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Rising Stars

Firms To Watch: Family: Hampshire

Headed up by Jennifer Murray, the team at K J Smith Solicitors demonstrates considerable strength in drafting pre-nuptial agreements and handling Children Act proceedings.

Family: Hampshire in South East

Blake Morgan LLP

The Blake Morgan LLP group is ‘one of the best in the area’, specialising heavily in complex financial work and private Children Act issues. The team has recently grown its expertise in the areas of Schedule 1, TOLATA, and international matters, and boasts a strong mediation offering. Simon Burge leads from Southampton, bringing extensive experience in handling the financial consequences of relationship breakdown and contested child arrangement claims to the team, while Jennifer Williamson focuses on high-value financial and wealth management cases. Associate Rachel Giles routinely deals with divorces and pre-nuptial agreements.

Responsables de la pratique:

Simon Burge


Autres avocats clés:

Jennifer Williamson; Rachel Giles


Les références

‘The family law team, led by Simon Burge, combines experience, wisdom and attention to detail. They are acquainted with a range of experienced barristers and they choose excellent advocates.’

‘Rachel Giles is absolutely fantastic. I have used her twice in separate cases over a period of 5 years and I cannot recommend her enough. Not only is her legal knowledge exemplary, but what stands out to me is how she makes you feel in a period of time that is very anxious. She goes out of her way to get to know you, your case and how you like to recieve updates or advice. There is a real personal feel to her dealings and it feels very much like she goes out of her way to make you comfortable and confident.’

‘Simon Burge brought a wealth of experience to my divorce process. He is calmly reassuring when negotiations or situations are difficult. He explains all options and consequences thoroughly. His responsiveness was unparalleled.’

Moore Barlow

Boasting notable clients in London, abroad, and across the home counties, the family team at Moore Barlow is well equipped to handle private wealth and tax issues, along with complex divorce matters. Guilford-based Joanna Farrands leads the team, while Jan Galloway splits her time between Richmond and Southampton, bringing vast expertise in dealing with child abduction cases and pre-nuptial agreements to the group. Judith Ball regularly assists high-net-worth-individuals with all issues following a relationship breakdown, and Debra Emery focuses on wealth protection and financial issues. Charlotte Millard joined the firm as a senior associate from Williams Thompson in June 2022.

Responsables de la pratique:

Joanna Farrands


Autres avocats clés:

Jan Galloway; Judith Ball; Debra Emery; Victoria Walker; Mandy Spring; Charlotte Millard


Les références

‘Moore Barlow have a strong team.’

‘Jan Galloway is passionate about her work and a breath of fresh air to deal with.’

‘Experienced, reassuring team with a sensible and caring approach. Achieves good outcomes but is sensitive to the difficulties of cases concerning families.’

Paris Smith LLP

Paris Smith LLP is instructed by a notable roster of high-net-worth-individuals and business owners, demonstrating significant strength in the agricultural and rural sectors. The family division is well equipped to assist clients through mediation and arbitration proceedings, as well as private financial dispute resolution hearings. Winchester-based managing partner Huw Miles is an expert on nuptial agreements and cohabitee disputes, while in Southampton, Frank Prior focuses on high-value matrimonial finance cases. Neil Davies is a highly regarded mediator, and Sarah Passemard concentrates on complex litigation claims. Rachel Osgood is knowledgeable on family trust and separation matters, and Lisa Bray deals with private Children Act issues. Heather Souter is also noted.

Responsables de la pratique:

Frank Prior; Huw Miles


Autres avocats clés:

Neil Davies; Sarah Passemard; Rachel Osgood; Lisa Bray; Heather Souter; Zoe Culverwell


Les références

‘Huw Miles – extensive knowledge of the law and practice. Calm under pressure and instils confidence in clients.’

‘Frank Prior has a great manner with the client and is very adept at looking at all angles.’

‘Zoe Culverwell – just a fantastic legal brain with a great understanding of the issues.’

