Offshore legal, fiduciary and administration service provider Appleby is to open its latest office in Guernsey, to be operational in the spring of 2010.

Appleby Guernsey will initially comprise two group partners, Barney Lee and Helen Crossley, in the corporate team and two partners, Jeremy Le Tissier and Gavin Ferguson, in the litigation/insolvency and private client/trust teams. All join Appleby from Ozannes, another Channel Islands law firm.

In addition, David Clark, a banking partner in Appleby’s London office, will relocate to Guernsey to lead the new office. On the fiduciary side, Chris Ward will join the firm to lead the fiduciary and administration services business having previously served as managing director of Rothschild Trust in Guernsey.

The office will practise Guernsey law with a focus on corporate, commercial, private client, litigation, insolvency and restructuring and - following approval by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission - a complete range of fiduciary services.

The move follows the firm’s launch in the Isle of Man, through its merger with Dickinson Cruickshank and new office openings in the Seychelles, Bahrain and Zurich in 2009, taking Appleby to 79 partners, over 200 lawyers and a total of over 800 staff.