Episode 11 of the LAW Podcast Series features Monika Byska (Partner) & Olalla Garcia (Associate) from LAW member firm Howard Kennedy.
Monika Byska is a billingual solicitor specialising in trust, will and estate disputes.
Monika advises in all types of private client disputes. This includes: will challenges, Inheritance Act claims, disputes relating to the administration of estates, actions against trustees and personal representatives, promissory estoppel claims, trust disputes between co-owners of a property, and application for directions in administration of trusts and estates.
As a STEP-qualified practitioner, she is uniquely qualified to assist with both contentious and non-contentious aspects of trust and estate administration. She therefore also represents personal representatives and trustees advising on the administration of trusts and estates, which are complex or entangled in disputes.
As Monika often meets clients when they are going through their most difficult times, she aims to put them at ease with her straightforward and compassionate approach. She has passion and years of experience in resolving what may seem to be the most impossible disputes over wealth.
She is bilingual and able to service clients in Polish. With a background in linguistics and interpretation, Monika also has a working knowledge of a couple other European languages.
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Ollala Garcia-Arreciadio is a Registered Foreign Lawyer (Spanish-Qualified). She supports UHNW and HNW clients with family and private client cross-border matters. Much of her caseload has an international element.
Olalla seeks to build and implement long-term, effective solutions for clients that are involved in contentious or non-contentious family matters including: divorce, separation and nullity, cohabitation, pre and post-nuptial agreements, financial relief applications, private children matters and injunctions.
She has particular expertise in dealing with cases that present jurisdictional issues or in which international conventions, European regulations or foreign law are applicable, as well as securing the enforcement of orders abroad. She has dealt with matters presenting international ramifications in countries such as Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Ukraine, Russia, Kenya, Mexico, the US and the majority of EU countries. She also has extensive experience in substantive and procedural English family law, in both the lower and higher courts and is therefore able to deal with purely domestic matters.
Olalla has considerable experience conducting, assisting and advising in matters comprising substantial assets, located both in the UK and abroad, including trusts and other offshore structures.
Further to advising on English and European law, Olalla is also a qualified Spanish lawyer and a native Spanish speaker. This allows her to assist both English-speaking clients with interests in Spain (e.g. enforcing a financial order against a property in Spain) and Spanish-speaking clients with interests in the UK, using her combined knowledge of the common and civil law systems. She is also in charge of Howard Kennedy's recently-launched Spain and LatAm desk, with a focus on strengthening the bonds with Spanish-speaking professionals and clients across the globe.
Olalla is a member of Resolution, a community of family justice professionals who work with families and individuals to resolve issues in a constructive way, and she frequently contributes to their publication "The Review".