Irwin Mitchell

The much lauded practitioners comprising Irwin Mitchell’s family department are instructed by entrepreneurs, highly skilled professionals, and CEOs to handle the whole spectrum of family law matters. The team has recently introduced two new service lines- mediation and counselling- and continues to be noted for its strong links to the sports and media world. Hayley Trim heads up the team, splitting her time between Southampton and Chichester, and bringing extensive expertise on nuptial agreements and intergenerational wealth planning to the department. Associate Jelena Korobkova focuses on complex financial matters, while Hannah Braisted assists clients with care arrangements for children. Eugenie Taylor deals with offshore trust structures. Claire Wiseman strengthened the team on the ground with her arrival from the Birmingham office in February 2023.

Responsables de la pratique:

Hayley Trim


Autres avocats clés:

Jelena Korobkova; Hannah Braisted; Eugenie Taylor; Claire Wiseman


Les références

‘Eugenie Taylor – dedicated, focused and efficient.’

‘Hannah Braisted delivers excellent client service.’

‘Eugenie Taylor is a pleasure to work with.’

Phillips Solicitors

Elizabeth Taylor heads the Phillips Law family team from Basingstoke, offering a particularly strong service in the family mediation and matrimonial financial spaces. Howard Gardener has 40 years’ experience dealing with matters relating to civil litigation and partnership disputes. Daniel Weintroub, who joined from Cordell & Cordell in January 2023, specialises in cohabitation and TOLATA issues, while Tara O’Herlihy focuses on Children Act proceedings.

Responsables de la pratique:

Elizabeth Taylor


Autres avocats clés:

Howard Gardener; Daniel Weintroub; Tara O’Herlihy; Hayley Eachus


Les références

‘Elizabeth Taylor is a knowledgeable, professional and personable solicitor. She takes away the stress from the situation. One can instantly trust her knowledge of family law.’

‘The team are very helpful and knowledgeable. They can generally fit you in for an appointment very quickly and communicate effectively via email.’

‘Elizabeth Taylor – very supportive/ knowledgeable.’

Thrings LLP

With its ‘magic combination of gravitas and high ability’, the Thrings LLP family team is well regarded for its knowledge of issues relating to agricultural and landowner clients, including divorces, family members’ interests in farm assets, and property valuations. The group also boasts considerable experience with arbitrations and private financial dispute resolutions; practice head Sally Pike is a specialist mediator and regularly represents company directors, entrepreneurs, and farming clients. Katy Barber is an expert on matrimonial finance issues. The team operates out of its Romsey office.

Responsables de la pratique:

Sally Pike


Autres avocats clés:

Katy Barber


Les références

‘They have that magic combination of gravitas and high ability paired with a friendly approach.’

‘Sally Pike and Katy Barber are great lawyers and their approach is always client focused, friendly and constructive. They are always a pleasure to deal with.’

‘The team at Thrings is small but excellent. The benefit of a smaller department is that the client doesn’t just get one solicitor but the whole team and my goodness what a team they are. Sally Pike leads the charge with years of experience under her belt and a robust head!’

Trethowans LLP

Demonstrating vast expertise in handling matrimonial finances, child arrangements, and pre-nuptial agreements, Trethowans LLP’s ‘formidable and talented team’ provides a full range of family-related services across the firm’s multiple offices. Salisbury-based Andrew Mercer leads the department, regularly acting on behalf of medical consultants and GPs in all forms of family related disputes. Emma Wilders-Pratt focuses on all elements of relationship breakdown from the Winchester office. In Southampton, Grant Cameron has over 30 years’ experience dealing with divorce and dissolution, while Poole-based Kimberley Davies specialises in children law matters.

Responsables de la pratique:

Andrew Mercer


Autres avocats clés:

Emma Wilders-Pratt; Grant Cameron; Kimberley Davies; Dawn Gore; Laura Bell; Amy Trench; Jacqueline Reeves; Zoe Minton


Les références

‘Grant Cameron is simply excellent. He really goes the extra mile for his clients. He really understands the dynamics of family law.’

