Citywealth Leaders List interview: 60 seconds with Rebecca McNulty, Ogier

Date: 19 Mar 2025

Karen Jones

This week’s 60-second piece is dedicated to Rebecca McNulty, Partner at Ogier.

Tell Citywealth readers a bit about your role.

I am a Partner in Ogier’s Trust Advisory Group and Dispute Resolution team, based in Jersey. 

My practice covers all aspects of dispute resolution, in particular: trust disputes, cross border insolvency and restructuring, property disputes and investigations. I regularly advise local and international clients in complex actions that usually involve multiple parties across multiple jurisdictions.

What does a typical day look like for you?

The day often begins with an early morning dog walk, the school run and an obligatory coffee or two. Once in the office I’ll typically catch up on emails that have come in overnight (which happens when working with clients across jurisdictions), review anything urgent and check in with the team before tackling the day’s schedule. 

A typical day can involve any number of client calls or team meetings which are crucial for discussing ongoing cases, strategising and making decisions on how to proceed with particular cases. This is usually interspersed with team meetings and mentoring calls and keeping up to date with the latest legal developments and case law. Other days my schedule can be completely taken up with and dedicated to preparing for and attending Court hearings or travelling for business development. 

I try to ensure that I am available to collect my children from school as often as my schedule allows and dedicate the hours of 6-9pm to focus on family time. After my children have gone to bed I catch up on the day’s achievements and plan for the next day, though I try to leave at least a couple of evenings free each week to dedicate to some down time.  

Tell us about some recent, interesting client instructions/requests you have received.

Most of the matters I am currently working on are very sensitive and confidential so I can’t say too much about them unfortunately.

I have recently been involved in an interesting cross jurisdictional estate dispute where one party’s interest is currently subject to proceedings in a foreign jurisdiction concerning whether or not she remained married to the deceased at the time they passed away, and another in which we are advising a trustee in connection with capacity issues affecting the settlor and requests for disclosure from a party who purports to have been appointed as their attorney.

What challenges do your clients face and how are you helping your clients to overcome them?

Working in a finance centre like Jersey, we have a diverse client base and so the challenges each of our clients face can vary considerably. Capacity appears to be an increasing theme in the contentious private client space, perhaps driven by, amongst other things, an aging population and the anticipated ‘great wealth transfer’ that is expected to occur over the next 25 years. 

Where possible, I will collaborate with colleagues across service lines and jurisdictions to help ensure the advice we are giving is tailored to the client’s unique situation and provides a comprehensive, pragmatic and commercial solution to the challenges our clients face. 

What is your proudest professional achievement?

I have a few but if I had to pick, I would probably say becoming a Partner in a top tier law firm and more recently, winning Citywealth’s Powerwoman, Champion of the Year Award. As a full-time working mum of three, I wasn’t always sure I would ‘make it’ to Partner but I now take great pride in leading and being surrounded by an exceptional disputes team. 

What do you consider to be the most important attributes for a leader?

Authenticity, honesty, empathy… I could name lots more. I don’t believe in trying to fit someone else’s mould or trying to persuade others that they should do so. When people feel able to bring their authentic self to work and feel listened to, so much more can be achieved. 

At the heart of my own leadership style is a drive to create a positive work experience for all which recognises the importance of a healthy work life balance (I don’t always get it right), aims to maximise everyone’s potential and creates a platform for best practice.

Who do you most admire and why?

My parents. They gave me every opportunity to be who I wanted to be and to follow my ambitions, often making sacrifices themselves so I could. They taught me so much, including the importance of a good sense of humour, and instilled in me along the way, many of the qualities that have helped steer me to where I am today both in my professional life and my personal life. 

Where was the last place you travelled to for work or pleasure?

The French alps. You can’t beat being on top of a snowy mountain, it’s just the tonic for re-calibrating after a busy start to the year.

If you weren’t in this industry, what else might you be doing?

Something in the wellness world. I am a strong believer that your health is your wealth and being the best you can be in your professional life demands that you take care of your own wellbeing (physical and mental). The more I have looked into and explored this over the years, the more fascinating I find it, the more I want to learn and the more I find myself contemplating the untapped potential that might come from prioritising my own wellbeing and helping others prioritise theirs.

How do you relax after a long day?

I love nothing more than spending time with my husband and kids. They make me smile and laugh a lot.  Otherwise, a nice long walk with the four-legged members of the family, dinner with friends or, where possible, cosied up on the sofa watching something easy on the television that doesn’t require too much thought after a long day.