HHJ Edward Hess | Chair of the Editorial Board

His Honour Judge Edward Hess is a Circuit Judge, Lead Judge of the London Financial Remedies Court, Deputy High Court Judge and Deputy National Lead Judge, Financial Remedies Courts and Co-Chair of the Pension Advisory Group.

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!13/01/2022 10:47

Rhys Taylor | Vice Chair of the Editorial Board & Journal Editor

Rhys Taylor is a barrister at The 36 Group. He is a member of the Family Procedure Rule Committee, the sub-committee of the Online Procedure Rule Committee and the Pension Advisory Group. Bencher of the Inner Temple. Contributing Editor to The Family Court Practice and co-author of Pensions on Divorce: A Practitioner’s Guide. Regular lecturer including to the Judicial College. Rhys is an arbitrator, mediator and a neutral/evaluator in the private FDR setting.

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!13/01/2022 10:51

DJ Sheren Guirguis

District Judge Sheren Guirguis sits at Liverpool Civil and Family Court, sitting exclusively on family cases, including complex financial remedy cases. As a barrister, her practice was predominately family finance work.

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!17/07/2023 14:48

Nicholas Allen KC

Barrister and Joint Head of Chambers at 29 Bedford Row (London). Door Tenant at St. Ives (Birmingham). IFLA arbitrator and PFDR/ENE tribunal. Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2018, a Deputy High Court Judge in 2021, and a Recorder of the Family Court in 2016. Bencher of the Middle Temple. Contributing Editor to The Family Court Practice and editor of the family law chapters of Foskett on Compromise. Regular lecturer including to the Judicial College. Chair of the UK Association of LGBTQ+ Judges.

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!13/01/2022 10:53

Samantha Hillas KC

Sam Hillas is a senior member of SJB’s matrimonial finance team, dealing exclusively with financial remedy work. Commended by Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 as a “charismatic and client-friendly advocate” who “works like a Trojan”, Sam specialises in high net worth and/or complex cases, especially those involving marital agreements, trusts and corporate structures, cases involving non-disclosure and Schedule 1 Children Act.

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!16/05/2023 12:56

Alexander Chandler KC

Alexander Chandler KC is a barrister specialising in financial remedies and TLATA at 1 King’s Bench Walk in London. He sits as a Recorder, Arbitrator and private FDR judge, posts blogs at familybrief.org, and tweets @familybrief.

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!13/01/2022 10:58

Joanne Edwards

Jo is a partner and Head of Family at Mayfair firm Forsters LLP. She specialises in financial remedies on divorce for high net worth couples, both in the context of complex litigation, often with an international element, and in her mediation practice. She also has extensive experience in children work. A former Chair of Resolution, Jo heads its Family Law Reform Group and in that role has lobbied for law reform, given evidence to parliamentary committees and has featured extensively in broadcast and print media. She is currently involved in the Fair Shares project and working with various not-for-profit organisations on the Parents Promise initiative.

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!13/01/2022 10:54

Helen Brander

Helen is a barrister and arbitrator at Pump Court Chambers working in the fields of matrimonial finance and inheritance, trusts and estates. She complements that with private Children Act 1989 work. She writes and lectures frequently on matters of interest, including document manipulation, cryptoassets, financial provision for adult children and issues arising in TLATA and proprietary estoppel. She has a particular interest in Italian law and culture.

!11/05/2022 12:26

Jennifer Lee

Jennifer Lee is a specialist family law practitioner at Pump Court Chambers. She has a thriving practice in the area of family finance, and has successfully represented high net worth clients in cases involving family businesses, inherited wealth, substantial pensions, nuptial agreements, and trusts. Many of her cases also involve foreign assets, tax complications, and cross jurisdictional issues, such as the validity or otherwise of an overseas marriage or divorce, or competing claims in multiple jurisdictions (including cases pertaining to Asia and Africa). Jennifer also sits as a fee-paid Judge in the Tax Chamber (FTT).

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!01/03/2022 02:59

Charlotte John

Charlotte John is a Barrister at Gatehouse Chambers. Charlotte’s practice focuses on Chancery and property litigation and encompasses both traditional Chancery and commercial work. She has particular expertise in matters concerning the administration of estates and trusts, contentious probate, real property as well as Court of Protection property and affairs matters.

