HNW Divorce: Future Thought Leaders Essay Competition

Alex is a founding partner in 2001 of Hughes Fowler Carruthers, the top tier niche family law practice. Alex specialises in English family law, complex divorce, and financial work and children’s work, in particular international cases. His clients are high net worth individuals with complex legal issues including trusts and jurisdictional disputes, Alex in featured in Spears’ Family Law Index’s ‘Top Recommended Family Lawyers’ list and is also listed in Tatler Address Book’s advisory as one of the leading family lawyers in their trusted network of influential and elite private client experts with “gilt-edged” expertise. He regularly lectures on the interface between divorce and trusts. He is highly recommended by peer review publications and has been involved in a number of high profile and ground-breaking legal cases. Alex has been a regular in Chambers’ band 1 for many years. Chambers UK 2023 quotes a contributor as stating that "He is sharp, incisive and astute; he is tactically brilliant and extremely patient.".

Charlotte has been head of the Family team at Kingsley Napley since 2013.  She specialises in all aspects of family law, particularly international issues, both in relation to finance and children. Charlotte has a reputation for cross border jurisdiction issues, particularly European and Relocation cases, and for acting for unmarried parents in Schedule 1 (financial provision) cases.  She is also an accredited mediator and collaborative lawyer, working with high profile and high net worth couples keen to resolve their separation in private.

Charlotte is listed in the top ranks of the legal directories; Chambers UK, Chambers High Net Worth & Ultra High Net Worth, and Legal 500 UK. She is also Top Recommended in Spear's Family Law Index 2022. Charlotte was shortlisted as Family Law Partner of the year in 2019 in both the Family Law Awards and Chambers High Net Worth Awards.

The direction the law takes us when our clients have never married is often a poor fit against the moral compass our client had before consulting us.  It is also generally unaffordable.  So finding what will be useful so we can do more than just apologise to our clients for the systems that we deliver is important.  We can do our best by knowing the systems as well as we can, which James has done through [Resolution] accreditation in TOLATA, through schedule 1 nerdy-ism [that book], having worked the Child Maintenance system since the start of the 90s and through learning about the wider context of systems the systems by which we might help (which James has tried to do eg collaborative and pFDRs or better ENE, mediation, arbitration, Child inclusive work, integrating with financial planners, divorce coaches and the whole rich non-law context around conflict/ relationships/ child-development/ aspirations-led work & the rest).  There is lots to talk about.

Sarah has extensive experience advising on all aspects of family law, in particular complex financial issues further to divorce or separation, disputes relating to children, and pre and post nuptial agreements. She gives pragmatic advice, acting with sensitivity and discretion. She is recognised as much for her incisive strategic thinking as well as her empathetic approach.

Philip is consistently ranked as a leading practitioner (silk) in the field of matrimonial finance and divorce, having appeared in both White v White and Miller; McFarlane in the House of Lords. He represented the appellant wife in Owens v Owens before the Supreme Court. His cases typically involve complex jurisdictional disputes and very high net worth disputes often involving offshore corporate and trust structures.

Kate specialises in all aspects of family law and in particular acting for international high net worth and high-profile individuals in financial and children matters. Kate has had extensive experience in a wide range of cases including a number of reported cases in the High Court and Court of Appeal. Her cases have included high value financial cases often with an international element and complex cases involving children such as relocation from the jurisdiction and cases involving substance abuse.