‘He has the client management skills that have allowed him to become that trusted adviser that many clients search a lifetime for.’ Such an endorsement couldn’t be more correct as Robert has seen his private practice established in three main geographic areas of clients: the Middle East; US/UK and UK domestic (which also includes UK resident non-doms). In the UK Robert is particularly known for acting for landed estate owners and for his sensitive handling of complicated family situations. Robert travels extensively to Bahrain, Dubai, Bermuda, New York and the Channel Islands to advise the offshore Trustees of his clients on their structuring and to speak at international conferences. The Middle East remains busy and he continues to advise families on the creation and reorganisation of trusts and UK property holding structures, following the changes to the taxation of UK resident non-domiciled persons and UK property in 6 April 2017. He works extensively with one of the Emirati banks and has clients from Bahrain, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Qatar, Umm Al Quain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Lebanon, including members of five ruling families. 

Robert continues to be ranked as one of the Top Ten Tax & Trust Lawyers in The Spear’s 500 and is recognised as a leader in his field by the UK’s law directories and many other elite publications and global indices.

Robert qualified in 1998, joined Payne Hicks Beach as a partner in 2012, having trained at Withers and been a partner at Trowers & Hamlins since 2007. He became Chairman of Payne Hicks Beach on 1 June 2019.

Photography by Frederic Aranda.