemnity as former trustee nor demand a contractual indemnity. This case involved an outgoing institutional trustee who upon being removed (as opposed to having retired) as trustee of two trusts, refused to hand over sizeable trust assets or trust documents to the new trustee without first obtaining a contractual indemnity and retention of assets from the two trusts. This was against the backdrop of a potential breach of trust claim of an approximate value of $5 million. The trust deeds did not confer any express retention or contractual indemnity rights on the former trustee.

Agathe Holowatinc
For the third year running, MJM Director Fozeia Rana-Fahy has been listed as one of the Top 200 international Powerwomen by Citywealth. The list honours 200 of the most powerful women in government, private wealth, education, private client advisory and philanthropy across the international financial centres (IFCs). The IFC Powerwomen Top 200 list focuses on influencers as well as professionals and celebrates powerful women from diverse backgrounds. It recognises women of achievement who are trailblazers in their field, helping to promote business excellence in their home jurisdiction and consolidating the reputations of the financial services industry globally.

Agathe Holowatinc
Research for Chambers Global 2018 has finished and, in an advanced ranking announcement from this Monday, the global law firm rating agency disclosed that several MJM attorneys will be featured as "Leaders in their Field" and that MJM Limited will be ranked in the forthcoming edition of Chambers Global Guides. The "Leaders in their Field" list of names was released and we are proud to recognise the following for their achievement:

Agathe Holowatinc
Jeremy Leese and Brian Holdipp, members of MJM’s Corporate Department, will be attending London International Shipping Week in early September, as part of a Bermuda delegation which includes The Hon. Walter Roban, JP, MP, Minister of Transport, and Ross Webber, CEO of the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA). As part of the week’s programme, the BDA will be hosting a Bermuda Reception on the evening of Monday, 11th September 2017. If you are interested in attending, please contact Jeremy Leese (e-mail: jleese@mjm.bm) for an invite to the event. In addition, if you are in London, and wish to meet Jeremy and Brian outside of such event to discuss any legal matters with which the firm may assist you, they may have time on Monday (11th Sept) or Wednesday (13th Sept) to visit your offices. Please contact Jeremy via e-mail if you would like to schedule a meeting.