Two of Britain’s top female lawyers are set to go head to head over Madonna and Guy Richie’s divorce.
Madonna has hired Fiona Shackleton who acted for Sir Paul McCartney in his divorce from Heather Mills earlier this year while Richie is expected to be represented by Helen Ward who won a £48m settlement for the wife of insurance magnate John Charman in 2006.
Beverley Charman’s settlement is believed to be the biggest divorce settlement in English legal history.
The film director’s spokesman has confirmed he had hired Manches, the firm where Lady Ward is a partner. However the spokesman would not say which lawyer would represent Mr Ritchie and the legal firm refused to comment.
Arrangements for the couple's children are likely to be central to Madonna and Mr Ritchie's divorce. The singer has a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship. The couple have an eight-year-old son, Rocco, and adopted their younger son, David, three, from Malawi.
The divorce was announced in a joint statement released on Tuesday, nearly eight years after the couple's lavish wedding at Skibo castle, Scotland, on December 22, 2000.
