An oligarch’s ex, the top divorce lawyer and the ‘£600m battle’ over superyacht
WHEN oligarch ex-wife Ta t i a n a Soroka launched a case to sue her lawyers for allegedly failing to bag his superyacht she hoped for up to £600million.
This was more than the £453million she received in what was Britain’s biggest divorce settlement – an award won by top solicitor Fiona Shackleton’s firm in 2016.
Ms Soroka, 51, claimed she was let down when the company, Payne Hicks Beach ( PHB), allegedly missed chances to have her former husband Farkhad Akhmedov’s ten-deck floating palace Luna seized in Miami.
But in documents filed to the High Court in London, PHB says the Ms Soroka’s claim ‘must fail’, stating that her ‘entire claim is based on a false factual premise’.
Baroness Shackleton is nicknamed ‘ Steel Magnolia’ for her ruthless pursuit of her clients’ interests.
She represented King Charles and Sir Paul McCartney in their divorces – memorably having a jug of water poured over her by Heather Mills after she was awarded just £24million of the £125million she had sought from the former Beatle.
In Ms Soroka’s case, matters soured after the settleinterested ment money failed to materialise despite oil and gas tycoon Mr Akhmedov, 68, being ordered to pay up by a judge.
Ms Soroka instructed PHB to chase him for the money.
Her legal claim, which was lodged last month, states that she spoke to Baroness Shackleton and another of the firm’s solicitors on the phone in January 2017 and told them that her ex-husband was in Miami with his 377ft yacht.
Built for former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, it is the world’s second largest so- called expedition yacht and has two helipads, a pool and a mini submarine. Ms Soroka claims she asked PHB to ‘explore options in Miami’ for having the yacht, valued at about £200million, seized.
In documents filed to the court, PHB denies acting negligently. It claims Ms Soroka told Baroness Shackleton in a phone call that she was ‘not in impounding the ship’ – preferring to pursue Mr Akhmedov’s money and valuable artworks instead.
PHB said Ms Soroka ‘ knew that attempting aggressive enforcement action against the Luna would be regarded by Farkhad as wholly unacceptable ( especially when his girlfriend Anna was on board and due to give birth very shortly) and would have greatly inflamed the already difficult relationship between her, Farkhad and their two sons’.
It said that even if Ms Soroka had instructed PHB to try to have the yacht seized, she would not have been able to afford the likely costs involved in doing so and had ‘no realistic means of obtaining significant funding’.
PHB claims she was ‘invariably late in paying [its] bills, stating that, in March 2017, for instance, she owed a sum in the region of £300,000’.
The exact sum that Ms Soroka is seeking has not been specified.
But her claim states that if PHB had acted differently, there was a ‘very real likelihood’ she would have received the ‘full sum due’ under the divorce settlement or a significant proportion of it.
It says Ms Soroka ‘ now claims from PHB damages representing the value of that lost opportunity’.
The Mail has calculated that the maximum value of this ‘ lost opportunity’ is £303million. Added to other costs Ms Sorka is claiming, the total she hopes to recoup appears close to £600million.
It is understood that PHB disputes the estimation of the sum being sought, which is described on the court
‘Divorce money never arrived’
‘Late paying her bills’
claim form as ‘significantly in excess of £10million’.
PHB said any potential liability would be limited to the value of its insurance cover.
Ms Soroka did not respond to a request for comment.
PHB said: ‘We have submitted a comprehensive defence which sets out how Ms Soroka’s claim is based on a false factual premise and is legally misconceived. Payne Hicks Beach remains proud of the result we achieved for Ms Soroka including the very significant award we obtained for her. She has not suffered any financial loss that can be recovered from this firm.’