Appleby is delighted to welcome back Partner David Dorgan to the Jersey team to lead the Private Client and Trusts team.
David has established himself as one of the leading lawyers in Jersey uniquely combining strengths in private client, corporate and finance work. He is a Jersey Advocate and Notary Public with more than 24 years' experience and is a Partner in the Corporate department and of the Private Client and Trusts teams.
He was previously a partner and group head of its PC&T practice in Jersey for 7 years between 2015 and 2022. Prior to that, he was a partner of another top 10 offshore law firm. Between 2022 and 2025 David assisted in furtherance of a law firm connected to a FTSE250 global fiduciary business before being enticed back to Appleby.
James Gaudin, Managing Partner, said: "I am delighted to have David back at the PC&T helm and as part of the corporate team. His return represents not just the strength of our team but also the tremendous opportunity for growth in our private client practice and follows the Jersey office expansion in the Middle East. With his expertise and experience, passion and client-focussed approach, we are confident he will play a pivotal role in expanding our services and continuing to deliver exceptional value to our clients."
David said: "I am thrilled to be rejoining Appleby – it truly feels like coming home. The culture, the people and the shared commitment to excellence are what brought me back. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with clients and building new opportunities."
David has a significant specialism in private and commercial trusts and foundations, focusing on providing technical advice on their establishment and on-going administration which is tailored for the practical and commercial requirements of clients. He has extensive experience of drafting bespoke and complex trust instruments, foundation regulations and company documents for high and ultra-high net worth individuals and families, preparing bespoke will trusts and providing documentation for SPV, philanthropy, charitable and non-charitable purposes.
He also has considerable experience in corporate and finance matters, in particular transactions involving trustees refinancing or selling and/or purchasing trust fund property and/or high net worth individuals or families entering entrepreneurial ventures. He has also provided opinions to foreign courts, foreign revenue authorities and institutional lenders on complex issues relating to trust and corporate issues.
David has a particular specialisation in structuring for Middle Eastern clients and holds the Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ) from the Charted Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI) and Ecole Supérieure des Affairs (ESA). He has worked with Digital Jersey since 2021 and is one of the key architects of Jersey's first data trust (called "LifeCycle") to trial whether data could be collated, stored, analysed and shared using a Jersey law governed trust. He continues to work with Digital Jersey in the development and creation of subsequent data trusts to pioneer Jersey's approach to shape the future of data-given structuring in a highly regulated industry.