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!13/01/2022 10:59

Michael Allum

Michael Allum is a Solicitor and Partner at The International Family Law Group LLP. He specialises in finance cases with a particular emphasis on matters with an international element. He is also regularly instructed on cases regarding financial provision after an overseas divorce (Part III). He is a member of the Financial Remedies Journal editorial board and of the Duxbury Working Party.

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!13/01/2022 10:55

Emma Hitchings

Emma Hitchings is a Professor of Family Law at Bristol University and has undertaken a range of empirical studies on financial remedies and family justice issues. She is the co-editor of the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law and is co-author of Bromley's Family Law (OUP, 2021).

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!13/01/2022 10:56

Roger Isaacs

Roger Isaacs is an award-winning chartered accountant and experienced expert witness. He is a partner in Milsted Langdon LLP, a regional accountancy practice with offices in London and the South West of England. Roger lectures and writes regularly on accountancy related topics in the context of separation and divorce.

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!13/01/2022 10:58

Joe Rainer

Joe is a junior barrister at QEB. He has a specialist matrimonial practice, with a focus on financial remedies and cases brought under TLATA 1996. He has appeared in several well-known reported cases and writes and lectures frequently on a variety of topics. He is a member of the Financial Remedies Journal editorial board, an editor of At A Glance, and a co-author of the fourth edition of Pensions On Divorce: A Practitioner’s Handbook. He is also a member of the Pension Advisory Group and the Duxbury Working Party.

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!13/01/2022 10:59

Henrietta Boyle

Henrietta Boyle is a family law barrister at 1 Hare Court, specialising in financial remedy cases.

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!09/01/2023 23:23

Polly Morgan | Case Editor

Polly Morgan is the sole author of the textbook Morgan's Family Law (2nd edn, Oxford University Press 2024) as well as the author of a number of Law Society practitioner courses on family law. A Professor of Family Law at UEA Law School, Polly is also Director of the multi award-winning UEA Law Clinic. A solicitor and law firm co-founder, she now practises exclusively in the free family law advice clinic of Norfolk Community Law Service. She is one of four trustees of the Transparency Project, and a legal blogger.

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!07/02/2022 15:44

Stephanie Coker

Stephanie Coker is a barrister at FOURTEEN. She specialises in financial remedies following the breakdown of a relationship (including TOLATA matters), complex private children matters and international family law. Outside of practice, she was awarded a PhD and has acted as an Associate Lecturer where her teaching responsibilities spanned across family law, land law and foundations of property.

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!18/01/2022 14:51

Rebekah Batt

Rebekah is a junior barrister at Pump Court Chambers. Rebekah is regularly instructed in private family law proceedings and has a keen interest in financial remedies.

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!26/04/2022 09:31

Nicola Shaw

Nicola is a non-practising barrister specialising in all aspects of financial matters in family law dispute resolution, conducting Private FDRs and Early Neutral Evaluations, as well as offering independent opinions in collaborative law cases.

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!13/01/2022 10:52

Emily Ward

Emily Ward is a barrister specialising in family law practising from Broadway House Chambers. She sits as a Deputy District Judge, is a qualified Arbitrator, and acts as a Private FDR practitioner/evaluator. Emily is the Secretary of the Yorkshire and Humber FLBA Committee and is a member of the Farquhar Committee and the President’s Transparency Implementation Group. Outside of her court practice Emily is part of the writing team at Butterworths Family & Civil Law Service, and is a co-author of Cohabitation: Law, Practice and Precedents.

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!11/02/2022 23:36

Amy Beddis

Amy is a specialist family barrister at 3PB Chambers. Amy has a particular focus on financial remedy work and TLATA matters. Amy regularly presents at webinars, conferences and often edits the 3PB family law newsletter. She looks forward to blogging on all things matrimonial finance as well as providing practical tips and hints along the way.

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!24/01/2022 09:49

Kathryn Cassells

Kathryn is an associate solicitor at Vaitilingam Kay. Kathryn is experienced in the financial and children issues that arise from relationship breakdown. She has worked on many complex financial cases, and has been involved in a wide range of international cases that require consideration of competing legal systems.

