Cate Maguire

Cate is a senior associate in the Family Team, advising clients on matters including divorce and civil partnership dissolution, associated financial issues and issues surrounding children. She has particular expertise in jurisdictional issues and complex financial matters.

Having completed her training contract at a specialist Family Law firm, Cate qualified into a team specialising in high net worth divorces and associated matters, where she worked for several years post-qualification before moving to Kingsley Napley in 2019. Her high profile cases include representing Pauline Chai in the long-running Chai v Peng jurisdiction dispute, and Michelle Young in the Young v Young divorce.

Cate has particular experience of dealing with complex jurisdiction disputes, having worked on cases involving jurisdictions as varied as eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), Malaysia and Italy. She also has a strong network of overseas contacts, including in Australia and Canada, and spent time living and working in South Korea before beginning her training contact. As a result, she has a clear understanding of the particular issues facing international families, as well as the strategic issues at play in jurisdictional disputes. She also has a wealth of experience in dealing with complex trust and corporate structures and issues of company values, both in relation to domestic and cross-jurisdictional entities.