Who? Tracy Harris, 37-year old litigation partner at Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire firm Taylor Walton.


Why is she in the news? She acted for Lady Caroline Cox-Johnson, the second wife and now widow of multi-millionaire banker Richard Cox-Johnson, who died aged 70. Mr Cox-Johnson's three sons from his first marriage had alleged lack of testamentary capacity and want of knowledge or approval when he changed his will a month before his death to increase Lady Caroline's share of the estate by £2.6 million.



The sons claimed that their father's ill-health - he had Parkinson's disease and had suffered strokes - meant that some of the people around him were able to take advantage of him. It was for this reason, they alleged, that their stepmother's share of the estate had grown so significantly.



Lady Caroline produced more than 30 statements from people, some of whom had known the deceased for 50 years, confirming that Mr Cox-Johnson was of sound mind when he amended the will. He wanted Lady Caroline to receive more because she had not inherited as much as she had expected when her mother died.



Following six days in court, the brothers agreed to stop proceedings and are expected to be liable for legal costs which, according to Ms Harris, will exceed £300,000.



Background: Law degree at Birmingham University followed by Law Society finals at the College of Law in Guildford. Trained at Wilde Sapte, qualifying in 1993, before joining Cameron Markby Hewitt. She has been at Taylor Walton since 1997.



Route to the case: The administration of the estate was referred by Lady Caroline's accountant to a colleague in Taylor Walton's private client department. She in turn referred the contentious aspects of the case to Ms Harris.



Thoughts on the case: 'It was difficult to construct an accurate picture of Mr Cox-Johnson's testamentary capacity for the judge, which is why we approached 30 witnesses for statements - some of whom had known him since his student days at Oxford. Although the sons had made no allegations of undue influence, there had been reference to Lady Caroline's "forceful personality", and so it was important to demonstrate that the will was valid.'



Dealing with the media: 'It was inevitable that this case would attract media interest because of the personalities involved. During the 1960s, Mr Cox-Johnson was a director of a merchant bank that handled the finances of the Rolling Stones and other celebrities, while Lady Caroline is a descendant of World War I Prime Minister Herbert Asquith. Over the last four or five years we've been seeing more and more contentious probate cases - because more people are leaving substantial sums upon their deaths.'



Jonathan Rayner