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!26/01/2022 09:16

Sarah Jane Lenihan

Sarah Jane Lenihan is a partner at Dawson Cornwell in the matrimonial team. She has far-reaching experience in family law, specialising in financial remedies advising individuals with substantial income and assets with complex international elements, and a variety of financial, business and trust structures. Sarah Jane has a Family Law Advanced Accreditation from the Law Society, demonstrating her specialist knowledge in family law with a particular expertise in financial remedy and domestic abuse.

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!04/02/2022 10:43

Holly Symonds

Holly is a barrister at 5 Pump Court whose practice focuses on financial remedies and TLATA 1996. From 2020 to 2021 she was a judicial assistant in the High Court (Family Division) and was involved in some of the most high-profile cases during the period. Holly regularly speaks at seminars on a variety of topics and provides training to other legal professionals.

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!18/02/2022 10:20

Edward Wells

Edward is a pupil barrister at specialist family chambers, 1 King's Bench Walk, and begins the practising period of his pupillage in April 2022. Prior to beginning pupillage, Edward worked as a paralegal in a London family solicitor's firm, during which time he contributed to articles and blog posts in the sphere of matrimonial finance.

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!24/01/2022 11:59

Sir James Munby

Sir James Lawrence Munby is a retired English judge who was President of the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales.

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!25/02/2022 13:35

Sir Paul Coleridge

Sir Paul Coleridge is a former High Court Judge of the Family Division.

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!25/02/2022 15:01

Hon. Mr Justice Peel

Mr Justice Peel is a High Court Judge of the Family Division and National Lead Judge of the Financial Remedy Court. He was previously a barrister specialising in financial remedy cases.

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!11/05/2022 11:25

Paul Cobley

Paul Cobley is a Certified Financial Planner and Director of Oak Barn Financial Planning. He specialises in providing pensions on divorce advice and is a member of The Pension Advisory Group and Resolution’s Pensions, Tax and Financial Remedy committee. He also works as an adviser with the early dispute team at The Pensions Ombudsman.

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!14/01/2022 12:48

Judith Crisp

Judith was admitted as a Solicitor in 1993. She was appointed as a Fee-paid Legal Member of the Family Health Service Appeal Tribunal in 2002, becoming a Fee-paid Judge of the First Tier Tribunal, Health Education and Social Care Chamber (Primary Health Lists) in 2010. She was appointed as a Deputy District Judge in 2007 and District Judge in 2014. She sits in the CJC Manchester solely within the Family Jurisdiction and covers Public and Private law and Financial remedy complex work. She also is a tutor for the Judicial College and the District Judge representative on the Family Justice Council.

!11/05/2022 12:25

Tamsin Caine

Tamsin Caine is a Chartered Financial Planner, Fellow of the Personal Finance Society and Resolution Accredited Divorce Specialist Financial Planner. She founded Smart Divorce in February 2018 and now spends the majority of her time working with divorcing and separating couples (as a financial neutral) and individuals. She is on the national Resolution Innovation Committee and the local Greater Manchester Resolution committee.

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!17/01/2022 10:33

Thomas Rodwell

Thomas Rodwell is a forensic accountant and business valuation expert who provides economic and financial advice. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Society of Share and Business Valuers. He is regularly appointed as an expert to opine on issues of finance and valuation and is the founding member of Rodwell Disputes Advisory (RDA), a leading boutique advisory practice for commercial and matrimonial disputes.

!18/01/2022 15:41

Ben McGeoch

Ben is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Director of Mltpl. He previously worked at a leading global disputes and valuation practice and brings a wealth of experience in the preparation of expert reports and supporting analysis, in both family and commercial disputes.

!11/05/2022 12:25

Rosemary Hunter

Rosemary is Professor of Law and Socio-Legal Studies at Kent Law School at the University of Kent.

!11/05/2022 12:24

Thomas Haggie

Tom is a financial remedy specialist barrister at QEB, with experience in trust and company disputes. He is also known for his expertise in financial provision for children, applications under TLATA 1996, and Inheritance Act disputes.

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!11/05/2022 12:14

Elissa Da-Costa Waldman

Elissa has been a practising barrister for over three decades, having worked in the law for almost 50 years. Practising from New Court Chambers, she is a specialist in matrimonial finance and TOLATA claims and also takes on private law children work, particularly relocation cases, both domestic and international. Although a fearless advocate, Elissa is committed to non-court dispute resolution and is a qualified mediator, collaborative lawyer and Family Law Arbitrator (Finance).

