HNW Divorce Litigation - 5th Annual Flagship Conference

Jane Keir is a partner in the family and divorce team. Described as a "class act" by her peers and colleagues alike, she is  "absolutely dedicated to getting the job done for her clients many of whom are high profile or international".

Jane acts for equal numbers of men and women and many of her clients come from across the country and abroad, as well as London.  Much of her work involves an international element and she enjoys working with other lawyers, accountants, actuaries, financial advisers, wealth managers and investigators in order to provide a thorough and comprehensive service to her clients. In addition, she has immediate recourse to all the other leading teams at Kingsley Napley LLP, including Private Client, Immigration and Real Estate.

Jonathan has a broad trusts and commercial practice. Much of his time is spent on private, pension and other commercial trust disputes and fraud disputes, both on and offshore. His litigation often takes him into other areas of law, and he has significant experience of cases with family, regulatory, insolvency and public law elements. He also has a significant advisory practice across this spectrum of work.

He very much enjoys the challenge of breaking down complex issues into simple, clear points and the advocacy involved in litigation, both oral and written.

Jonathan was shortlisted for ‘Chancery Silk of the Year’ at the Chambers & Partners UK Bar Awards 2021 and at the Legal 500 Awards 2023.

He was appointed a Deputy High Court Judge in 2021.

He is consistently ranked in the directories for trusts (private and pension), matrimonial: trusts, offshore, civil fraud, traditional chancery and high-net-worth work (Chambers and Partners) and offshore, pensions and private client (The Legal 500).

Richard is a talented family law litigator who advises on the full range of issues which arise on relationship breakdown, with a focus on complex financial claims on divorce.

Richard is regularly instructed in HNW and UHNW divorces and is known for his expertise in the financial sector, overseas assets, trusts and complex ownership structures. Richard has a particular specialism in cases involving private equity interests.

Richard is experienced in obtaining emergency injunctions, both to prevent the dissipation of assets and to protect the welfare of a client or their children. Richard also represents clients in challenging child arrangements cases.

Richard is known for his focused and strategic approach to cases, and his determination to achieve a good result for his clients.

In addition to his Family work, Richard has a complementary litigation practice focused on trust and Inheritance Act disputes arising on the breakdown of a relationship.

Amy Radnor is a Partner in the family team at Farrers. She has 15 years’ experience representing clients in all areas of family law, ranging from highly contentious and high value financial litigation, to pre-nuptial agreements, to international, cross-border children work. On the financial side, the majority of her cases have an international element and will involve trusts and/or corporate structures. Amy has wide experience acting for intervenors and trustees who become involved in litigation between spouses, as well as advising family offices, trustees, and family members “behind the scenes” on how these issues can best be avoided for the future. 

Elizabeth is a director at Family Law in Partnership. She specialises in all areas of family law and has a particular focus in advising HNW and UHNW individuals on complex cross jurisdictional issues of family, matrimonial and trusts law.

Elizabeth’s work includes divorce, contested financial remedy cases and asset protection, often involving international aspects. Elizabeth also advises on complicated private Children Act cases and Pre and Post Marital Agreements with both domestic and international aspects. Elizabeth’s clients include husbands and wives, cohabitants and sometimes children. They come from a range of backgrounds and include entrepreneurs, City professionals and various high profile individuals and their spouses and partners. She often prepares Pre and Post Marital Agreements using the collaborative process including those agreements which have an international aspect.

Elizabeth is ranked as a leading expert in family/matrimonial law by all the leading legal directories with Legal 500 UK 2024 remarking that Elizabeth is “at the top of her game” and Chambers HNW 2023 noting: “Hicks is one of the great family lawyers of her generation”.

The Legal 500 UK has ranked Elizabeth in its Hall of Fame of Leading Individuals in family law for many years with recent comments including: “Elizabeth Hicks is at the top of her game. Fiercely loyal to, and protective of, her clients, they feel supported and extremely well represented as a result. She is not afraid to stand her ground and delivers results time after time”. Earlier editions note: “Elizabeth Hicks is a true star of her generation….a standout practitioner. She is the whole package, technically good, has warmth in abundance and is completely committed to her clients.” 

