New Recruits Bolster International Tax Team In London

A partner and two new solicitors have joined the London tax, trusts and estates team at Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth.

Partner Helen Clarke and solicitor Jessica Fazzone join from BDB Pitmans. Helen, who qualified as a solicitor in 2000, specialises in advising clients on matters involving intergenerational wealth, such as implementing tax structures for passing on assets in families, and strategic planning for inheritance tax matters.

Helen’s client list extends to high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, onshore and offshore trustees and beneficiaries of trusts among others. She has particular expertise dealing with executives and entrepreneurs and advising directors and shareholders in owner-managed and family businesses.

Jessica Fazzone trained at BDB Pitmans and was a solicitor in their Private Wealth team, working closely with Helen. Qualifying in 2017, her areas of expertise include wills and probates, estate and trust administrations, and lasting power of attorney matters. Jessica’s French Law degree and fluency in Portuguese will be an asset to the team’s international work.

Solicitor Omar Asfar trained at Magic Circle law firm Linklaters and qualified in September 2018; his main workload as a trainee was corporate tax cases. Omar’s focus at Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth is working on tax matters for high-net-worth individuals, often including an international element, as well as assisting with handling high-value trusts cases. Omar has previously written for Business Law International.

The London Private Wealth offering has seen growth recently with the highly regarded partner Philip Barth joining from Withers as head of the immigration team for Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth. The London family law team has also expanded this month with the arrival of partner Toby Hales from Seddons.

Expert Opinion

“We are extremely pleased to be attracting new talent at all levels to strengthen our London and International team. Helen is a welcome addition with her expertise in helping individuals and families with business and other complex interests to plan for and structure their wealth.

“Our team in London is focused on international work, so to bring in solicitors with different backgrounds to traditional private client lawyers allows us to bring a wider range of experience to our clients with corporate interests.

“It is an exciting time to be a part of Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth’s London team – we have big plans for growing our team so that we can give our new and existing clients the market-leading service they know we deliver.” Nick Rucker - Partner