Madhavi Kabra

Practice Areas

Madhavi is a specialist family law barrister who offers the rare combination of expertise and experience in both high-end matrimonial finance and Children Act matters. Her practice is principally in HNW and UHNW financial remedy work, but she is also superb and frequently instructed in concurrent private children matters (including child arrangements and internal/external relocation disputes).

Madhavi’s practice also encompasses international cases where there are issues of jurisdiction and forum non conveniens, as well as cases involving non-married couples (TOLATA and Schedule 1).

Over the years, Madhavi has represented individuals of many different nationalities and from various industries, including, by way of example, foreign Royalty, an English Duke, an internationally acclaimed Artist, a Premiership Footballer and a household-name Actor. She has also represented multinational companies and banks (as interveners), entrepreneurs, CEOs, bankers, and other well-known captains of industry.

Madhavi combines a rigorous intellectual approach with persuasive and effective advocacy in court, where she is very quick on her feet. Madhavi is lauded for being unflappable, robust, commercially savvy and quick with numbers. Her knowledge and experience of complex company structures, often multi-national in nature, and various remuneration schemes (LTIPs) is second to none. Outside of the courtroom, Madhavi builds an immediate rapport with her clients and is renowned for her approachability and compassion. Her clients trust her instantly and know that she will always fight hard for them.

Career

Call 2008

Professional Memberships

FLBA

Personal

Madhavi studied at the Henrietta Barnett Grammar School for Girls before reading Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

She was called to the Bar in 2008 following successful completion of the Bar Vocational Course at the College of Law in Bloomsbury.

Madhavi undertook pupillage in 2009-2010 under the supervision of Geoffrey Kingscote (now King’s Counsel), Justin Warshaw (now King’s Counsel) and Rachel Spicer.

Industry Sector Expertise

Financial Remedy proceedings, Private Children matters, Domestic Violence and Cohabitants’ disputes.

Work Highlights

Madhavi is instructed in cases of the utmost value and complexity (both on her own and led by Queen’s Counsel) including those with complicated trust structures, for example offshore trusts in tax havens and ‘old money’ trusts. She is also regularly instructed in cases with other types of sophisticated asset structures such as corporate entities with SPVs as well as cases with multiple and/or complex income streams.

Madhavi has also appeared in some of the most significant reported cases of recent years including:

Mansfield v Mansfield [2011] EWCA Civ 1056: one of the leading authorities on the treatment of personal injury awards in the context of financial remedy proceedings (led by Richard Todd QC).

Traversa v Freddi [2011] EWCA Civ 81: Madhavi appeared in the Court of Appeal (led by Justin Warshaw, now Queen’s Counsel) in this case, one of the foremost authorities concerning financial provision after a foreign divorce pursuant to Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984.

A v L [2011] EWHC 3150 (Fam): Madhavi has appeared on her own in the High Court in an appeal hearing before Mr Justice Moor concerning a significant departure from equality.

Madhavi also assisted Richard Todd QC and Geoffrey Kingscote (now Queen’s Counsel) in Granatino v Radmacher [2010] UKSC 42, the landmark case on prenuptial agreements.