Alistair Myles is one of the founding partners, along with Julian Ribet and Laura Geraghty, of specialist family law boutique, Ribet Myles LLP. He shares a day in his working life with The Brief.

Julian, Laura and I set up Ribet Myles LLP in spring 2021. After many years in practice in a bigger firm, we saw an opportunity to create a specialist boutique law firm working for high and ultra-high net worth individuals and families who live and work across the world.

Over the course of the past three years, we have seen the team go from strength to strength, gaining continued recognition from directories and legal rankings such as The Times Best Law Firms, and growing from a team of seven to an award-winning team of 20 staff members currently.

The London family law world is small, we all know each other and there are some exceptional lawyers working in our field, so it is a privilege to work amongst them.

Our role is to help to support people through what may be one of the most traumatic experiences in their life.

Divorce is renowned for being stressful and it can be a very draining process. We try to ease this and make the process as pain-free as possible.

We also support people through disputes relating to children, financial matters and marital planning by way of pre- and post-nuptial agreements.

A bright start

An early riser by habit, every day begins with exercise after I wake at 6.00 am. If I’m working in the office, I’ll cycle the eight miles to Chancery Lane and if I’m planning to be at home, I’ll go to the gym for an early workout.

After that, a quick bite to eat for breakfast and then I tend to be at my desk by 8.30am at the latest. Then it’s straight into emails.

The nature of my role as a founding partner in a relatively young boutique family law firm means I get a lot of emails overnight. These range from new enquiries to emails from existing clients or messages that are just part and parcel of the admin that running a business can produce. Every day is different, and each morning brings its own set of queries.

Many of our clients message overnight because they are based abroad. We frequently work with international clients, people who have a connection to the UK but live globally.

Many of our UK-based clients also get in touch outside of working hours: they might work long hours, have childcare or caring responsibilities. For some people, the evenings are the only time they have available to deal with the admin that divorcing or other family law matters, such as pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, generates.

For the rest of the morning, I try and set aside some focus time. Tasks range from drafting complex offer letters to solicitors on the other side to working through disclosure documents, responding to offers or solicitors’ correspondence or reviewing documents from counsel.

Full disclosure

One of the things that I particularly enjoy is the financial disclosure process. Unfortunately for many of our female clients, it’s not uncommon for husbands to want to hide their true wealth in order to avoid their financial liabilities on divorce.

Having been in this job for as long as I have, I can now spot quite easily when full disclosure hasn’t been provided.

Following the money and getting my clients the settlement they are entitled to is always a rewarding experience, although it tends to involve a lot of hard work, and quite often requires the Court to step in.

If I’m in court, I’ll need to get myself over to either the High Court or Central London Court. Our central London location means I can walk to either, in just five minutes, which is great.

Private Financial Dispute Remedies Hearings

Many of our clients now choose to take the financial aspects of their divorce outside of the court process, and for this reason, I can often be found at a Private Financial Dispute Remedies Hearing (PFDR). For clients with multiple properties, shareholdings, familial, inherited or earned wealth, these lawyer-managed hearings can provide a great opportunity to reach a financial settlement within divorce, and avoid having to be heard in Court.

Usually held in either barristers’ chambers or sometimes in a nice hotel, a PFDR allows the parties’ respective cases to be heard and guided, by an independent judge in nice surroundings, and without the pressure and uncertainty of a court hearing.

Lunchtime catch-up

A break for lunch often sees me getting out and about with my contacts and referrers, which usually means a good meal, or coffee, to catch up and share insights.

Team training sessions

Afternoons are usually more of the same, although as a firm we also try and organise regular monthly training sessions for the team. We’ll tend to invite a barrister or other expert into the office to talk to us about a hot new area of law or to provide a refresher.

These sessions are particularly important for the younger members of the team, but it’s helpful for all of us to ensure we are up-to-date on changes in practice and emerging trends.

We tend to decamp en masse to the pub after these workshops, which is great for maintaining and building relationships within the team. Working from home has its benefits but it’s also so important to meet and work together regularly.

End of the day

At the end of the day, I’ll go home and spend time with my family. On my commute I like to listen to podcasts on history or motoring. I’m also a bit partial to Desert Island Discs.

Once I’m home, there are always more emails to deal with and these continue to arrive throughout the evening, but I try to put work to one side by 7.00 pm.

I go to bed early(ish), usually between 9 and 10pm and I like to read trashy novels, in particular thrillers, as a bit of escapism. I’m a big fan of Jack Reacher and the Bosch novels, incidentally both of which are now available as TV series.

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