Settling your differences in court can be “unedifying”

Senior Judge, Mr Justice Holman, told Russian beauty queen and former Miss World, Ekaterina Parfenova Fields and her lawyer husband, Richard Fields,  to settle their differences out of Court as costs were set to reach £1.25million.

The couple whose financial dispute has already cost them £1million were due to embark on a ten day trial which would cost a further £200,000.

The couple are locked in a battle where Miss Parfenova Fields seeks a share of Mr Fields £26million fortune.    As well as a share of the family assets Mrs Parfenova Fields wants maintenance from Mr Field’s yearly income of $2million (£1.26m) from his American litigation company. She told the court she felt cheated when he previously closed down a company in which she owned 22.5 % shares before going out and setting up an identical company where he owned all the shares.

The Judge, Mr Justice Holman, said the couple had been married long enough to be able to settle their differences amicably.  He told them “You and Mr Fields were married to each other for roughly ten years, it really doesn’t have to be like this.  It should never have got this far”.

Mr Justice Holman told the Family Division of the High Court in London that “to carry on would be like taking part in a fencing match”.  He said he was “Filled with gloom to see the couple bickering in court when they should be sitting around a table negotiating a fair settlement”.  He told them “Think of what each of you could have done with a million pounds.   You should not be going on like this.  Frankly it’s very unedifying”.

The Judge, one of the most senior Judges of the Family Division in England made a plea for all divorce cases to be heard in public to bolster confidence in how divorce cases are handled.

The judge had previously denied a request from Stephen Trowell QC for Mr Fields for a private hearing.  He said he would only sit in private if price sensitive information was discussed