Elizabeth has been named as a Top Recommended Family Lawyer in The Spear’s 500 Guide for many years. The 2023 edition of UK Best Lawyers has also named Elizabeth as ‘Lawyer of the Year 2023′.

Elizabeth is a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and has been actively involved in arranging a number of their Education programmes. She is a member of Resolution, the Creative Divorces Collaborative Pod and the London Welsh Lawyers Association.

Elizabeth is a native English and Welsh speaker, and is proficient in French. She is a trained Mental Health First Aider.

Suzanne Todd is co-head of international private client firm Withers' Dispute Resolution team in Europe. Suzanne is recognised as one of the most skilled and experienced family lawyers of her generation in London. She is in the top tier lawyer of Spear's Top 50 Family lawyers, Spears 500, Tatler Address Book, Chambers, Legal 500 and Citywealth. Her clients come from all walks of life and from all nationalities from the entertainment to motorsport worlds, to senior City CEOs or their wives as well as being the 'go to' for Counsel for many of the firm's big family office clients to deal with their family law issues. Suzanne has an extremely strong reputation as one of the 'go to' family lawyers in London for Italian family law matters. She has lectured in the Supreme Court in Italy (in Italian).

Suzanne's practice ranges from dealing with complex international financial cases (involving family businesses, inherited wealth and tax and trusts) to handling private law children disputes including international relocation cases. She is also adept at negotiating pre/post nuptial agreements. Suzanne is a trained and practising mediator and collaborative lawyer.

Tom is described in the legal directories as “one the best family juniors” and “utterly brilliant for his level”.

He has a particular expertise in cases involving the proper treatment of non-matrimonial assets, having successfully represented the respondent husband in Standish v Standish [2014] EWCA Civ 567. Together with Tim Bishop KC, Tom persuaded the Court of Appeal to dismiss the appellant wife’s appeal, allow the respondent husband’s appeal, and reduce the wife’s sharing claim from £45m to £25m.

Tom’s practice is focused on complex financial remedy work. He is regularly instructed as junior counsel to the leading silks in cases concerning ultra-high net worth individuals and/or and complex issues. He is also frequently instructed as sole counsel in cases before High Court judges.

From starting her career working at the biggest law firm in South Wales to founding Nicholls & Nicholls in the City of London, Lucinda has always been driven to raise standards and ensure that defendants are treated fairly and properly within the criminal justice system and by other government and regulatory bodies.

Lucinda has an outstanding background in general crime and has built a reputation for structuring and presenting the best legal arguments to win cases. Not only does she have an extraordinary interest in Proceeds of Crime (POCA) law, but she also excels in situations involving the Health and Safety Executive, Trading Standards and Local Authority investigations and prosecutions. Lucinda has a keen eye for detail and an exceptional capacity for memorising facts and figures.

In May 2022, Lucinda was recognised for her strength in fighting injustices within the Courts of England and Wales. She received the accolade from The Times newspaper as ‘Lawyer of the Week’ and is believed to be the first defence solicitor to be featured.

Dr Guruswamy undertook her Post Graduate training in Psychiatry at University College Dublin and the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin. She became a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2008.

Dr Guruswamy moved to the UK in 2012 from Ireland and took up a full-time Consultant role. She became a full-time Consultant Psychiatrist in the Independent Sector in 2014 and alongside her private practice, she was appointed Consultant in the Priory Hospital, Roehampton.

She has published papers on Irish Mental Health Law and wrote her thesis on The Evolution of Irish Mental Health Policy and has developed policies on Risk Management and Mental Health Liaison Systems with Primary Healthcare providers. 

She is additionally trained as a Dialectical Behaviour (DBT) Therapist and in Functional Medicine both of which reflect her integrative approach to treatment. 

Her interests also include Medicolegal aspects of psychiatric care as her Masters Degree is in Forensic and Legal Medicine. 

Lucy specialises in complex matrimonial finance disputes, with particular experience in multi-jurisdictional litigation and cases involving trust and business assets. Chambers & Partners HNW described her as “unparalleled for someone of her generation.”

Lucy acts for a broad range of high-profile individuals and their spouses and partners.  Lucy’s focus is on multi-jurisdictional financial disputes; she also has particular experience in disputes involving assets held in trust. Legal 500 has recognised Lucy’s ‘”encyclopaedic knowledge” of complex matrimonial finances involving trust assets.’

Due to the nature of her clients and the complex litigation in which they are involved, many of Lucy’s cases have involved issues arising at the intersection of family and media law. Her cases regularly involve complex business structures and valuation issues; Lucy also works on cases involving significant art collections.

Having practised for two years in Hong Kong, Lucy has considerable international experience. Lucy is regularly instructed in the preparation of nuptial agreements and, as a French speaker, has particular experience in preparing agreements in conjunction with French lawyers as well as across other jurisdictions.

Katie advises across the full breadth of family law with many of her cases involving an international element. She is a Resolution trained family mediator in financial and private law children matters.

Her specialist acumen is in cases involving international child relocation and disputes involving child arrangements. She advises on divorce, relationship breakdown and managing the associated financial matters. She also assists with the drafting of nuptial agreements. Her clients range from HNW individuals, international entrepreneurs and families of inherited wealth. 

Katie is ranked in Chambers HNW 2023 (Band 5 for Family/Matrimonial Finance: High Net Worth - London) as well as a Recommended Lawyer in Legal 500 2024.

Tom qualified as a Solicitor in 2008 and joined Birketts in January 2022. Tom is a Partner in our Family Team and heads up our London Family Department.   

Tom is a family lawyer and has accrued over 15 years of experience working at top tier firms, including Payne Hicks Beach (having worked very closely with Fiona Shackleton) and Vardags. Tom is also a member of Resolution.

Tom advises clients on all issues resulting from the breakdown of a marriage, civil partnership, or co-habitation, to include both financial and children matters, as well as pre and post-nuptial agreements and co-habitation agreements. Tom has significant experience in dealing with complex and high-value financial disputes (from the low millions to hundreds of millions), often involving trusts, and jurisdictional issues. He also advises on private children matters including residence and contact disputes, leave to remove cases, and financial claims on behalf of unmarried parents (“Schedule 1”, Children Act claims).

Tom’s client base tends to comprise high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals and his focus is always to try to conclude matters promptly and with the minimum of cost and acrimony.

Reported cases include:

ST  v TC [2022] EWFC 67

MCJ v MAJ (Financial Provision: Treatment of Non-Matrimonial Property) [2016] EWHC 1672 (Fam)

R (Cart) v Upper Tribunal [2010] EWCA Civ 859

CMEC v Mitchell [2010] EWCA Civ. 333

H v C [2009] 2 FLR 1540

Tom was named as a Recommended Family Lawyer 2023 by Spear’s 500.

Tom is a contributor to the trade press, most recently having completed a Q&A for Lexis Nexis focusing on the impact of coronavirus on financial provision.Tom graduated from Cardiff University with a BSc in Economics, Banking, and Finance, before undertaking his GDL and LPC at the University of West England.

Kate is a Partner and an experienced solicitor and mediator. She has over 17 years of experience dealing with a broad family law practice. She has particular expertise in advising on and negotiating financial settlements for individuals going through divorce, often with complex financial circumstances, and advising clients on wealth protection by drafting and advising on pre-nuptial agreements. Clients value Kate’s pragmatic and holistic approach to situations where her focus is always to support her clients and achieve a resolution in the best possible way. Kate also deals with unmarried couples and has an in-depth knowledge in the law surrounding trust of land act claims, cohabitee disputes and issues relating to the arrangements for children.  Kate is a recommended Lawyer in the Legal 500.

Kate has acted in cases where there have been trusts involved. Most recent cases involved a case where all the land and property were held in family trusts. The proceedings were heavily contested at all stages, which resulted in the trustees from several of the trusts being joined to the matrimonial proceedings. There were complex issues relating to trust law in this case that needed to be addressed so that the parties could determine what was to fall into the marital pot to be available for distribution between them.

Kate represented a HNW individual who previously worked in the US and then moved to Germany. The tax position in this case was complex owing to the cross jurisdictional issues, along with having to instruct a US pension actuary to deal with the sharing of the substantial US pension. There were legal arguments raised in this case relating to post separation accrual of assets which spanned six years. The parties successfully negotiated a settlement out of Court and prior to the Final Hearing proceeding.

Acting for a father in highly emotive and contested children act proceedings spanning several years and multiple applications. There were serious allegations raised by the mother in the case which required a fact-finding hearing. The case also involved cross jurisdictional issues and a leave to remove application as the parties were both Spanish nationals.  The conclusion was one that provided the father with shared care of his children and some much-needed stability for moving forward.

Gillian Crandles is managing partner and head of family law at Turcan Connell. She is accredited as a specialist in Family Law by the Law Society of Scotland and the only family lawyer in Scotland to be recognised as an Eminent Practitioner by Chambers UK. She is dual qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales and is often instructed in cross-border cases particularly in relation to asset protection including pre- and post-nuptial agreements and living together agreements. Gillian is an interdisciplinary collaborative practitioner, having been involved in the introduction of collaborative law to Scotland, and past secretary of the governing body, and is trained as a mediator and family law arbitrator.

Gillian has particular expertise in cases involving professionals, entrepreneurs, land and estate owners and those in the public domain. She deals with complex, high value cases which often involve the valuation of business assets, partnership issues and farming disputes. Many of her cases have an international element, including disputes regarding children and in respect of jurisdiction for financial claims.

Chris Pocock specialises in divorce and matrimonial finance in disputes between high net worth parties. He has a wealth of experience dealing with complexities involving corporate and other businesses and/or complex remuneration packages, as well as with cases involving offshore and onshore trust and other asset-holding structures. Many, if not most, of his cases involve international and cross-border aspects, either substantively or in relation to enforcement.

Chris is ‘a skilled advocate (2020 Legal 500); ‘Very commercial, sensible and pragmatic in his advice”. “He’s excellent in cases where the detail is important.” (Chambers & Partners 2020)’

Susie is a solicitor-advocate, an accredited specialist in Family Law and a collaborative practitioner. 

Susie is based in Aberdeen, but regularly appears in courts (including the Court of Session) across the country. She has particular expertise in cross border/international family law cases, child relocations and cohabitation cases (relating both to claims on separation and claims on death). Susie is a member of the Family Law Association (FLA) and of Consensus. She has authored books on the law of cohabitation and international issues in Scots family law.

Peter is a managing associate in our contentious trusts group with extensive experience in complex, high value trust disputes in the banking and financial services and private wealth sectors.

Fran Hipperson is a partner in the national Family Team, based in the London office, advising clients across the UK and internationally. She specialises in family law, with a particular focus on high-net-worth financial remedy cases involving complex issues such as family businesses, tax, jurisdictional disputes, and the division of non-matrimonial assets. Fran is frequently instructed to prepare pre- and post-nuptial agreements to safeguard pre-acquired assets or anticipated future wealth.

In addition to her financial work, she also advises on private children matters and disputes between cohabiting couples. Known for her commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes for her clients, Fran works tirelessly throughout proceedings, while always aiming—where appropriate—to resolve matters through strategic and effective negotiation.

Sarah handles all areas of family law with particular focus on financial applications, children, cohabitation and marital agreements. Sarah advises those involved in disputes concerning their financial arrangements following relationship breakdown, whether as spouses/cohabitants or third parties such as trustees. Many clients are international or have assets abroad. Sarah is experienced in advising civil partners. Children issues include acting for parents or other family members.

Sarah is experienced in dealing with cases with substantial and complex assets in various jurisdictions in particular where there are trusts, and where there are issues of non disclosure and disputed valuations. She drafts and advises on both marital and civil partnership agreements. Her children work includes acting in cases where one parent wishes to relocate to a different country with a child. Sarah is experienced in dealing with matters where there are allegations of drug or alcohol abuse. She is a trained mediator and a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.

Sarah is admitted to practise in England and Wales.