Deborah Barker Roye

Deborah has a wealth of expertise in Cayman Islands law and legal procedure, specialising in dispute resolution and contentious trust and estate matters. As part of Ogier's Trusts Advisory Group, she regularly acts for beneficiaries, trustees, executors, protectors, and other fiduciaries on high-value, multi-jurisdictional trust structures and complex estates. 

Background and experience

Deborah's practice spans all aspects of complex, high value, international commercial litigation, fraud, breach of duty and asset tracing, including fund and investor disputes. 

Recent examples of Deborah's work include:

• acting for two limited partners in a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership, bringing direct and derivative claims against the general partner and associated third parties
• acting for the trustee of a Cayman STAR trust seeking Beddoe and anti-suit relief from the Cayman Court for foreign proceedings the trustee had joined
• acting for the executor of a complex Cayman estate involving domestic and foreign probate issues, contentious trust proceedings against the estate, and the sale of a high value family business as part of the estate administration
• acting for the guardian of an incapacitated elderly beneficiary in complex trust proceedings. The matter clarified the scope and effect of the Cayman firewall provisions and the interrelationship of common law principles of forum non conveniens and forum of administration clauses in the context of disputes concerning Cayman Islands trusts
• acting for the heirs of an estate in a successful application to remove a personal representative
• acting for a trustee in contentious trust proceedings in three jurisdictions, including proceedings in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Court handed down a precedent-setting decision concerning the forum for administration clauses and gave guidance on the public policy of the Cayman Islands in the context of enforcement of judgments for Cayman trusts
• acting for numerous trustees and executors in wealth and restructuring matters, including a complex multi-billion dollar STAR trust restructuring

Featured in the Private Client Global Elite Directory for 2024, a directory of the world's most respected lawyers advising ultra high net worth clients, Deborah is highly recommended by industry peers. 

Deborah is the author of two leading practitioner textbooks on Cayman Islands Law, which are used extensively by attorneys in the jurisdiction and members of the local and visiting judiciary - Civil Litigation in the Cayman Islands and Criminal Litigation in the Cayman Islands. 

She is a member of the Recommendations Committee of the Editorial Board of the Cayman Islands Law Reports, contributing to the Cayman Islands Law Reports and the Cayman Islands Law Journal. 

Deborah is a sub-committee member of the Grand Court Rules Committee and a member of the Criminal Justice Reform Committee. She has also acted as Chair of the Cayman Islands Human Rights Commission. 

Deborah joined Ogier from the Attorney General's Chambers within the Cayman Islands Government Portfolio of Legal Affairs. Previously the Deputy Director of Legal Studies and Head of the Cayman Islands Professional Practice (Bar) Course at the Truman Bodden Law School, Deborah has taught litigation and legal skills to students and legal trainees for over 25 years. She continues to do so pro bono alongside her work at Ogier. 

Admitted in:
1994 - England and Wales (non practising)
2017 - Cayman Islands