Bruce Nicola

Nicola specialises in all aspects of Bermuda trust matters including family, charitable, purpose and employee benefit trusts.

Nicola advises international families, family offices, trustees and other fiduciaries, charities and corporate clients on a broad range of trust matters, including the establishment, restructuring and administration of trusts. She also advises in relation to transactions involving significant assets held in trust.

Nicola has extensive experience in multi-billion dollar trust litigation and complex fiduciary matters, including applications to the Bermuda courts to restructure trusts, unwind trustee decisions and remove office holders. She has extensively advised trustees on significant transactional and governance issues.

In addition to private family trusts, Nicola advises on charitable, philanthropic and commercial purpose trusts, including structures established within the insurance sector. She also has substantial experience advising on employee benefit trusts, pension arrangements and other employment-related trust structures.

Having acted as a director of high-value trust and holding companies, Nicola brings practical insight into the challenges faced by trustees and fiduciaries.

Experience and recent work

Nicola has advised in relation to some of the highest value trust litigation to come before the Bermuda courts. She regularly drafts new trust instruments and amending deeds and provides legal opinions on Bermuda trust structures and trustee powers. She also regularly advises on trustee decisions in relation to complex investments, major distributions and trust amendment and re-structuring. She is a member of the Bermuda Trust Law Reform Committee and has contributed to trust law reform initiatives in Bermuda, including advising the Bermuda government on legislative developments. Additionally, Nicola has spoken at international conferences and authored and co-authored publications on Bermuda private client and trust law.

Qualifications

Admitted in:

Bermuda (Barrister and Attorney)
Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales (not practicing)

Education:

University of Cambridge (BA; Law)
Oxford Institute of Legal Practice (LPC)

Nicola currently sits on the Bermuda Trust Law Reform Committee

Nicola is ranked by Chambers and Partners High Net Worth 2025: Offshore Trusts Directory. She is also recognised as a ‘Leading Partner’ by Legal 500 Caribbean in the Trusts/Private Client category.

Coverage & Insights

Publications:

Bermuda: An Introduction to Offshore: Trusts – Chambers and Partners – August 2025
Compliance with Pipa for trustees – The Royal Gazette, Legally Speaking – April 2025
The evolution of the dynastic trust over time— an illustration of the Bermuda approach: In the Matter of the B Trust 2024 No 238 (Supreme Court of Bermuda) – Trusts & Trustees – March 2025
Co-author: Bermuda chapter in Planning and Administration of Offshore and Onshore Trusts (Bloomsbury)
Bermuda chapter in In-Depth: Private Wealth and Private Client, edited by John Riches (Lexology In-Depth)
Co-author: Private Client: Bermuda Trusts (Lexis)
Bermuda: Trusts in an Employment Context – Bermuda Business Review – July 2024
Trusts, and how they came to be – The Royal Gazette, Legally Speaking – April 2024
Preserving wealth in a Bermuda dynastic trust – The Royal Gazette, Legally Speaking – February 2024

Speaking Engagements: