THE SPEAR’S 500 Legal


Javita Malhotra Blaser Mills


FOCUS Complex financial issues complex and international (she is


Blaser Mills Law senior associate Javita Malhotra’s forte lies in divorce cases with complicated finances. ‘My areas of competence extend over a wide range of family law matters’, Malhotra says. ‘I have particular expertise representing HNW clients in complex financial cases arising on divorce, I regularly act in cases involving multi-million pound assets, companies and international elements.’ The firm prides itself on personal


services, frequently undertaking cases of high value, often with complex jurisdictional elements. Two recent examples involved assets in excess of £30 million and acting for the successful party in an application for leave to remove a child to live in Dubai.


Jane McDonagh


Simons Muirhead Burton FOCUS International cases


jane.mcdonagh@smab.co.uk +44 (0)20 3206 2700 smab.co.uk


Philip McGuirk Payne Hicks Beach


FOCUSHigh-value remedies


Jane McDonagh, a senior lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in advising private clients on the issues arising from divorce and separation, heads Simons Muirhead Burton’s family department. Although she is well-regarded as a fearless practitioner, she is equally known for being a compassionate solicitor who really listens to her clients. Though every case is different and deeply personal to the client, she says the right application of these skills has been an important part of her success. She’s also a family mediator and a collaborative lawyer, who has expertise in a wide range of complex international cases, including those involving Sharia rules.


‘I would say we’ve had another stellar year,’ reports Philip McGuirk. In 2021 Payne Hicks Beach reported a £4 million year-on-year increase in revenue. McGuirk, along with Rebecca Cockcroft, is co-head of the family department at Payne Hicks Beach. He has observed rising demand among clients for private financial dispute resolution (FDR), and he also believes other methods of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) have much in their favour. ‘I can see private children mediation taking off.’ However, the days of ‘divorce


tourism’ may be numbered. ‘I think the court is coming down rather more harshly on speculative forum shopping – divorce tourists, claimants who are prepared to pursue highly speculative claims.’


Adviser profile Jane McDonagh, founder of Simons Muirhead Burton’s Family Law Department, could not be clearer that individuals navigating divorce or separation need a lawyer who is tough, tenacious, and undaunted by the challenges. But Jane also understands the need for compassion. Though every case is different and deeply personal to the client, the right application of these skills has been an important part of her success. ‘[Jane is] completely calm and considered in what can often be a highly charged emotional situation... always clear in her advice, and supportive when hard decisions need to be made... understanding, not only of the intricacies of the law, but also of the personal difficulties her clients face,’ says one client. Jane’s practice is financially


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a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers) and uses her niche expertise in Sharia law to great effect. She brings clients a ‘solid’ track record in the Family Courts and varied experience of dealing with cross-cultural challenges, family matters, children with special needs or the forensic analysis of business assets. A recent case for the wife of a politically sensitive HNW resulted in ‘years of hard-hitting litigation’, with assets spread across various jurisdictions. ‘We achieved an extremely good outcome for our client,’ she says, ‘despite significant headwinds’. Other highlights include highly contested proceedings involving Ukraine, Egypt, Oman, Iran and Dubai. McDonagh’s team covers everything from assisting with cohabitation and pre-nup agreements to forensic disclosures and child abduction cases. She stresses that each client’s circumstances are different, depending on where they are in their relationships.


Simon McKirgan Vardags


FOCUS Divorce, high-value cases


contact@vardags.com +44 (0)20 7458 4301 vardags.com


Vardags’ senior director Simon McKirgan focuses on ultra-high- value divorce cases, which can often involve assets in the hundreds of millions of pounds. The team works with UHNWs and HNWs, adopting ‘a deeply forensic approach’. He has a wealth of experience in the most complex international disputes where assets are often locked away in businesses, trusts and offshore structures and involve petitions in multiple jurisdictions. Ultimately however, McKirgan says his work is about more than money. ‘It’s hugely satisfying to know that you are making a real difference to someone during a very difficult time in their lives,’ he says.


I think the court is coming down rather more harshly on


speculative forum shopping – divorce tourists, claimants who are prepared to pursue highly


speculative claims Philip McGuirk


Payne Hicks Beach


Adviser profile Where possible, McKirgan will proceed with matters collaboratively with the other side. Where this is not possible, he represents clients forcibly, and they are never in any doubt that he’s in their corner. He is adept at exploring all avenues to achieve the best possible result, always putting his clients’ needs front and centre in every case. For celebrity cases, he is experienced at handling the unique sensitivities surrounding them. This year, he has acted for the husband in the high-profile divorce of the scions of two allegedly billionaire families, as well as a wife in a case in which he secured a settlement of significantly over a hundred million pounds, both involving complex financial issues and assets.


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