Peter Steen, Associate

From: Hampshire

University: Newcastle

Team: Disputes

Explain your work at Farrers.

I am an Associate specialising in Contentious Trusts, which is an important area of our Disputes Team.  I work pretty much exclusively with the Partner heading up the Contentious Trusts team. The Partner is the main contact for the client but Associates tend to have a lot of client contact as well. I have a decent amount of responsibility, but at the same time I’ve got that higher level of supervision there if ever I need it.

What particular parts of the job do you enjoy?

I enjoy Contentious Trusts as a specialism because it’s intellectually challenging and there are some very complex issues that come up.  I find working through those issues and coming up with a solution both fascinating and rewarding. As well as the intellectual challenge, you get to meet some very interesting people, both in terms of clients and colleagues.

What’s your career background?

Before I came here I was working at Mourant Ozannes, a leading offshore firm based in the Channel Islands.  It’s interesting seeing the way different firms operate.  In terms of its internal arrangements, Farrers is a slick operation. You can just get on with your job and focus on the day-to-day work, but you’ve always got support available if you need it.  The breadth and quality of the work here is also brilliant.

What have been your career highlights so far?

I recently attended a Court hearing in Guernsey, which was in relation to an application by a Swiss corporate trustee.  All court experience is good, but it was great to head off to Guernsey and see how it all works there – despite living in Jersey for a long time, I had never been to Guernsey before!  I’ve been involved in five or six big-ticket trust disputes since I’ve been here - they all involve an international element and some of them involve several billions of pounds.  It’s all good quality work.