Member Profile

William EASUN studied law in England where he qualified in 1979. He then studied law at Aix-en-Provence University (France) at post-graduate level as a Scholar. He joined a law firm in Paris (Frere Cholmeley) and moved to Monaco with that firm in 1981 where he became a partner with responsibility for the firm’s offices in Monaco, Barcelona, Rome and Milan. In 1998 that firm became Eversheds, and William remained with them in Monaco as partner responsible for the office until 2003 when he transferred the firm over to Lawrence Graham. In 2012 William set up Tempest Legal Services Monaco SARL which is an independently owned boutique law firm based only in the Principality of Monaco dealing with specific non-contentious work.

William managed the firms' Monaco office for many years, and also took over management for the firms' offices in Barcelona, Rome and Milan. Renowned for his expertise in advising individuals on private international law matters, he continues to be recognised as one of the leading private client lawyers in Monaco.

In 2012, William set up Tempest with partner Nathalie Tanzi, dedicated to giving specialist international advice on non-contentious matters to both private clients and organisations. William’s own practice focuses on private client work for individuals of all nationalities, including entrepreneurs, sports personalities, investors, hedge fund managers, brokers and Single Family Offices.

As well as advising on relocation to Monaco, he also assists with wills and estate planning in a multi-jurisdictional context; matters of capacity and guardianship; and the use of trusts.

William advises the Monaco Government in his role as an original member of the specially-formed Strategic Commission created by His Serene Highness Prince Albert 11 in 2011 to advise on matters that attract individuals to live and work in Monaco, such as finance, real estate, quality of life and shipping/yachting.

He also sat on the Monaco Government Commission that assisted with the adhesion of Monaco to “The 1985 Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition”, which occurred in 2008.

William is a British citizen and speaks fluent English and French. He is a member of the Law Society of England & Wales, the Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners, and is Chairman of the Institute of Directors’ Monaco centre.

William’s practice is focused on non-contentious private client work, involving succession and estate planning, Wills & Trusts, estate administration, capacity, residency and domicile issues; it covers the consequences -local and international- of becoming a resident of Monaco; it extends to assisting with the issues of Single and Multi-Family Offices; it explores incorporation, commercial and regulatory issues for individual, corporate and institutional clients alike.

William’s practice is closely aligned to and he works in collaboration with that of Monegasque Notaries, Accountants and Lawyers who must intervene in certain matters such as incorporating a company, tax matters, or representing clients before the Courts

William has experience in a broad range of Will drafting, contractual, commercial and corporate matters primarily for individuals, but for example for fifteen years was responsible for drafting Terms & Conditions of Auction in Monaco and dealing with a variety of legal and regulatory issues for Christie’s, an auction house of which he was a local director from 1990 to 2000

William has assisted numerous individual, corporate and institutional clients to set up in Monaco whether as residents, concentrating on the consequences of residency, or with business licences, such as to assist with incorporation as a Single Family Office, an Asset Management Company (regulated), a commercial company (unregulated), or a Bank

William has acted for entrepreneurs, sportsmen, corporations and institutions, in non-contentious matters, such as:

- Bjorn Borg

- Michael Schumacher

- The Duke of Bedford

- Christie’s (Monaco) SAM

- Coutts

- Lloyds Bank

- Trustee for George Harrison

William articled in an English law firm Legal Aid/criminal law practice between 1974 and 1979. On qualification in 1979 he moved to France to study at French University at post-graduate level. Working in Paris in an English law firm, he moved in 1981 to Monaco with that firm in a newly opened office. This gave him management experience of Monaco and England, and he was implicated in the opening of offices in various countries, before focusing on practice in Monaco and the issues which foreign individuals, businesses and institutions are confronted with in a country on the fringes of but not a member of the EU. Finally, preferring independence to being part of a tied network, William set up his own law firm in Monaco with a French partner to focus on the legal advisory skills which he had accumulated over the years since 1981

William attended Haileybury College (England) to study O and A levels which he left in 1972. He then pursued law studies at Guildford College of Law (Parts 1 & 11) whilst carrying out articles in a law firm near London. From there to French University (Aix-en-Provence Law Faculty), Paris and Monaco

Baker & McKenzie Country Report (Monaco)

STEP Yearbook (Monaco)

European Cross-Border Estate Planning (Sweet & Maxwell)

International Taxation of Low-Tax Transactions (Dennis Campbell)

World’s Leading Financial and Trust Centres (Bloomsbury)

Immigration Law Jurisdictional Comparison (Thomson Reuters)

Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Europe (Juris Publishing)

Chevalier de l’Ordre de St Charles

Member of Prince Albert 11’s CSA (Conseil Stratégique pour l’Attractivité), an advisory body to the Principality’s Government

Rankings:-

- Legal 500 EMEA as a Leading Individual

- Top Ranked Chambers HNW Leading Individual

- Legal Week Global Elite 2018 winner