OUR SERVICE:

A team of four lawyers under Alan Kaufman's leadership provide pragmatic advice to individuals wishing to solve/prevent family disputes. They provide a particularly personal and sensitive service, aware always of the confidential nature of a client's instructions and when necessary are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The family department have:

• extensive experience advising on pre-nups, post-nups, civil partnerships, divorces, child access and adoption disputes
• track record of dealing with individuals with complex financial arrangements e.g. offshore accounts, share options, music rights etc.
• a commercial approach to personal affairs - we're fundamentally a commercial law firm and bring the professionalism and service expected by commercial and corporate clients to our private clients
• an international element to their work: with London being the second or first home for many successful individuals it's not unusual for disputes to have an international element to them. Alan Kaufman has been elected a fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers as a result of his work. He is particularly experienced in working with Russian individuals
• trained Collaborative Lawyers and a commitment in all cases to negotiate where possible rather than litigate
• close contacts with accountants, financial advisers and other intermediaries who are often needed to bolster a case or to assist in the investigation of a spouse's finances

RECENT EXPERIENCE ADVISING:

• the Head of Tax of a multi-national oil corporate dealing with a Court of Appeal application by his Australian wife to reverse financial order and cross border hearings in England and Australia relating to children
• the wife of a high profile public figure in the UK.  The team advised the client in relation to a divorce and an ancillary relief dispute.  The husband in this case is a high profile figure and Chief Executive of a major public institution.  This involved liaising with Indian advisers as there are assets in India as well as the UK
• a major figure in the property industry and a senior officer of a major public charity on his divorce.  The team negotiated and finalised a multi million pound settlement
• the wife of a celebrated Oscar winning director in a cross border divorce matter in Italy, US and England
• one of the parties in a civil partnership who is seeking, in one of the first cases of its kind, to adopt the two children of his partner
• advising on a high profile child abduction case involving Russian parents
• negotiating a pre-nuptial agreement to cover England, California and Maryland to ring-fence future substantial inheritances