Abel Lyall

Partner at Mourant (Guernsey)

Speaker

Abel Lyall leads our dispute resolution and insolvency practice in Guernsey.

His practice covers all areas of private client and commercial disputes, with a focus on trusts, financial services and investment funds. He regularly appears before the Royal Court of Guernsey and the Guernsey Court of Appeal.

Abel advises trustees, settlors and beneficiaries on all aspects of contentious and semi-contentious trust matters including breach of trust claims, trust applications and regulatory issues. He also (Abel) has extensive experience in insolvency and restructuring, and act for creditors, directors, shareholders and insolvency practitioners on all aspects of contentious insolvency and asset recovery.

His work includes acting in a number of contentious and non-contentious schemes of arrangement, including appearing in both the Royal Court and Court of Appeal for the shareholder who successfully opposed the sanction of the Puma Brandenburg Limited scheme of arrangement, the first of its kind in Guernsey. He also has experienced advising on regulatory issues and have acted for financial institutions and individual directors in several significant regulatory investigations and proceedings. Abel is currently instructed by Grant Thornton as liquidators of JJW Limited, a large hotel owning and operating group, with assets in numerous jurisdictions including the UK, France, Austria and Portugal."

Abel was a member of the Insolvency Law Reform committee which advised on recent changes to Guernsey insolvency law and continues to be a director and executive committee member of the Channel Islands' INSOL chapter, ARIES. He is also a member of R3 and of the Insolvency Lawyers Association.

In Chambers and Partners UK 2025, Abel is ranked in Offshore: Dispute Resolution. A source comments: "Abel is a standout professional and delivers top quality on all interactions." In Legal 500 UK 2025, Abel is ranked as a Leading Partner in Dispute Resolution. A source comments: "Abel Lyall and his team are flexible, knowledgeable and comfortable in their abilities. This allows them to provide salient advice on potential avenues at each juncture. The differentiator here is the people."