About us

VARDAGS ARE BOTH THE ROLLS ROYCE AND THE FERRARI OF THE FAMILY LAW WORLD... THEY TAKE ON UNWINNABLE CASES AND WIN, THEY FIGHT THE UNFIGHTABLE AND SUCCEED
- Legal 500

About Us

“World-renowned” in “making the law work for the global elite” (Spears 500), Vardags specialises in complex and challenging, high-profile, and international litigation cases for a predominantly ultra-high net worth client base. Our outstanding practice involves the full ambit of highly complex children matters, including parental child abduction (Hague and non-Hague), proceedings under the inherent jurisdiction, wardship applications under the 1996 and 1980 Hague Conventions, enforcement and recognition of foreign orders, as well as injunctions and protection orders.

We have a strong focus on obtaining the best possible outcomes and “life-transforming results” (The Times) for our clients (either through the courts, or behind closed doors) and achieve this time again by outlitigating our opponents and pursuing the strongest possible intellectual arguments, leaving no stone unturned.

Our team have been at the forefront of cases that have set legal precedents, shaping the landscape of international family law:

• In AJ v FJ [2024] EWFC 356, we successfully appealed the mother’s registration for reciprocal enforcement of a child maintenance order under The Hague Child Support Convention 2007 – the first known successful appeal of its kind.
• In the “battle royale” case of MG v GM (MPS LSPO) (Rev1) [2022] EWFC 8 we successfully defended Hague 1980 summary return proceedings prior to this application, defended an application for permission to appeal the Hague decision, and obtained a very substantial maintenance pending suit and legal service provision order for the wife despite the respondent claiming he had no money.
• We have provided specialist advice on inter-country adoption, for example, we previously represented a couple seeking to adopt a child from an Arab State where adoption is a more convoluted and rare process, after the couple had been advised by an adoption agency to not seek adoption in that country.
• We have obtained what is believed to be a record interim child maintenance award against a member of a foreign royal family member.
• In CA v DR (Schedule 1 Children Act 1989: Pension Claim) [2021] EWFC 21, we highlighted a defect in the law whereby unmarried primary carers, typically mothers, ought to have provision for pensions where they are not working and able to get one for themselves.
• In Y v A Healthcare NHS Trust & Ors [2018] EWCOP 18, we represented the wife in a landmark legal case, securing a unique ruling from The Court of Protection to extract and store sperm from her dying husband for posthumous use in fertility treatment.

Our team is no stranger to clients facing serious allegations or one parent taking extreme measures to sever the child's relationship with the other parent or extended family. Our expertise in international children law has been instrumental in cases where a parent threatens to abduct a child or has already done so, and we consistently secure justice for clients despite systemic delays, wrongful procedural allocations, and obstructive tactics.

We are trusted to handle matters involving high-net-worth individuals and public figures, and we have exceptional skill in handling emotionally complex and unconventional children law cases.