Was Heather Mills right to act for herself?
March 22nd, 2008 admin Posted in News |
She claimed it was the “power of one” that did it — and that it saved her more than £600,000 in legal fees. But was Heather Mills’ decision to act for herself a triumph or disaster? And should it pave the way for a surge in DIY litigation?
Lawyers, Mills said as she celebrated her £24.3 million settlement, “couldn’t get anywhere near that figure”. Since she had ditched Mishcon de Reya, or they had ditched her, or both, we shall never know. But it seems unlikely that they would have done worse; and, some argue, would have done better.
Mills ended up with what most lawyers regarded as the right figure (it was widely predicted) — even if a fraction of the £125 million she had claimed. But she lost in every other sense: each claim was systematically demolished by the judge as excessive, ridiculous or without justification and she emerged in his stinging judgment as a greedy fantasist, “less than candid” and “devoid of reality”.
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