Senior Practice Manager
Practice Manager
Assistant Practice Manager
Andrew Holden is a commercial chancery specialist. His highly-regarded practice encompasses traditional chancery work (trusts, probate, estates, and other specialist chancery work); commercial disputes (including business litigation, fraud, and asset tracing); and international arbitration.
Chambers UK Bar recommends Andrew as top-ranked (band 1) practitioner in his fields of expertise. Recent editions praise Andrew as being “one of the best of his generation”, with every aspect of his practice receiving positive client feedback. He is “a master of highly technical areas of law”, who provides “robust” advice; and “a clear draftsman who produces well-reasoned opinions.” He nevertheless “provides his counsel and advice pragmatically and commercially.” He is “so, so good to work with”; “very responsive and a great person to have on your side”; “a hit with clients”; “really user-friendly”; “very approachable, accessible and practical“… a “very commercial” barrister who “puts his legal knowledge into practice in a fantastic way.” He has “a really calm temperament and is a mixture of phenomenal intelligence and commerciality.”
Andrew’s written work receives high praise: “the quality of his paperwork is fantastic”; “his written work is incredible”; “he turns work around very quickly and has a great work product”; “in terms of drafting, he is at the top of the game.” He can nevertheless “think outside the box with creative arguments”; and is a “great strategic thinker” who is “incredibly tenacious and creative.” He is also lauded as a “fine advocate with strong legal and advocacy skills”; an “accomplished advocate”; and a “wonderful junior who is very good on his feet.”
Andrew is similarly recommended in the latest editions of Chambers Global, Chambers High Net Worth, Legal 500, Citywealth, and Lexology.
In the United Kingdom, Andrew enjoys a busy and broad-based commercial chancery practice. He is well known for his traditional chancery work, with Chambers and Partners praising him as “a sought-after junior for his broader traditional chancery expertise”. Andrew is also a leading commercial disputes practitioner, with a particularly busy and successful practice in complex fraud, asset-tracing, and jurisdiction and enforcement litigation.
Andrew also has an extensive international practice. He “has an amazing offshore practice. He is involved in a staggering amount of offshore litigation.” He is “particularly adept at handling large offshore disputes and often acts in high profile, multibillion-dollar disputes in key jurisdictions.” He has particular experience acting for the settlors, trustees, beneficiaries, and protectors of private trusts, as well as for the custodians, directors and professional advisers of companies, funds and other complex offshore structures. Client feedback is that he is an “outstanding trusts specialist.” He is said to have “encyclopedic trust knowledge in several jurisdictions” with one client saying that “there is nothing in the trusts world that he is not familiar with.” Andrew also has a high-profile international commercial litigation and arbitration practice, including cross-border fraud and asset-tracing and connected matters engaging principles of international jurisdiction and enforcement.
Andrew is the author of Trust Protectors, the first specialist practitioners’ text on the subject of protectors, and writes and publishes regularly in his fields of expertise. He is an Academician of The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law (TIAETL), a full member of The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), and the draughtsman of several pieces of offshore legislation, including the Trustee Amendment Act 2014 and the Trusts (Special Provisions) Amendment Act 2020 of Bermuda.
In addition to his practice at the Bar, Andrew sits on a fee-paid (part-time) basis as a Deputy Master of the Chancery Division.
Andrew has regularly acted, both as sole counsel and as part of a counsel team, in arbitral proceedings seated in both London and internationally. Some examples of his international arbitration practice are set out below.
Andrew has particular expertise in trust arbitration, having acted in the first major reported case relating to trust arbitration. Andrew also prepared the Chancery Bar Association’s response to the Law Commission’s Report leading to the enactment of the Arbitration Act 2025.
Andrew has a strong fraud and asset tracing practice in both England and Wales and internationally. He has been involved in many major multi-jurisdictional asset tracing exercises as part of a team of counsel, and also has extensive experience as sole counsel obtaining freezing injunctions, and ancillary asset tracing and disclosure orders. Andrew also has extensive experience in civil enforcement actions. Some examples of his civil fraud and asset tracing practice are set out below.
Andrew has a well-established commercial practice, often acting for parties in business disputes relating to e.g. claims for breach of contract; shareholder and other corporate disputes; banking and financial services litigation; and in connected applications involving jurisdiction and enforcement. Andrew’s specialist chancery expertise often leads to instructions in respect of claims for breach of fiduciary duty and related proprietary remedies to recover misapplied assets. Some examples of Andrew’s commercial litigation practice are set out below.
Andrew has very extensive experience in offshore proceedings, in both the trust and commercial contexts. He has acted in major litigation in all of the main international financial centres, including: The Bahamas, Bermuda, the BVI, the Cayman Islands; the DIFC; Gibraltar; Guernsey; Hong Kong; the Isle of Man; and Jersey.
Andrew has deep experience working for and with local counsel in, and is very familiar with the court systems and civil procedural rules of, all of these jurisdictions.
A few examples of Andrew’s extensive offshore practice are set out below.
Andrew has a very well-established traditional chancery practice. As well as practising internationally in various offshore trust jurisdictions (see ‘Offshore Litigation’), Andrew has a thriving and successful domestic trusts, probate, and estates practice.
Andrew often deals with both contentious trust and estate litigation (e.g. trustee and executor removal claims; breach of trust claims; probate claims; Inheritance Act claims) and more specialised chancery proceedings (e.g. blessing applications; VTA applications; forfeiture cases; mistake and rectification claims). A selection of Andrew’s reported trust and traditional chancery cases in England & Wales is set out below.
Chambers and Partners 2026
‘Provides robust advice and can think outside the box with creative arguments.’
‘Phenomenally intelligent and so, so good to work with. Clients really like him.’
‘A really calm temperament… a mixture of phenomenal intelligence and commerciality.’
‘The quality of his paperwork is fantastic.’
‘Someone you want in the trenches with you. He is a great sounding board, has excellent judgement and great tactical nous.’
‘Very good on his feet.’
‘His thought processes are clear, and his advice has been sensible, practical and constructive.’
‘He’s extremely clever but that is a given. He likes a fight, he’s very funny and he works extremely hard for his clients.’
‘Lovely to deal with, easy to contact, good with clients and highly articulate. In terms of drafting, he is at the top of the game.’
Legal 500 2026
‘He’s dream counsel to have advocating the case’
‘His technical skills are truly excellent and his work product is always fantastic. He is very good at taking in the big picture in terms of analysing all strategic issues.’
Chambers and Partners (previous editions)
‘An exceedingly clever man, who is very effective and very commercially sensible’
‘He’s so intelligent and just so good at explaining things to clients. His written work is incredible.’
‘Very knowledgeable and is easy to work with. He delivers.’
‘He’s a real fighter, who is always bubbling with enthusiasm. He really pursues the objective of the client and understands what points to take and what not to take.’
‘So thorough and on the ball. He provides great insights into the case and really brings a breath of fresh air in terms of enthusiasm.’
‘A fine advocate with strong legal and advocacy skills.’
‘He does a good and very sensible job for his clients.’
Legal 500 (previous editions)
‘He has encyclopaedic trust knowledge in several jurisdictions and provides his counsel and advice pragmatically and commercially.’
‘He is very responsive and a great person to have on your side.’
‘Absolutely brilliant. A wonderful mix of being super intelligent, commercial and a great strategist.’
‘He is great to have on your team and solicitors trust his judgement on matters. His written work is first-rate.’
