Profile
Profile
Jeffrey Elkinson is presently a partner in the Bermuda office of Conyers Dill and Pearman.
His practice is commercial litigation and arbitration in the areas of contentious trusts, insurance and re-insurance and construction with specialization in administrative law and telecommunications.
He is a Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). He is an active arbitrator, mediator and counsel in domestic and international disputes with appointments from ICC, LCIA and CIArb and, in respect of domain names, HKIAC/ADNDRC. With true international experience, Jeffrey has audience rights in numerous jurisdictions and is also active on a pro-bono basis as course director and tutor for all the courses of the CIArb of which he is a former president (2012). He is a Special Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and sits as Assistant Justice for the Supreme Court of Bermuda.
Jeffrey is the chairman of the Professional Conduct Committee and the Police Complaints Authority for Bermuda. He is a regular speaker at global industry events and is the co-author of the Bermuda Chapter of the ICAA Handbook, Spitz’ Tax Havens of the World, Butterworths Offshore Cases and the Materials, and Offshore Commercial Law in Bermuda.
Chambers Global recognizes Jeffrey as a leading dispute resolution lawyer. He is also recognized as a leader in his field in International Who’s Who Legal Commercial Arbitration 2020, International Who’s Who Legal of Business Lawyers 2020, International Who’s Who Legal Construction Lawyers 2020, and in PLC Which Lawyer 2020. He is described in the Legal 500 as a ‘star litigator, highly commercial and effective.’
- Advised one of the wealthiest families in the United States in a case involving a restructuring of a trust with in excess of 70 beneficiaries. An allegation that a trust purportedly created in the early 1970s by a European entity was invalid because allegedly the European entity was invalid from 1950. Litigation was highly complex and involved a European country, Bermuda and several states in the United States. The case was settled amicably after the initial aggressive litigation was brought by a leading QC in London.
- Acted as counsel for the 4, 5 and 8 Defendant in a trust restructuring matter which required the confirmation as to whom the correct current trustees are.
- Acted on behalf of the company, seeking judicial review of the Minister of Finance’s decision to serve a Notice to produce documents on the company and to enforce the company’s right to see the underlying Request from the Argentinian Government in circumstances where the Bermuda Government sought to rely on the confidentiality provisions contained in the OECD Model Tax Information Exchange Agreement.
- Acting for the Bermuda Monetary Authority in contentious litigation.
- Acting for Butterfield Trust Company Limited and Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd.
- Acting for American Airlines, British Airways and United Airways.
- Acting for a global telecom entity in a shareholder dispute.
- Appointed as Amicus Curiae by Bermuda Court of Appeal in relation to statutory interpretation on Tax Information Exchange Agreement legislation.
- Justice of the Peace
- Chairman, Professional Conduct Committee of the Bermuda Bar
- Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
- Chartered Arbitrator and Mediator
- Active Arbitrator and Counsel, Domestic and International Disputes with appointments from ICC, LCIA and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
- President, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, 2012
- Founder and Branch Chairman Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
- Course Director and Tutor, Fellowship Course of Chartered Institute; Course Director and Tutor, Members’ Courses of Chartered Institute
- Member of IBA, ABA and ICCA
- Trust and Estates Practitioner (STEP)
- Recognised in the 2016 edition (and since 2010) of Chambers Global (dispute resolution)
- Recognised in the 2015 edition (and since 2011) of Who’s Who Legal (asset recovery, arbitration, commercial litigation and construction)
- Recognised in the 2015 edition of Legal Media Groups’ Expert Guides (litigation and commercial arbitration)
- Recognised in the 2015 edition (and since 2011) of Legal 500 Caribbean (dispute resolution)
- Howarths Offshore Commercial Law in Bermuda
- ICCA Arbitration Handbook