My own ‘lies of the land’ story goes back to 1997–2002 in the Family Division (see Dominic Regan’s ‘Lie(s) of the land’, NLJ 6 November 2020, p22). No reported decision emerged from the case. The proceedings involved two phases. For phase one, the cast was Mr Justice Singer, my client JS, by then retired from flying for British Airways (BA) but still flying commercially, his still-dependant wife PS, Lucy Theis (a barrister, now Mrs Justice Theis) and PS’s witness G.
Phase two saw Valentine Le Grice QC replace Theis, PS’s mother, who retained Richard Todd (now QC), and Mr Justice Bennett, as well as JS, PS and G. Of the lawyers, only I stayed the two phases. Singer J and Val died within days of one another in December 2018.
The case turned on the fact that, when JS could finally file a five-year petition (living apart for five years), the law was—at that time—that PS could no longer seek
