Winner of ACTAPS award for ‘Contentious Barrister of the Year 2015’.

Who's Who Legal publication (UK Bar 2016) state Alexander Learmonth specalises in wills, succession and trusts and is "stellar on paper and on his feet"

Succession and Trusts

Alexander is recommended in both Chambers UK Bar (Chancery: Traditional) and the Legal 500 (Private Client: Trusts and Probate), as a"leading exponent of every aspect of the law of succession and trusts".

He is described in Legal 500, 2020 edition as "an excellent trial lawyer, cerebral but assertive and takes the judge with him – he is a true team player who rolls up his sleeves."

It is noted in Chambers UK Bar 2020  that he "has an excellent eye for detail and truly adds value. Alexander is also a commanding advocate and is a match for most silks on his feet."

He regularly advises and acts on:

• Contentious probate, including testamentary capacity, knowledge and approval, undue influence and forgery
• Construction, rectification  and variation of wills and trusts
• Claims for financial provision under the Inheritance(Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975
• Complex trust/estate administration, including claims by, against, or to remove trustees or personal representatives, Beddoe orders, Public Trustee v Cooper applications etc.
• Inheritance tax, including estate planning and deeds of variation
• Mutual wills, secret trusts, donatio mortis causa, proprietary estoppel and constructive trusts
• Charities

His reported cases include several leading cases, most notably Marley v Rawlings, the first probate case ever in the Supreme Court, Re Ashkettle and Re Pittaway.

He edits two of the leading textbooks in the area;

• Theobald on Wills 
• Williams, Mortimer & Sunnucks on Executors, Administrators and Probate
• A contributor to the Probate Practitioner’s Handbook

He is a full member of the Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners (STEP), the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS) and a member of the Chancery Bar Association committee. 

Court of Protection

Alexander enjoys a growing reputation in the Court of Protection.

He regularly deals with powers of attorney, deputyship, statutory wills, personal injury trusts, conflicts of laws and best interests decisions. 

Alexander has advised and appeared in cases involving all forms of mental impairment, including dementia, learning difficulties, and catastrophic brain injury (not reported due to the confidential nature of the work). He has recently been asked to supply expert evidence in a criminal trial on the law relating to powers of attorney.

His work not only includes property and affairs matters, but also extends to personal welfare decisions, including choice of residence and alleged ‘granny-napping’. 

Cases in the Court of Protection often raise highly emotive issues; Alexander’s sensitive manner with clients and sympathetic style advocacy in court is ideally suited to this work.

Professional Negligence

Wills, trusts and property work are high-risk areas for lawyers and their clients, and professional negligence claims in these fields are a growth area.  

Much of Alexander’s succession work arises from badly drafted wills, poorly implemented tax planning schemes and the like, and he is often called upon to advise both disappointed clients and their former advisers.  Such claims often involve particularly difficult questions of scope of duty and limitation periods.  Alexander has top-level experience in this area, having represented the Respondents in the ground-breaking decision of Marley v Rawlings (costs) in the Supreme Court, successfully obtaining a non-party order against the negligent solicitor’s insurers for his clients’ costs of the whole proceedings.  In the hard-fought litigation in Swain-Mason v Mills & Reeve, Alexander appeared twice in the Court of Appeal and no fewer than four times in the High Court. 

Alexander has also advised on several claims in the field of property law, such as unclear declarations of trust and negligent advice on the merits of an adverse possession claim.

Alexander is regularly instructed by both claimants and by advisers’ insurers.

The Legal 500 2020 edition recommends Alexander in property litigation, as having "an amazing ability to cut straight to the important points in a case and his written advice is very clear and focused."  Previous editions describe him as “a knowledgeable and well-organised advocate, who is persuasive in court" and “proactive, insightful and intellectually outstanding".

With practical experience in all venues from the First-Tier Tribunal to the Court of Appeal, his practice includes:

• Trusts of land and co-ownership (French v Barcham)
• Proprietary estoppel (Bradbury v Taylor, CA)
• Adverse possession
• Land registration and rectification (Re Park Associated Developments Ltd)
• Boundary disputes
• Rights of way and other easements (Green v Lord Somerleyton, CA)
• Freehold covenants
• Mortgages (Gotham v Doodes, CA)
• Residential and business tenancies, including leasehold enfranchisement, renewals, dilapidations and forfeiture

Alexander is particularly suited to cases involving the effects of insolvency and death on property rights as his reported cases show, He has also appeared in the family court, dealing with third party claims to matrimonial property.

The High Net Worth Guide, 2020 edition recommends Alexander in Offshore. “He is incredible. He has some phenomenal ideas and is really innovative in a strategic way. I’ve been really impressed by the way he makes the client's position as strong as possible.”

Alexander has accumulated considerable experience of dealing with cross-border trusts and estates, having advised on disputed estates of those domiciled abroad, estates with assets in multiple jurisdictions, and on wills executed abroad or in accordance with foreign law, as well as offshore trusts.