In October 2025 ePrivateClient spoke to Dickinson Gleeson Partner Guillaume Staal to discuss everything from legal advice and life-choices, to family, fun and his high-altitude dream-job…..
Guillaume Staal, Advocate of the Royal Court of Jersey, Partner at Dickinson Gleeson.
Guillaume is a lawyer specialising in dispute resolution and commercial litigation including in relation to the administration of trusts, contractual disputes, enforcement of foreign judgments and associated freezing and disclosure orders. A related feature of his practice involves acting in trust related applications concerning administrative directions, applications for relief on grounds of mistake, applications for orders approving compromises of disputes on behalf of minor, unborn and unascertained beneficiaries and applications for rectification of trust instruments.
He has been doing that work with Dickinson Gleeson since 2012. Prior to that he worked for His Majesty’s Attorney General in Jersey’s Law Officers’ Department for over 5 years dealing with various areas of public law. During that time, he also worked as a legal adviser to the States of Jersey Police making numerous court appearances as a prosecutor.
Guillaume graduated with an LLB English and French Law from King’s College London and a Maitrise en droit (French law degree) from La Sorbonne, Paris.
Guillaume is also a native French speaker.
Industry questions:
- Why do you specialise in this area?
I specialised in this area as a result of an unexpected opportunity to work with market leaders in this field at Dickinson Gleeson from whom I have since learnt most of what I know now.
I have remained in that field for the daily intellectual challenges and endless variety which each dispute brings as a result of the unique nature, fact patterns and circumstances of each matter and the satisfaction we obtain from helping individual clients through the particular problems they are navigating.
The relationship of trust and confidence we develop with clients, who usually come to us with no prior experience of dispute resolution or litigation, is one of the best parts of the job.
- Why is dispute resolution so important to the industry?
Anyone who has been involved in a commercial dispute of non-trivial value will know how stressful, time consuming and costly they can be to deal with, with litigation having the added disadvantages of uncertainty of outcome and the risk that if a party is unsuccessful, it will likely have to bear a proportion of the successful party’s legal costs of the dispute.
So, whilst disputes are inevitable, knowing how to navigate them sensibly, with a degree of objectivity and with a keen eye on commerciality, is essential to maximising the likelihood of a favourable outcome and a potentially quick one too.
Given how high the stakes can be, sometimes threatening the very existence of a business, an effective dispute resolution system encompassing the Court machinery, various methods of alternative dispute resolution and suitably qualified professionals, helps to ensure that when disputes arise they can, as far as possible, be resolved quickly and cost effectively. That in turn allows individuals and businesses to focus on their core commercial activities which will usually be a better and more profitable use of their resources, and ultimately better for the economy.
- What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?
Soon after I started working following graduation, my first boss told me to ensure that I dealt with the preparation of every document or file I might be asked to compile as if I was going to be the lawyer ultimately arguing the matter before the Court. The logic behind that was to always be mindful of the heavy scrutiny that our work would ultimately come under through the Court process and to own my share of responsibility for that work.
At the time I was years away from having rights of audience but that aim of taking ownership of the work being done, ensuring it was done and thought through as well as it could be, before it was submitted for review by the relevant supervisor, has never left me – even if it has not always been met.
Whilst it may seem obvious advice, this is not something that is consistently done by all junior practitioners and, in my experience, the extent to which it is has a very clear and direct correlation to the quality of their work product and the speed of their development. Even for less junior practitioners, the sword of Damocles that is the eventual judgment from a Court in our dispute resolution work, is always helpful in shaping and focusing the points that are taken and how.
Fun questions:
- What are your favourite ways to relax/switch off from work?
I was very fortunate to live not far from the Alps during my very early years when I learnt to ski and snowboard. To this day they remain my absolute favourites and my first choice for a relaxing holiday.
Regrettably those activities are totally impractical as part of a daily or weekly routine in the Channel Islands.
So instead, I would therefore have to say running. It is something I only started to do in recent years and quickly discovered that there is some truth to the saying that “you never feel worse after a run”; the obvious exception being that marathon you decided to take part in even though you probably were not really ready for it – you will definitely feel worse after that one!
Running has become the one thing I can do easily, even at ridiculously early hours, and which does not have to involve thinking about either work or my family commitments.
Equally that relative peace and quiet can sometimes generate the most useful ideas when I least expect it. Win, Win!
- Do you have a pet(s)? What are they like?
Having young children, we successfully resisted adding to the chaos with pets for several years, until we eventually succumbed. After some less than successful initial attempts at managing pet rabbits, our family welcomed a Cockapoo puppy nearly three years ago. Talk about chaos. Her energy and craziness is perfectly balanced by her unconditional love and eagerness to show it.
Leaving aside the fact that dogs bark to express themselves (who knew?) and that they may choose to do that at all hours of the day or night (sub-optimal), she has been a wonderful additional to family life.
More recently, and to ensure she always had company, we also rehomed a beautiful cat. The pair have become unlikely friends, with the occasional bout of jealousy thrown in, which some might say is not entirely dissimilar to growing siblings…
- If you couldn’t do your current role what would your dream job be?
It’s a bit late now given the years of study which I would need to complete but, that would be an architect. It is what I wanted to do when in my late teens as I was fascinated by the precision and purity of the lines and drawings, the almost endless design possibilities and I also quite enjoyed the practical application of mathematics.
Alternatively, putting the “dream” into it, excluding all practical considerations or relevant qualifications and adding breakthrough teleportation technology allowing me to do that job whilst commuting from home in Jersey, then I’d say ski instructor.