New For Christmas, Divorce Advice Gift Certificates
When a marriage hits the skids, the spouse planning the exit strategy (perhaps such as Elin Nordegren Woods) tends for family reasons to postpone the actual formal breakup until after the holidays. Once January 1 or thereabouts rolls around, though, the legal process shifts into high gear–fortunately or unfortunately as the case may be–and all bets are off.
Since t’is the season, a high-profile London law firm known for handling celebrity divorces has come up with a unique stocking stuffer: a gift certificate for a free divorce consultation. The certificates aren’t cheap, but then again, the firm’s normal hourly rate is $640 in the equivalent of U.S. dollars. The gifter can purchase a “divorce voucher” for 30 minutes (for $200) or one hour ($400). Critics say the vouchers are in bad taste, cynical, or worse. But flamboyant senior partner Vanessa Lloyd Platt told the British media that “we are not encouraging people to get divorced…The aim is to give them advice in the first instance…It’s about explaining to them what options they’ve got.” The UK supposedly has one of the highest divorce rates in the world, incidentally.
In an unrelated story, IndyPosted appropriately noted that the UK tends to be ahead of the curve on cultural issues. And eventually the U.S. follows England’s lead in certain respects. On this side of the Atlantic, though, rules governing legal ethics and attorney professional conduct (otherwise known as an oxymoron) would probably prohibit this form of Christmas cheer. However, how long before some grandstanding U.S. lawyer, probably one of the so-called pundits that make the rounds of the cable news networks, tries to find a loophole in the rules to allow this kind of marketing ploy? [DailyMail]
