Protecting Your Reputation and Privacy in Divorce

For those in the public eye, keeping a private matter private takes real care.

For a well known sportsperson, a divorce is not only a personal matter but a potential story. Details that would stay private for most people can attract press and social media attention, and once information is public it cannot be taken back. Protecting your reputation and your privacy has to be planned from the very start.

We advise high-profile clients on keeping their family affairs confidential, and on protecting their reputation throughout a separation. Discretion is at the heart of how we work.

How private are family proceedings?

Family proceedings are held in private, and the public cannot attend. However, the position is not as closed as many people assume. Accredited journalists and legal bloggers are now able to attend many financial remedy hearings and report on them, subject to rules designed to protect anonymity.

In other words, going to court no longer guarantees that your affairs stay entirely out of view. For anyone with a public profile, that makes the choice of how to resolve matters all the more important.

Staying out of the public courtroom

The surest way to keep a matter genuinely private is to resolve it away from the public court process altogether. Options such as family mediation, private financial dispute resolution and arbitration allow disputes to be settled confidentially, on your own timetable, and without the risk of a reporter in the room.

As a firm with experienced mediators and a strong dispute resolution practice, we can advise on the most private and effective route for your situation, and keep you out of the headlines wherever possible.

Confidentiality and protecting your reputation

Alongside the choice of process, there are further ways to protect your position, including confidentiality provisions in any agreement, careful handling of documents and information, and, where necessary, orders to restrict what can be reported.

Where reputation management is needed, we can work with public relations and specialist advisers, so the legal and reputational sides of a matter are handled together rather than in isolation.

Planning for privacy from the start

Privacy is easiest to protect when it is considered early, before positions harden and before anything reaches a courtroom. The decisions made at the very beginning of a matter often determine how private it stays.

We build privacy into our advice from the first conversation, and that first conversation is, of course, entirely confidential.

Frequently asked questions

Can journalists really report on my divorce?

In many financial remedy cases, accredited journalists and legal bloggers can now attend hearings and report on them, subject to rules intended to protect anonymity. It is no longer safe to assume that court proceedings remain completely private. We can advise on how the current rules would apply to you and how best to protect your privacy.

How can I keep my divorce out of the press?

The most effective step is usually to resolve matters away from the public court, through confidential routes such as mediation, private financial dispute resolution and arbitration, supported by confidentiality provisions. We can advise on the most private approach for your situation and act to protect your reputation throughout.

Is my first conversation with you confidential?

Yes, entirely. Everything you discuss with us is treated in the strictest confidence from the outset. Discretion is central to how we work, particularly for clients in the public eye.