Our client and her husband had a long marriage, lasting over 30
years. They were both approaching retirement age when they decided
to get divorced. Our client had spent time caring for the children
within the marriage, whilst her husband had concentrated on his
career and he was therefore on a substantially higher salary with
potentially great pension provisions.
Our client initially instructed a solicitor and a barrister to
represent her in ancillary relief proceedings. This was a
classic case for equal division of capital and pensions.
However, at a First Appointment hearing in November 2004 the
barrister was ill prepared and had completely misunderstood the
pension provisions prevailing at the time. Our client was pressured
to accept a settlement and an order was drafted which meant she
would in fact receive much less than 50% of her husband’s
pension.
Expert evidence estimated the client’s loss at around
£200,000.
We conducted this case on a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) with
After the Event (ATE) insurance and in May 2010, issued a professional
negligence claim against the barrister.
At a 'without prejudice' meeting in October 2011 we agreed
settlement and obtained damages of about £160,000 plus costs for
our client.
Chun
Truong
Associate Solicitor, Dispute Resolution
Hodge Jones & Allen LLP