Practice Areas

Administration of Estates, Wills & Trusts

The Administration of Estates, Wills & Trust team assists persons with organizing their affairs, often called “estate planning”, so as to make things easier for their family members and/or loved ones when the inevitable occurs. We seek to guide clients through the process and urge persons to make a Will which reflects their wishes concerning their property when they die. Our team deals with the preparation of Wills and Trust Instruments and will show you how to set up systems and streamline procedures to ensure even more efficient handling of probate matters.

Whether in relation to situations in which someone has died leaving a Will (testacy) or situations in which the person has died without leaving a Will (intestacy), the team explains what needs to be done. The team guides clients through the stages of Applications for Grants of Probate and Grants of Letters of Administration and explains the legal requirements at each point of the procedure. Members have the expertise to deal with the Administration of estates efficiently and will advise on ways to minimise the Estate’s liability to taxes as best as possible.

Alexander Cools Lartigue, Camille K. Busby-Earle, Licea-Ann Smith, Sasha Kay Gilzean

Administrative law /Constitutional Litigation

The firm has vast experience in the handling of constitutional and administrative claims involving statutory and quasi-statutory bodies. These claims include matters of judicial review and claims of breaches of constitutional rights.

The team also appears on behalf of clients before regulatory and statutory bodies carrying out adjudicatory functions.

Patrick Foster, Catherine Minto, Ayana L. Thomas

Admiralty & Maritime

The Firm’s Admiralty and Maritime practice group acts for a variety of clients throughout the industry including vessel owners, shippers, port and terminal operators, insurers, and providers of transport services.

Our team offers advice and representation in mediation, arbitration and litigation in maritime contract negotiations and disputes, collisions, arrest and detention of vessels, cargo damage claims, personal injury matters, environmental and regulatory compliance and other matters.

The Firm is a Member of the Shipping Association of Jamaica and an Associate Member of the Port Management Authority of the Caribbean. The Practice Group contributes legal articles to the quarterly journal ‘Portside Caribbean’ and has presented at industry conferences.

Lowel Morgan, Arlene A. Williams, Gabrielle Hosin

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Attorneys in the Alternative Dispute Resolution practice group act as mediators, arbitrators or negotiators in diverse matters as well as provide advice on the legal applicability of the law in this area.

Members of the practice group include chartered arbitrators and chartered mediators. Their single-minded focus is achieving the resolution of matters in fast and creative ways that meets the client’s business objectives or personal needs.

Lowel Morgan, M. Maurice Manning, Sherry Ann McGregor

Civil and Commercial Litigation

This practice group provides the advice and strong advocacy that clients demand in the heat of a dispute. Members have appeared as advocates in hard fought battles before diverse panels and hearings, at Resident Magistrate’s Courts, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and at the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The breadth of experience among the cadre of attorneys is harnessed by regular meetings that keep them abreast of new developments.

This practice group ensures that clients’ matters are paired with the attorney most suited to the client’s needs and that clients receive regular reports updating them on their matters. Litigation spans both business as well as personal matters and the firm will pull the resources, across departments if necessary, to achieve the desired results. Clients include individuals, large and small property owners, investors, creditors, debtors, financial institutions and government bodies.

Patrick Foste Q.C, Lowel Morgan, M. Maurice Manning, Sherry Ann McGregor, Camille R. Wignall-Davis, Catherine Minto, Tavia Dunn, Ayana L. Thomas, Deborah Dowding, Arlene A. Williams, K. Michelle Reid, Michelle Phillips, Mark Paul Cowan, Gabrielle Hosin

Commercial & Corporate

The Commercial and Corporate practice group deals with the diverse commercial needs of our clients such as sale and purchase of business assets, joint ventures, public-private partnerships, corporate restructuring, commercial real estate projects, securities, pensions and superannuation funds and taxation.

Our clients include some of the leading local and international financial institutions, insurance companies and brokers, hotels, players in the energy and petroleum sectors, business processing firms and start-ups looking to expand their business ideas.

Donovan Jackson, Paul Tai, Russlyn Combie Sykes, Grace Lindo

Compliance

The Compliance practice group handles a wide gamut of matters from the incorporation of local companies, registration of local branches of an overseas company or registration of business name to the filing of applications for work permits and other immigration matters. We also register charities under the Charities Act as well as procure trade licences, tax compliance certificates and other statutory registrations.

Once compliant with the laws of Jamaica, the team helps clients to maintain compliance through the filing of annual returns at the Companies Office of Jamaica, filing of returns for local branches and other filings necessary at the Companies Office of Jamaica or the Registrar of Charities, where applicable. The department is staffed with a corporate secretarial officer and carries out formal company secretarial, registered agent and nominee services under the rubric of our affiliated company, NSD Corporate Secretarial Services Limited.

Paul Tai, Donovan Jackson, Grace Lindo

Corporate Financing

The firm advises clients on key issues relating to the taking of security to support collateralized and unsecured lending, enforcement issues as well as critical due diligence measures and negotiations to support corporate mergers and acquisitions.

