Luke Richardson
Biography
Luke is counsel and a solicitor-advocate in the dispute resolution group at Baker McKenzie and has an established practice that covers all aspects of private wealth disputes, with additional specialisms in commercial litigation and public law.
Luke advises clients across a range of sectors on complex and high-value litigation in the UK and overseas, pre-action strategy, settlement negotiations and crisis management issues associated with potential claims. His typical private-wealth disputes involve high-value, multijurisdictional court proceedings, based offshore and involving UHNWIs, trustees and others. Luke also acts in high-value commercial litigation and on a range of public-law and reputation-related matters. He also has a thriving pro bono practice.
Luke is ranked in Chambers UK for Private Wealth Disputes, which highlights that he is “extremely committed to the case” and “dissects out the key issues and tackles them in a solution-orientated, sophisticated way” and his “powers of observation are second to none, enabling him to provide profound insights.” Luke is also ranked in Legal 500 for Contentious Trusts and Probate, which notes he is “tremendously bright and highly knowledgeable”, “very clever and hardworking” and that he possesses “excellent emotional intelligence.” Luke is also ranked in Private Client Global Elite. He won the “Star Associate” Award at the Chambers High Net Worth Awards in 2024.
Representative Legal Matters
- Acting as the lead associate for the claimant in the multibillion-dollar Wong litigation, including most recently an 80-day trial in 2021, four appeals from the trial judgment heard in 2025 and the Wong v. Grand View Privy Council appeal about trustee powers in 2022, as well as related proceedings in Bermuda, the US and Hong Kong.
- Representing a beneficiary in long-running litigation in Jersey about the governance of the family business owned by the trusts
- Representing the beneficiary of valuable offshore trusts in a dispute over the capacity of a fiduciary
- Acting for the trustees of an employee benefits trust in long-running litigation brought in England by a former director of the underlying company
- Advising a media organisation in relation to allegations of misuse of private information by a series of high-profile claimants.
Professional Honors
- Ranked as a Rising Star for contentious trusts and probate by UK Legal 500, 2022 and 2023
- Named as Top 35 Under 35, Eprivateclient, 2021
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Law Society of England & Wales
- Association of Contentious Trusts & Probate Specialists
- Contentious Trusts Associates (CONTRA) network
Corporate Responsibility
- Advising a human rights charity on a pro bono basis regarding constitutional challenges to legislation in two African jurisdictions.
- Acting for a human rights organisation in a European Court of Human Rights case about same-sex marriage.
- Representing an individual defending long-running claims of defamation and harassment brought by her ex-husband.
- Participation in the Court of Appeal's pro bono advocacy scheme, representing litigants in person in applications for permission to appeal, regarding both written submissions and oral hearings.
Admissions
- England & Wales~United Kingdom (2013)
Education
- College of Law at Moorgate (Legal Practice Course (with distinction)) (2011)
- University of Cambridge (LL.M.) (2010)
- University of Cambridge (M.A., Hons. (Law)) (2009)
Languages
- English