As if getting divorced wasn’t already expensive enough for rich and famous people!
According to newly revealed documentation, Britain’s high-profile divorce lawyer Fiona Shackleton pads bills and rips off her clients during their divorces.
Some of Fiona’s famous clients include Madonna and Sir Paul McCartney, both of whom were apparently charged “hundreds of thousands of pounds more than the hourly rate would have demanded.”
Lady Shackleton also represented both the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York in their divorces AND she currently reps Prince William and Prince Harry!
Here’s what Shackleton wrote in an email regarding a heavily marked up bill that was paid by Madonna:
“This is good news as I was worried that they were cross about the bill. We obviously shd have asked for more?!!!!! F x.”
And here’s what the lawyer’s firm Payne Hicks Beach had to say about the email:
“We would have thought it is obvious that the internal email dated 15 December 2008 was intended to be humorous, from its punctuation alone. We are satisfied that the bills rendered were fair and reasonable for the work in fact done.”
├óΓé¼┼ôIt should be obvious from the SRA├óΓé¼Γäós conclusion that often substantially more work can be done than is formally recorded at the time”
“You are quite wrong to treat only the time which is formally recorded as the time and the basis upon which a client can be properly billed. In relation to clients, and in particular high profile ones who are often out of the country and lead particularly busy lives, extensive work on complex issues is done at anti-social hours and under considerable pressure.”
What do U think? Is Britain’s top divorce lawyer overcharging her clients? Or is she being fair and reasonable???