‘Throughout the process the team’s communication was excellent. I felt that it was a personal service and that all members of the team took a genuine interest in providing a good service and enabling a favourable outcome. At no time did I get the feeling that I was just another case.’

‘Grant Cameron provided an excellent, personal and professional service. He was always willing to listen to my situation and offered advice with options and potential outcomes based on those options. Throughout the process, Grant was supportive and maintained a good level of communication ensuring that any updates were provided in a timely fashion and outlining the impacts of those updates.’

Dutton Gregory

Led by Jonathan Whettingsteel, who splits his time between the Winchester and Chandler’s Ford offices, the Dutton Gregory LLP family team specialises in drafting pre-nuptial agreements, handling financial matters relating to divorces, and advising on all aspects of children law. ‘Brilliant lawyerHelen Cort has been contributing vast expertise in financial matters arising from relationship breakdown since her arrival from BDB Pitmans in August 2022. Paul Linsdell, who joined the firm from Herrington Carmichael LLP in September 2022, routinely handles child cases involving sexual abuse and domestic violence.

Responsables de la pratique:

Jonathan Whettingsteel


Autres avocats clés:

Helen Cort; Paul Linsdell


Les références

‘The firm was always responsive, supportive and proactive in working on the case, and I felt listened to and understood. Their approach was logical and straightforward given that I had no experience in dealing with events such as this and no prior understanding of how the family law courts worked. It was a daunting process for me and Dutton Gregory were always on hand to guide and answer questions.’

‘Paul Linsdell was recommended to me by a close friend and has been one of the best solicitors I’ve worked with. Throughout what has been a very difficult divorce, he has been friendly and helpful and at every point has listened carefully and offered practical advice and innovative ideas. He is always calm, responsive, knowledgeable and professional and is not afraid to say if he thinks something could be done in a better way.’

‘Paul Linsdell is a brilliant solicitor. He is charming and clever. He understands the complex dynamics of family breakdown and the emotional rollercoasters on which his clients are travelling. He puts his clients at ease and they trust him because they know he will fight for them.’

Family Law Partners

Family Law Partners is focused on ‘solutions and resolution’, particularly when handling complex family financial and divorce remedy matters for high-net-worth-individuals. Operating out of the Hampshire office, Emily Pain heads up the group, and boasts extensive experience handling financial issues and children disputes following a separation. Hazel Manktelow is a qualified mediator, who has carved out a niche acting in domestic abuse cases and mandates relating to armed forces pensions. Jayne Llewelyn is noted for her disputes expertise. Senior associate Victoria Burrows joined the Horsham office from Irwin Mitchell in November 2022.

Responsables de la pratique:

Robert Williams; Emily Pain


Autres avocats clés:

Hazel Manktelow; Jayne Llewelyn; Victoria Burrows


Les références

‘Emily Pain – enthusiastic, diligent and dedicated.’

‘Jayne Llewellyn is known for being very supportive of her clients.’

‘Dynamic in every sense. Excellent lawyers with a focus on solutions and resolution – steeped in ADR.’

Larcomes

Larcomes’ family department has in-depth expertise in representing guardians, children and parents in private child law and public law proceedings. Portsmouth-based co-head, Mark Tooley, is highly experienced in handling complex cases involving physical and sexual abuse claims. Tooley's counterpart, Sandra Phillips, specialises in private law children matters concerning residence, contact and special guardianship. Jennie Swaby has assisted vulnerable clients with all aspects of children law for over 16 years.

Responsables de la pratique:

Mark Tooley; Sandra Phillips


Autres avocats clés:

Jennie Swaby


Les références

‘Their particular strengths are their child-focused approach, their knowledge of the law, and the kindness and sensitivity they offer to their clients.’

‘Quite simply a class act.’

‘Mark Tooley has been regarded as the best children’s solicitor in Hampshire for decades. He has a kind pragmatic approach and is equally comfortable in meeting children and appearing before High Court judges. The standard of his advocacy is quite simply exceptional.’