NEW DELHI: A Solicitor’s mistake turned out to be an unfortunate incident for an estranged couple in the UK. A couple, who were married for 21 years, accidentally divorced when a London law firm mixed up their information with another pair’s.
The couple, referred to as Mr and Mrs William, were separated in 2023 but still attempting to agree on the financial arrangements for their split, and the Solicitors at the London firm Vardags, headed by Ayesha Vardag, used an online portal to mistakenly apply for a final order for them, The Guardian reported.
Vardeg, the self-styled “diva of divorce” realised her mistake after the two days of the incident. Describing the error as being simply that of someone at Vardags “clicking the wrong button,” she applied to the high court to rescind the final divorce order but the court rejected the plea and said, “There is a strong public policy interest in respecting the certainty and finality that flows from a final divorce order and maintaining the status quo that it has established.”
Judge McFarlane, the president of the family division, added that it was necessary to correct the impression that the online divorce portal would “deliver a final order of divorce where one was not wanted simply by ‘the click of a wrong button’”.
“Like many similar online processes, an operator may only get to the final screen where the final click of the mouse is made after travelling through a series of earlier screens,” he said.
McFarlane clarified that the legal team had initially intended to file for a divorce on behalf of a different client. However, due to an oversight, they mistakenly accessed the electronic case file for ‘Williams v Williams’ and proceeded to submit an application for a final order in that particular case, according to The Guardian.
He explained that solicitors from Vardags, representing the wife, utilized the online portal without the explicit instruction or authorization from their client. McFarlane noted that the online system processed the request swiftly, as per its usual efficiency, granting the divorce order for the Williamses in a remarkably short span of 21 minutes.
The couple, referred to as Mr and Mrs William, were separated in 2023 but still attempting to agree on the financial arrangements for their split, and the Solicitors at the London firm Vardags, headed by Ayesha Vardag, used an online portal to mistakenly apply for a final order for them, The Guardian reported.
Vardeg, the self-styled “diva of divorce” realised her mistake after the two days of the incident. Describing the error as being simply that of someone at Vardags “clicking the wrong button,” she applied to the high court to rescind the final divorce order but the court rejected the plea and said, “There is a strong public policy interest in respecting the certainty and finality that flows from a final divorce order and maintaining the status quo that it has established.”
Judge McFarlane, the president of the family division, added that it was necessary to correct the impression that the online divorce portal would “deliver a final order of divorce where one was not wanted simply by ‘the click of a wrong button’”.
“Like many similar online processes, an operator may only get to the final screen where the final click of the mouse is made after travelling through a series of earlier screens,” he said.
McFarlane clarified that the legal team had initially intended to file for a divorce on behalf of a different client. However, due to an oversight, they mistakenly accessed the electronic case file for ‘Williams v Williams’ and proceeded to submit an application for a final order in that particular case, according to The Guardian.
He explained that solicitors from Vardags, representing the wife, utilized the online portal without the explicit instruction or authorization from their client. McFarlane noted that the online system processed the request swiftly, as per its usual efficiency, granting the divorce order for the Williamses in a remarkably short span of 21 minutes.
