HAILED as Britain’s top divorce lawyer Ayesha Vardag boasts an unmatched reputation of making the legal process for divorcing couples quicker and fairer.
She specialises in high-end divorce and family law for international and high-net-worth individuals, and leads a team of the country’s best lawyers.
In 2005, she founded Vardags, which quickly became one of the most successful law firms in the UK. However, in the beginning she had no clients and three children to support, that is when she decided to "network like mad", she said.
Time magazine has recently featured Vardag as “The Diva of Divorce”. Vardags, her firm, is consulted on some of the biggest legal issues and cases by outlets such as CNN, BBC News, Newsnight and the Radio 4 Today Programme. The firm also advises heads of state regarding matters pertaining to both English and international law.
In recent years, Vardag and her team have achieved several notable business successes. One of the most significant is the establishment of a service arm to cater to the needs of high-net-worth individuals. It provides clients with a dedicated team of lawyers and support staff who provide bespoke legal solutions and personalised advice. This has helped the firm to phenomenally expand its client base.
Similarly, Vardags has also expanded its footprint internationally by entering into partnerships with leading law firms across the world, allowing the firm to offer its clients a truly global service.
Under Vardag’s leadership, the firm had successfully added a range of digital tools and technologies that allow it to offer a more efficient and streamlined service to clients. This includes the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate routine tasks and improve decision-making, thereby helping the firm to reduce costs and improve the overall client experience.
Vardag has been a key figure in the development of the firm's pro bono work. Her firm has been actively involved in providing legal services to the poor and marginalised who are unable to afford the expenses. She has also been working on women's and children's rights and other social welfare issues. This has Vardags to strengthen its reputation as a socially responsible business and has inturn helped Vardag to build a positive image among the legal community.
Born in Oxford to an English mother and a Pakistani father, Vardag grew up hardly knowing her Dad, after he returned to his home country, when she was a child. She was raised by her single mother. She studied law at Cambridge University.
Vardag has always been a trailblazer, breaking down barriers and defying stereotypes in the legal profession. She began her legal career as a trainee solicitor at a large, traditional law firm in London. However, she soon realised that the traditional approach to divorce and family law was not her cup of tea. Vardag wanted to offer her clients a more modern, holistic approach that focused on their needs and goals, rather than simply trying to win a legal battle.
Vardag worked in financial and commercial law in London until 2000. Her own "not amicable divorce" made her want to switch to family law, and specifically handling divorce cases, she had told BBC News in an interview.
She said: "My own divorce lawyer hired me. While I found financial law intellectually very interesting, very few people directly cared about what you were doing.
By contrast, while I found family law just as thrilling there was also a burning imperative to it. You were fighting for people to keep their homes or their businesses or to stay in contact with their kids; such fundamental things."
Vardags has been recognised as one of the leading family law firms in the country by legal directories such as Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500 and Spear's.
One of Vardag’s key strengths is her ability to think strategically and creatively. She has a deep understanding of the legal issues surrounding divorce and family law which helps her to develop innovative solutions for her clients. For example, she has been involved in some of the most high-profile divorce cases in the UK, and has been able to secure favourable settlements for her clients by thinking outside the box and using unconventional legal strategies.
Another key strength of Vardag is her ability to connect with her clients on a personal level. She understands that going through a divorce or a family law dispute can be one of the most difficult experiences a person can face, and she provides her clients with the emotional support and guidance they need to navigate this difficult time. This approach has earned her the reputation of being a "compassionate warrior" in the legal community.
“Divorce law is exciting – you have to balance tough advice with supporting people in a sensitive, delicate situation. It’s a great mix between being very logical as a lawyer, and on the other hand, being very creative intellectually, and telling a story that’s compelling, so that you can present your client in the best possible way to the judge,” Vardag recently told The Mail.
She is also a passionate advocate for women's rights. Vardag has been involved in several path-breaking cases that have helped to change the legal landscape for women in the UK.
A classic example is the landmark case of Radmacher v. Granatino, where she represented the wife, which established a new principle in English law that prenuptial agreements should be given weight in divorce proceedings. This case was widely covered by the media and was considered as a landmark decision by legal experts. Vardag has also fought for the introduction of the ‘no fault’ divorce, which has just come into force in the UK and Wales.
