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The Court of Appeal has given celebrity chef Marco Pierre White the go-ahead to sue his ex-wife's London divorce solicitors in a case that could change the way family lawyers advise their clients in the future.

Following an acrimonious separation in 2007, Mati, the chef's third wife and mother of three of his children, intercepted his post and relied on the documents as part of her case. One of the letters was from his daughter, Letty, from his first marriage, telling him she loved him and wanted to see more of him. White only knew of the letter when it was produced in court.

White claims that Mati's lawyer told her to intercept his mail but this is denied by both Mati and her lawyer. His claim for damages against Withers was dismissed by the High Court in 2008 but upheld last October by the Court of Appeal. Lord Justice Ward criticised Marcus Dearle, the Withers partner involved, for withholding the letter from Letty to White saying that it was a "touching, almost heartbreaking, letter to her father expressing her love for him....which desperately called for a speedy reply" and that the lawyers should be held to account.

White is determined to have his day in court; "I will not settle. I don't care what it costs."

'Self-help' and collection of evidence in divorce cases has always been a grey area and has become trickier with the increased reliance on e-mail and text messages.

The few rules that exist were established in the 1992 case of Hildebrand. This case permits the use of the other spouse's documents where they have been left open or lying around, as long as they are copied and the originals immediately returned. Breaking open study doors or filing cabinets is not permitted; neither is looking at a spouse's personal email account or looking through their mobile phone.

But how are family lawyers to know whether a document was found open on the kitchen table or taken from their spouse's Blackberry?

'Self-help' is prevalent in divorce where trust has broken down and emotions are running high. Although both parties have a duty to the court to provide full and frank financial disclosure, it is not uncommon for one spouse to try and hide their true worth.  The family courts police a strict line between requests for further information and "fishing expeditions"; unfortunately one often needs the evidence to persuade the judge there is more money to be found!

In another case, a logistics manager for a large company discovered his ex-wife had loaded spyware software into his computer, which sent her copies of every document file he opened including his emails. It turned out he had nothing to hide save for messages to his new girlfriend.

Family courts' powers to punish spouses turned private investigators are currently limited to altering the division of assets to penalise conduct but, in the majority of cases, there is simply not enough "in the pot" to meet needs let alone reflect bad behaviour.

It will be interesting to see if White's case tightens the rules on evidence gathering and it is hoped that the judgement will clarify the do's and don'ts for both divorce lawyers and their clients.

Until then.....

• DO password-protect a mobile used to for e-mailing
• DO open a secure online email account with a different password to your phone
• Do keep sensitive documents off your home PC
• DON'T take original documents by force
• DON'T keep original documents, take copies and return the originals