!11/05/2022 12:27

Farhana Shahzady

Farhana is a Director in the Family Law Partners London office and joint head of the team based in Marylebone. She is an accredited family law specialist, a collaborative lawyer and a qualified mediator. Farhana has extensive expertise across the full family law spectrum, including divorce and separation, cohabitation and children cases. She has additional skills in supporting clients in same sex relationships, modern families and clients from a faith background, including those of Jewish or Islamic heritage.

!11/05/2022 15:34

Simon Rowe

Simon has been a Partner at Milsted Langdon since 2008. The breadth and depth of his expertise covers many areas, from insolvency and business recovery to specialist advice for the Cannabidiol (CBD) sector. Whilst he continues to deal with insolvency matters, having spent many years dealing with businesses facing financial challenges, he now uses the experience gained to help clients in a wide range of circumstances, assisting when decisions need to be made and then helping to ensure those decisions are implemented.

!11/05/2022 12:25

Fiona Stewart

Fiona is a barrister at QEB. She acts in all aspects of private family law including financial remedies, cohabitation disputes, private law children and applications brought under the Family Law Act 1996. She has experience of jurisdiction disputes and also in Inheritance Act claims.

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!11/05/2022 12:17

Edward Cooke

Edward is Managing Director of Edward Cooke Family Law. He is a specialist family lawyer, an accredited mediator and a collaborative lawyer. He is recognised as a leading practitioner in his field and has been working full time as a family lawyer for over 20 years. Edward is a director and National Committee member of Resolution and chair of their Training and Learning Committee. In addition, he is the Resolution National Committee member responsible for sitting on Resolution’s Parenting after Parting Committee.

!11/05/2022 12:27

Graeme Fraser

Graeme Fraser is a solicitor and Head of the Family Team at William Sturges LLP and has been supporting, guiding and enabling people to achieve fairer outcomes, often at a difficult time in their lives, for over 25 years. He is renowned for improving protections for cohabiting couples through his practice, through his work with Resolution as Chair of its Cohabitation Committee and through commentary in the media.

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!21/02/2022 14:33

Katherine Kelsey

A barrister at 1KBW, Katherine advises and acts in all areas of matrimonial finance and has experience in dealing with complex cases involving high net worth and high-profile individuals. She advises and acts in relation to claims brought under Sch 1 of the Children Act 1989. She also practises in all areas of private law children work where she has experience in dealing with complex cases involving internal and external relocation and intractable contact disputes.

!11/05/2022 12:20

Jonathan Galbraith

Jonathan is a pensions actuary with 18 years of experience in the UK pensions industry. He qualified in 2009 and serves as a Principal at Mathieson Consulting Limited, the leading provider of actuarial expert witness services in England & Wales, specialising in pensions settlements arising on divorce. His earlier career was spent as a corporate pensions actuary with PwC, advising employers on pension scheme liability management, scheme funding and benefit design.

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!22/02/2022 14:23

Chris Goodwin

Chris Goodwin is a senior actuary and expert witness for pensions on divorce matters with Mathieson Consulting. He has over 30 years of experience in the UK pensions industry, holds a PGCE in the teaching of mathematics and has also taught economics to actuarial students at the Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing.

• FRC Corner

!24/02/2022 16:23

Jemma Pollock

Jemma is a partner in the Family team at Russell-Cooke. She advises clients on a broad range of family matters including divorce and financial matters following separation and pre and post-nuptial agreements, often with an international element. She has a particular specialism in Schedule 1 cases regarding financial provision for children alongside property disputes between both separating couples and family members. Jemma also has extensive experience in private law children matters including international relocation cases.

!11/05/2022 12:21

Polly Calver

Polly is an Associate in the Family team. Polly's areas of practice include all aspects of private family law, including resolving arrangements for children, handling the financial consequences of separation, cohabitation, and cases involving trusts and international elements.