We frequently assist with project financing under private public partnerships and other joint ventures. Members of the team also provide opinions and advice on the enforcement of various forms of security. Our clients include prospective mortgagees and lenders, liquidators, contractors and insurance companies.

Russlyn Combie Sykes, Paul Tai

Debt Collection & Insolvency

The NSD team handles debt collection for both institutional and private lenders to find the best route for recovery.

They remain cutting edge in respect of developments in the insolvency landscape and use special practice management techniques for the handling of wholescale debt portfolios.

M. Maurice Manning, Tavia Dunn, Catherine Minto, Mark Paul Cowan

Employment and Labour Relations

This team acts both in contentious and non-contentious labour matters. The attorneys often appear before the Courts, the Industrial Disputes Tribunal, the Ministry of Labour and the internal disciplinary panels of entities on behalf of both employees and employers.

The team also assists in the prevention of contentious issues through the drafting of employment manuals, employment agreements and other services contracts. Local and overseas clients have come to rely on the team for regulatory advice as well as procuring work permits.

Patrick Foster Q.C, Paul Tai, Catherine Minto, Ayana L. Thomas

Family

The highly regarded family law practice group can advise on all aspects of family relationships from the negotiation of prenuptial or cohabitation agreements for clients in anticipation of marriage or cohabitation, to the resolution of the complicated issues that arise upon divorce or separation.

We handle domestic and family-related matters such as divorce, division of matrimonial property, paternity, child custody, adoption laws, guardianship, domestic violence, international child abduction, spousal and child maintenance and are able to provide advice and guidance on all the associated issues.

Sherry Ann McGregor, Tavia Dunn, Ayana L. Thomas, Deborah Dowding

Insurance Litigation

The firm is renowned for its depth in the insurance industry and represents the interests of some of the largest insurance companies in the region. The insurance team is the largest practice group in the firm and the Attorneys have a combined litigation experience of over fifty years with vast expertise in insurance law, handling both claim and defence matters.

The team’s areas of specialty include motor vehicle and personal injury, marine, employer’s and public liability, property, life, personal accident, medical negligence and other classes of professional indemnity insurance matters. The attorneys in the team practise at all Court levels in Jamaica and work with the local insurance industry on the development of the regulatory framework and legislation.

The team also provides advice to international insurers and reinsurers and is sought after for expert advice on issues relating to drafting and interpretation of policy wordings.

Lowel Morgan, Camille R. Wignall-Davis, Arlene A. Williams, K. Michelle Reid, Monroe Wisdom, Gabrielle Hosin

Intellectual Property

The intellectual property practice group handles the registration of trademarks and patents under the laws of Jamaica and manages the trade mark portfolios for both local and overseas clients. Members of the team appear before the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) for hearings and otherwise respond to office actions.

The team frequently instructs the litigation department on more contentious matters such as copyright and patent infringement or trade secrets and breach of confidence. In addition, the team advises on more non-traditional areas of IP such as domain names, geographical indications and genetic resource rights (green IP). This practice group provides bespoke intellectual property counselling leading to the development of IP policies for institutions and start-ups looking to protect that valuable idea.

Clients include local and overseas multinationals, international portfolio management companies, statutory companies, start-ups, inventors, entertainers and artists. The firm is a member of the International Trademark Association and attends the annual meeting of this body.

Grace Lindo, Michelle Phillips

Notarial Services

Our Notaries have been duly appointed for the Island and are therefore able to assist persons with the authentication of contracts and the acknowledgement of deeds for use in other jurisdictions. They are also authorised to take affidavits and depositions which may be used elsewhere.

Trevor E. DeLeon, Donovan Jackson

Real Estate/Conveyancing

The Real Estate practice group handles various land transactions. The complex and diverse elements of the law related to the use of land and the construction, maintenance, sale and use of property are all covered in our portfolio.

The team keeps clients up to date on the latest legal developments regarding commercial and residential property, boundaries and easements as well as common land rights. The group commonly works with developers on joint venture projects and assists with obtaining both planning permission from regulatory/statutory bodies as well as the discharge and modification of restrictive covenants.

We act for most of Jamaica’s mortgage companies in various capacities including the registration of and discharge of mortgages. Members of the team frequently handle residential as well as commercial leases and issues arising under the Rent Restriction Act.

Our Real Estate and Conveyancing clients include major domestic and international banking and financial institutions, listed and unlisted corporations, state owned enterprises, real estate developers and consultants, commercial and residential real estate agents as well as private individuals. We believe that making good legal fences ensures good neighbours, so we strive to assist our clients in doing just that.

Trevor E. DeLeon, Alexander Cools Lartigue, Camille K. Busby-Earle, Russlyn Combie Sykes, Licea-Ann Smith, Sasha Kay Gilzean

Telecommunication and Technology

The firm has a rich history in the nascent telecommunications field having acted in both contentious and non-contentious matters upon the liberalization of the telecommunications sector in Jamaica. This practice group provides advice on e-commerce, new media technologies, internet law, data privacy, software licensing and technology transfer amongst other areas.

Clients include major players in the, Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector, telecommunications companies business processing/outsourcing entities, software developers and statutory bodies.

Donovan Jackson, Paul Tai, Grace Lindo