David Cooney

Group Partner*

Guernsey

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+44 (0) 1481 758 958

/+44 (0) 7911 152 679

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Email David Cooney

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English

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David specialises in complicated wealth-planning structures covering multiple jurisdictions in our Private Capital & Trusts practice group.

He primarily focuses on advising trustees and settlors (or their family offices) on private client structures with British Virgin Islands, Cayman or Guernsey connections. He also helps clients with foundation, trust and company structures to hold crypto-currency assets.

David advises trustees, high-net worth individuals and families, family offices and charitable organisations using trust, foundation and private trust company structures to protect assets and for succession planning.

David is a UK Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA), and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He has over 20 years’ experience in private practice in Guernsey, Switzerland, England and the Cayman Islands. David has been on the STEP Council in the UK, Cayman Islands, Switzerland and Guernsey.

*not admitted in Guernsey and not a member of Walkers (Guernsey) LLP

David Cooney has great experience and is a quite outstanding private client practitioner in the offshore world. A clear leader. He is greatly valued by our business.

Legal 500

Experience and recent work

Before joining Walkers in 2022, David worked for another offshore firm in Guernsey. Before that he was a partner with Charles Russell Speechlys in Zurich, and an offshore firm in the Cayman Islands, where he was head of the Private Client and Trusts Team for the Caribbean region.

David trained and qualified as an English solicitor, and worked for leading regional firms in the UK before moving offshore.

Qualifications

Admitted in:

British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
England & Wales

Education:

Co-author of Crypto Assets in Trusts and Foundations, Guernsey Chapter, Globe Law (ISBN: 9781787429888)
STEP Advanced Certificate in UK Tax for International Clients
Chartered Tax Advisor qualification
STEP membership (including winning a STEP President's Prize for one of my papers)
Legal Practice Course (UK)
Law degree (LLB)

Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT)
STEP Guernsey Committee Member
Solicitors Regulation Authority

2025 - Chambers HNW - Offshore Trusts - Band 2:

"I find David technically brilliant with the ability to think out of the box. The solutions he offers are both pragmatic and robust."
"David Cooney is an exceptional problem solver. He uses technical excellence combined with a practical, commercial and collaborative approach enabling solutions to be found quickly and efficiently."
"David Cooney consistently demonstrates exceptional professionalism and expertise."
"David Cooney is an excellent attorney, especially with complex matters."
"David Cooney has excellent experience."
"David Cooney is well known in the offshore trust industry as a leading expert. His depth of knowledge, approach and responsiveness make him one of the most sought after offshore trust advisers."
"David Cooney is the consummate trust professional. His legal knowledge, ability to find solutions and ability to convey all aspects of the opinion so it is clearly understood is second to none."

2024 - Legal 500 - Private client, trusts and tax:

"David Cooney is a walking encyclopedia about all things private wealth. He is equally comfortable whether talking about complex trust law issues or the regulation and structural issues associated with holding crypto assets."
"David Cooney stands out for his exceptional technical expertise and impressive depth of knowledge. His clarity in explaining complex concepts is remarkable, making him a trusted resource for clients. David's diligence and unwavering commitment to accuracy and reliability make him an invaluable lawyer."
"The standout partner is David Cooney, always responsive, efficient and has razor-sharp understanding of all the issues, the business impact and is very impressive with clients."

2024 - Chambers Global - Offshore Trusts - Band 3:

"David was excellent and really pragmatic."
"I have been impressed by David's expertise and practical approach in sophisticated trust succession matters."
"David is really commercial and gets things done very quickly."

2023 - Legal 500 - "David Cooney has great experience and is a quite outstanding private client practitioner in the offshore world. A clear leader. He has a rare combination of a strong strategic orientation, commercial sense, a great mastery of detail and a first class work ethic. He is greatly valued by our business."

2022 - Chambers HNW Guide - Offshore Trusts - "is well respected."

2022 - Legal 500 - "David is a first-rate practitioner: he is highly technical, responsive, and client friendly. He is definitely my “go-to” Cayman lawyer for private client trust."

2022 - Legal 500 - "David is one of very few lawyers in the private client sector who combines a considerate yet pragmatic approach with outstanding technical knowledge in the full range of structures used by international families for estate planning and investment."

2021 - Chambers High Net Worth Guide - "Brilliant. David has a great reputation and is really good at handling files."

2018 - Chambers & Partners High Net Worth Guide - "David's excellent, he's probably the best trust lawyer of his generation in the Cayman Islands. He is very commercial, very knowledgeable, very responsive, very thorough, a pleasure to work with. He's just very, very good."

Team Members