Lee Giles

Lee has been working within family law since 2014 whereby he started running his own caseload of family files in a busy high street office as a paralegal prior to qualifying as a Solicitor in 2018. He joined the Family Finance team at TV Edwards in 2024.

Lee’s focus is always on the client and how best to approach their legal issue on account of their needs, individual circumstances and own personal priorities concerning their desired outcome.

Lee is a member of Resolution which commits to the management of family issues in a non-confrontation and amicable manner. As a result, Lee is very keen to settle matters wherever possible and recognises the effect that Court proceedings have on his client’s which go over and above merely cost implications.

However, Lee as with any good Family Lawyer respects that in certain instances an application to the Court or other adjudicated process is the best avenue forward for the client when for example the other party is being unreasonable, failing to accurately disclose their financial position or there is a particular novel legal issue involved.

Given the clear and well understood drawbacks in making an application to Court (loss of control, costs risks, emotional stress, time delay, effect on children, etc) Lee is keen to explore other methods of dispute resolution with his clients when it becomes clear that a binding adjudication (not necessarily from a Judge) is required. For example, parties can agree to engage Arbitration or a Private Financial Dispute Resolution hearing via agreement.

Lee is an experienced and competent advocate, he is therefore able to represent his own client’s at Court at certain hearings when it is suitable to do so according to the circumstances of the individual case. This avoids the automatic need to instruct a barrister.

Advises on following areas of law:

• Divorce, Dissolution of Civil Partnerships and Judicial Separation.
• Financial implications of Dissolution of Civil Partnerships and Judicial Separation.
• Financial implications of the breakdown of relationships (unmarried couples).
• Disputes concerning children following the breakdown of a relationship.
• Protection from Harassment concerning domestic abuse.

Notable/reported cases

• Conducted a matter which involved analysis and understanding of extensive and complicated medical evidence which culminated in a 3 week final hearing for which he instructed KC and Junior Counsel.
• Conducted his own advocacy at a contested Final Hearing concerning a complicated children matter involving multiple intervenors and secured a positive final outcome for the client.
• Secured an Occupation Order (in addition to a Non-Molestation Order) on a short notice basis for a Wife who had suffered non-physical domestic abuse for a significant period of time (coercive and financial control, covert recordings in the household, etc)
• Secured a cross-jurisdiction disclosure order concerning assets held abroad which the Wife failed to disclose. As a result, Lee was able to agree a favourable settlement for the Husband prior to the Final Hearing as a result of an add back.
• Supported a Wife in analysis of complicated financial disclosure provided by the Husband (several bank account across three jurisdictions, various share / investment accounts, etc) to reveal true valuation and undeclared income sources.
• Secured an enhanced settlement reached via agreement between the parties (same sex relationship) which was significantly more favourable than the agreement reached at mediation. The enhanced settlement was based on the reasonable housing needs of Lee’s client not being met by the initial agreement and Lee’s client feeling that the mediation did not account for the dispute of factual issues for example the disputed valuation of the Family Home.

Memberships

• Member of Resolution
• Law Society of England and Wales.

Recommendations