Partner Keystone Law 48 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1JF, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 3319 3700 | Mob: +44 (0)7703 625058 www.keystonelaw.com Family Law Lawyer of the Year 69 www.lawyer-monthly.com Lawyer Monthly Women in Law Awards 2024 Chrissie Cuming Walters Please tell us a little about your career as a lawyer. I have always been a lawyer, despite a few short career breaks for personal reasons and a few changes to my areas of practice. My career in law will soon span two decades, two countries and four states. I originally practised corporate and commercial law, including white collar crime, and later moved into pharmaceutical defence litigation. However, after I represented myself in my own nofault divorce, I knew I had found the area in which I wanted to practice and where I could truly make a difference. When I came to this jurisdiction from the US, I qualified as a solicitor here and have since only practised family law. I’ve never looked back. How do you help your clients to navigate complex financial settlements? The easiest way to navigate complex financial settlements is often, in fact, the most difficult. It comes with helping the client to be able to look at what can be a highly charged and emotional time as more of a business transaction. This is because when one can look at it as a balance sheet exercise and remove the myriad of emotions surrounding those figures, then it can become a lot clearer as to what may need to move where in order to achieve a fair outcome, an equality of income, or indeed meet the needs of any minor children, as may be the case. It is quite often the emotion which makes United Kingdom Chrissie Cuming Walters is a dual-qualified solicitor and US attorney who specialises in family law. She also has extensive expertise in the financial issues arising from relationship breakdowns, and worked in the offices of the general counsel in a multinational brokerage house and a securities regulation think tank prior to embarking on her career in family law. In addition to spouses and partners, Chrissie also regularly acts for cohabitees on relationship breakdown, especially in cases that involve property interests. She is often called to advise on the application of the ToLATA in cases where a partner’s ownership or rights in a property has not been recorded. Chrissie and has dealt with the courts at all levels, including the UK supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. She regularly deals injunctions with cases involving domestic abuse. Where appropriate, Chrissie is able to guide clients through the alternative dispute resolution process and provide assistance in negotiations. If unavoidable, she can call upon a wealth of experience as a trained litigator and advocate.
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