Viberts partner Advocate Rose Colley, who also chairs the Jersey Consumer Council, said that the idea had evolved from ‘quite scathing’ comments made in 2014 by the Bailiff Sir Michael Birt in a judgment on a case she had been dealing with.
‘The fees were several hundred thousand pounds but the pot of matrimonial money was less than a million,’ said the advocate.
‘It was a relatively complex case, but not that complex. I am pretty clear that the client and his wife, if they had realised the extent of the costs much earlier on, would have chosen probably to settle it, rather than to have a six-day hearing before the Royal Court.’
‘That really made me think probably what I had thought for a long time – that something has to be done, in terms of making clear to clients what sort of fee commitment they are entering into.’
Read more in The Business in Wednesday’s JEP.
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