Meet the team – Carolyn Green

This month we introduce you to Cheltenham Family Law Partner Carolyn Green. She tells us about the courtroom series that made her consider a career in law, the time she handed a £1m cheque to a client and the time she was on the front page of the Independent. Read on to find out more…

What first attracted you to a career in law?

A television series called “Crown Court”. It was a lunchtime daily programme Monday to Friday of 30 minutes which had a fictional Crown Court trial every week with actors playing prosecution, defence, witnesses and the Judge and members of the public being the jury. I watched it between the ages of 7-11 and was hooked.

What sort of advice do you provide and to what sort of clients?

I specialise in divorce/separation and financial remedy cases usually containing complex issues which sometimes can be cross jurisdictional. My clients can literally be anyone – in the past have been retired pop stars, solicitors, spouses of very well known celebrities, an array of medical consultants, a well known sculptor to name but a few.

What’s your most memorable legal experience and why?

There are two – one for a client and one for me.

For the client – the first time I handed a client a cheque for £1m. It was approximately 20 years ago, it was a cheque and not an electronic transfer. It made me feel that all the hard work of years of legal training had been worth it because I had made a difference to that person’s life. He bought me a very large bunch of flowers!

For myself – being on the front page of the Independent with a short article about the seasonal trend of divorces spiking after summer holidays. They added a small cartoon with it of someone on a desert island under a palm tree with a bottle floating towards them inside of which was a divorce petition!

What is your number one top tip for clients?

Try to resolve as many issues as you can. Dispute will simply add to your legal fees and there are better ways of spending your money, e.g. on your children or yourself.