Geraldine Morris warns family lawyers to tread carefully around the CPR
The mere mention of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) 1998 is enough to make the blood of many family lawyers run cold. Family lawyers are often much more at ease with the Family Proceedings Rules (FPR)1991, but the recent decision in M v douglaM [2009] EWHC 1941(Fam) highlights the need to be fully au fait with the intricacies of the CPR, in particular in relation to costs.
The background
The key events in M v M took place at the pre-trial review only seven weeks before trial when counsel for the wife (W) raised the issue of the a transfer to her of the husband’s (H) shares in his company. This was greeted with what was described as “a storm of protest” however, the matter having been raised Ryder J made case management orders at the pre-trial review and gave W leave to file an amended Form A. There then followed a series of events relating to W’s application for a transfer of the shares:
W travelled to New York to see Mr D, H’s business
