Expertise

Lisette has extensive experience in all aspects of private family law including, financial disputes on separation, divorce, children matters and cohabitation and pre-nuptial agreements. She regularly advises clients on cases involving complex jurisdictional issues to include the enforcement of foreign ‘maintenance’ orders. Lisette has secured financial remedies following a foreign divorce and maintenance for ‘abandoned spouses’.

Experience

Notable publishable cases include:

• Acted for wife in financial proceedings following a foreign divorce with husband from wealthy Iranian family. The husband took his wife to the UK against her will while pregnant and then some years later abandoned her in Iran without her passport, taking their child.
• Prepared a pre-nuptial agreement for an international couple in London, acting in tandem with the parties’ tax planning and ring-fencing key non-marital assets.
• Acted for a charity wishing to intervene in a Supreme Court case of Owens v Owens to raise awareness of the draconian effect divorce law has on survivors of domestic abuse.
• Acted for the applicant in Mittal [2013] EWCA Civ 1255 to include pro bono in the Court of Appeal. This case concerned the court’s power to stay proceedings where there were competing divorce proceedings in another (non EU) jurisdiction.

Recognition

• Gold winner of the Citywealth Future Leaders Family Lawyer of the Year – Partner Award 2021
• Shortlisted for WeAreTheCity Rising Star Awards 2018 and 2019
• Shortlisted for Jordans Associate Solicitor of the Year 2015

Career

Before joining Stewarts in 2022, Lisette trained as a barrister in 2005 and qualified as a solicitor in 2008. She was made a partner at Dawson Cornwell while on maternity leave. Lisette has been ranked by The Legal 500 as a Next Generation Partner since 2020. She gained her LLM in 2014, writing her dissertation on the EU Maintenance Regulation 4/2009.

Accreditations and Memberships

Lisette is the Founder and Chair of the EU Law Working Group, and a member of a Brexit and Family Law Working Group. She is also a member of Resolution, the Family Law Bar Association, Franco-British Lawyers Society, International Association of Lawyers (UIA) and International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA). She has recently become a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.

Lisette sits on the Law Society’s Family Law committee.

External Publications

• Contributed to papers regarding Brexit to include an advisory note on its implications for family law in the event of No Deal for family law practitioners on behalf of Resolution and the Law Society (January 2019)
• Speaker domestically and internationally on family law, with an emphasis on issues surrounding Brexit
• Co author of Cohabitation Law, practice and precedents, 8th edition

Personal

Lisette is passionate about water sports, in particular sailing (in and offshore), windsurfing and standup paddleboarding. She runs regularly and swims whenever she can.