Allen & Overy

"Being involved in such a remarkable case ensured that my seat in litigation was a memorable one."

Having specifically requested to sit in the TATAF (Trusts, Asset Tracing and Fraud) group within litigation, I was sure my time in the department would be interesting. My first piece of work involved research into complex aspects of trust law and restitution – something I hadn't looked at since university -, and during my six month seat, I was often required to undertake legal research into technical areas of law that were quite unlike anything I had done previously in my training contract. This was in addition to getting involved in drafting witness statements, consent orders and other court documents.

I was fortunate enough to be involved in one very interesting, high-profile case that proceeded to trial during my seat. It was a probate dispute involving the bequest of a Mr Branislav Kostic, who, upon his death, left the entirety of his £8 million fortune to the Tory party.

However, Mr Kostic had been suffering from paranoid delusions for nearly twenty years believing  that there was an international conspiracy involving his family members, various Swiss bankers, the IRA and the Mafia, that had killed his father and brother-in-law, and was trying to poison him, and he had written to members of the Tory party informing them of this conspiracy. We acted for his son, who understandably felt that it was inappropriate for the Tory party to accept such a donation from an obviously delusional man, and sought to challenge the validity of the will.

The media seemed to agree, and consequently there was significant media coverage of the trial. Working as a trainee on the preparation for the trial included reading through boxes of Mr Kostic's delusional writings, which were often quite colourful, although sometimes totally incomprehensible. The trial itself was exciting, and given the nature of the subject matter in dispute, often involved humourous comments from counsel on both sides.

Being involved in such a remarkable case ensured that my seat in litigation was a memorable one.