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!25/02/2022 14:02

David Lillywhite

David is a Partner, Mediator and Collaborative Lawyer at Burgess Mee Family Law. He deals with all types of family law work including advising upon divorce and separation, matrimonial finance (often involving substantial assets and/or with an overseas element), Schedule 1 applications (financial provision involving unmarried parents), pre-and post-nuptial agreements, cohabitation disputes and complex private children matters (including internal and international relocation). He has a particular specialism in 'intervenor' cases involving third parties asserting an interest in matrimonial assets where he has acted for individuals both for and against the claims being made.

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!11/05/2022 12:28

Rebecca Fisher

Rebecca is a partner in the Private Client group at Russell-Cooke advising families and individuals on all aspects of private client law including wills, estate planning, administration of estates, trusts and powers of attorney. She specialises in advising family lawyers and their clients on trust and tax issues that arise in the context of family breakdown as well as advising multi-generational family businesses and entrepreneurs on succession planning, and is a director of Russell-Cooke Trust Company

!11/05/2022 12:21

Pieter Boodt

Pieter is a partner in the Real Estate team at Russell-Cooke. He advises developers, investors, charitable organisations and private individuals based in both the UK and abroad on a wide range of commercial real estate transactions, including site assembly, development, the acquisition and disposal of investment assets, landlord and tenant matters, and real estate finance.

!11/05/2022 12:23

Rachael Hall

Rachael is an NHS Pension Specialist, Independent Financial Adviser, Financial Coach, and co-founder of Seven Stages Limited and Seven Medical.

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!11/05/2022 12:28

Ashley Murray

Ashley is the most experienced specialised divorce and financial remedy junior barrister and private FDR judge in the North West. Having been the first on Circuit to specialise exclusively in such work almost three decades ago and a Recorder in crime and family cases for 27 years, he has been recognised nationally as a leading barrister in high value financial remedy work and an innovator in practice generally. He also has many published articles in leading law journals to his name and is the author of the acclaimed section on Prenuptial Agreements in the standard legal textbook “Cohabitation, Law, Practice and Precedents” and has presented seminars both in this country and abroad.

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!10/03/2022 09:44

Gwynfor Evans

Gwynfor is a barrister at The 36 Group and a member of both the Chancery Bar Association and the Family Law Bar Association. He specialises in financial remedies (MCA 1973 and CA 1989 Sch 1), trusts of land, proprietary estoppel, probate / inheritance disputes, and presumption of death claims.

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!10/05/2022 22:34

Professor Gillian Douglas

Gillian Douglas FBA is Professor Emerita at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London and an Honorary Bencher of Gray's Inn. She is a co-author of Bromley's Family Law, and a former co-editor of Family Law case reports and the Child and Family Law Quarterly. She has led several empirical studies into aspects of family law, including financial arrangements on cohabitation breakdown. She recently chaired the JUSTICE Working Party on Improving access to justice for separating families.

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!24/02/2023 16:23

Andrew Day

Andrew Day is a barrister at St Ives Chambers, Birmingham, and a Recorder, arbitrator and private FDR evaluator.

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!03/01/2024 12:49

Laura Moys

Laura is a barrister at 1KBW whose finance practice encompasses matrimonial finance, cohabitation disputes, applications under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 and related enforcement proceedings. She is regularly instructed in cases involving business assets, trust structures, intervening parties and allegations of non-disclosure. She also acts on all aspects of private law proceedings relating to children including intractable contact and residence disputes, allegations of abuse and parental alienation, applications for leave to remove and internal relocation, fact-finding hearings, and surrogacy.

!11/05/2022 12:19

Daniel Mutton

Daniel Mutton is a barrister at 29 Bedford Row, with a practice primarily focused on financial remedy proceedings, along with experience in private children applications.

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!12/02/2024 16:19

Shannon Knight

Shannon Knight is a barrister at 29 Bedford Row, specialising in financial remedy proceedings and private children matters.

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!12/02/2024 16:21

Adrian Barnett-Thoung-Holland

Adrian Barnett-Thoung-Holland is a family barrister at Coram Chambers, specialising exclusively in financial remedies, claims under TLATA 1996 and applications under Sch 1 CA 1989. He appeared on behalf of the respondent in AXA v BYB (QLR: Financial Remedies) [2023] EWFC 251 (B).

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!06/02/2024 17:21

Alice Thornton

Alice Thornton is a family barrister at Coram Chambers who specialises in all areas including public and private children cases as well as financial remedy proceedings.

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!06/02/2024 17:24