Leaders List interview: 60 seconds with Vandana Chitroda, Broadfield Law

Date: 15 Jan 2025

Karen Jones

This week’s 60-second piece is dedicated to Vandana Chitroda, head of family and matrimonial at Broadfield Law.

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Tell Citywealth readers a bit about your role.

I am the Head of the Family team at Broadfield Law. My role combines advising clients on all aspects of family law and steering a dynamic, growing team of specialist lawyers. Since joining the firm, the team has doubled in size to nine members.

Our work is tailored for ultra-high net worth individuals and their families, requiring nuanced expertise across multiple jurisdictions and complex financial arrangements. We pride ourselves on delivering bespoke, discreet, and a results-driven service for our clients, leveraging a wide skill set across our team and other practice areas.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My day begins at 6 am with meditation and a dog walk, followed by a quick review of the day’s priorities and any urgent matters. From 7am to 9am, I enjoy the family ritual of breakfast and the school run before heading to my garden office or commuting into the London office.

The day itself is a balance of:

• Team management: Ensuring workloads are balanced and everyone has the support they need. Maintaining a healthy work/life balance for the team is key to our success.
• Client work: This includes case preparation, strategy meetings, and collaborative discussions with junior team members. I aim to foster an open, supportive environment where ideas flow freely.
• Referrer and partner collaboration: Meeting trusted advisers such as accountants, trustees, and wealth managers to tailor solutions for our clients.
• Cross-team collaboration: Working with Broadfield’s private client, tax, and property teams to provide clients with holistic advice.
• Business development: Engaging with PR, writing thought-leadership articles, attending events, and utilising social media to connect with our network.
• Strategic planning: Participating in firm-wide management and development initiatives.

My passion project is our Better Divorce initiative which provides innovative solutions to help couples navigate separation amicably and with dignity and efficiency.

Tell us about some recent, interesting client instructions/requests you have received.

We recently worked with a client navigating a complex separation involving significant assets spread across five jurisdictions, including cryptocurrency holdings and offshore trusts. This required an intricate understanding of asset valuation and a collaborative approach with financial and digital forensics experts as well as lawyers in the other jurisdictions.

Another notable case involved negotiating a postnuptial agreement for a client with substantial inherited wealth tied up in art and intellectual property. This unique matter required sensitivity, creativity, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

What challenges do your clients face, and how are you helping them to overcome them?

The emotional toll of relationship breakdowns often makes decision-making difficult. Many of our ultra-high net worth clients face the added complexity of disentangling assets or building independent financial expertise after years of shared arrangements.

We work closely with trusted advisers; wealth managers, accountants, and tax specialists to guide our clients through this transition. For example, we recently supported a client in establishing a new financial advisory team to manage their post-divorce wealth effectively.

What is your proudest professional achievement?

When I was at University, I was told that as an Asian female, I would struggle in the legal profession. I remember sitting at the first Partner’s meeting in a board room of 30 partners at a previous firm and being one of the few female partners round the table and one of the two Asian partners in the room. I will never forget that moment and how proud I felt to be there.

What do you consider to be the most important attributes for a leader?

Wisdom, humility, and leading by example. A good leader listens, adapts, and remains grounded in their values while inspiring those around them to achieve their best. I am very lucky to have two senior consultants in the team; Owen Reynolds and John Darnton who I like to call the ‘godfather’ of our team. I draw from their experiences as former partners and highly experienced family lawyers.  

Who do you most admire and why?

I admire people I can relate to and who inspire me. As a female, naturally I am drawn to strong female leaders such as Baroness Scotland and Cheryl Sandberg but on a personal level, I admire the professional women in my life dedicated to their careers but also to raising their children. Anita Mehta is a family barrister from 4PB who I watch tirelessly working hard for her clients and outside of that, is dedicated to working on matters of legal and social significance for example, Anita was the co-chair of the Resolution working party into Domestic Abuse in Financial Remedy. Whilst taking all this on, she raises her two small children with her fullest dedication.

Where was the last place you travelled to for work or pleasure?

For work, I travelled to Dubai to advise a client whose family wealth spans multiple continents, including complex trusts in the UAE and Europe. It’s a vibrant hub where family and finance often intersect.

For pleasure, I recently visited Kyoto, Japan, immersing myself in its serene landscapes and traditional tea culture—a refreshing reminder of life’s simpler joys.

If you weren’t in this industry, what else might you be doing?

I am very interested in human behaviour and this is probably why I would likely have pursued a career in psychology.

How do you relax after a long day?

Spending time with my family is my greatest joy. I also enjoy challenging myself at the gym and going to hot yoga and pilates classes and of course, enjoying a well deserved glass of red wine!