Family: children and domestic abuse

Leading juniors

Leading juniors are those with significant experience of key cases, strong market recognition from both peers and clients, and are seen as future candidates for silk.

1
Sara Anning
Parklane Plowden
Sara's attention to detail is excellent, as is her memory. Her ability to sift through high volumes of information to find what is important is extraordinary. She is very quick on her feet and her delivery and cross-examination is formidable. Nothing fazes her - she relishes the difficult and the challenging.'
1
Tim Donnelly
Dere Street Barristers
Tim is a master of his craft.'
1
Justin Gray
Trinity Chambers
Justin’s advocacy is second-to-none. He has a lovely manner with witnesses, and his advocacy style ensures that the right questions are answered, but his non-confrontational way in delivering garners significant favour from the judges.’
1
John Jackson
Parklane Plowden
1
Manisha Marwaha
KBW
Manisha is highly persuasive, strong, determined, reassuring and serene. A very knowledgeable barrister.'
1
Louise McCallum
Parklane Plowden
Louise is incredibly bright and a great tactician. Her calming influence on cases where there are the highest stakes is palpable.'
1
Pauline Moulder
Dere Street Barristers
Pauline is a premier league counsel.’
1
Semaab Shaikh
Broadway House Chambers
Semaab is a highly skilled advocate: very persuasive and methodical. She is very empathic and understanding, and provides very strategic and sound advice.'
1
Alex Taylor
Parklane Plowden
Alex is a very impressive advocate and commands respect - he gets results.'
2
Gavin Button
Wilberforce Chambers
A courageous advocate who is fearless in court; his laid-back and measured style belies his sharp intellect.'
2
Ruth Richards
KCH Garden Square
An extremely tenacious and fierce advocate who is always willing to stand up for her client.’
2
Roger Bickerdike
Broadway House Chambers
A phenomenal advocate who is very impressive on his feet.'
2
Elizabeth Callaghan
Dere Street Barristers
A stellar advocate with the ability to put clients at ease.'
2
Brett Davies
Spire Barristers
Brett is a formidable advocate, who is always perfectly prepared.'
2
Lewis Donnelly
15 Winckley Square
2
Kate Fenwick
Trinity Chambers
2
Clare Garnham
Parklane Plowden
An accomplished and effective advocate, who works incredibly hard and is respected by judges.'
2
Patrick Goodings
Trinity Chambers
Patrick is a great advocate. He builds very good rapport with clients: they feel he is fighting their corner.'
2
Zira Hussain
Broadway House Chambers
A very personable junior, organised and has a great manner with clients.'
2
Iain Hutchinson
Parklane Plowden
His advocacy is well-targeted and effective, and he is thorough, well-prepared, and considered in his approach to cases.’
2
Elizabeth Lugg
Dere Street Barristers
She is a formidable advocate, fearless and exercises good judgement.'
2
Christopher McKee
Dere Street Barristers
Christopher is an exceptional and highly skilled advocate. He is able to deal with very complex and niche issues and advocate those in a manner that is persuasive, consistent, comprehensive and also very calm and clear.'
2
Julia Nelson
Parklane Plowden
Julia is an excellent advocate. She is robust and firm and fierce when needs be. She builds great rapport with clients.'
2
Reagan Persaud
Spire Barristers
Fierce and flawless in her advocacy, she approaches all her cases with vigour. With Reagan on your side, you're in safe hands.'
2
Jayne Pye
Broadway House Chambers
2
Ravinder Randhawa
Dere Street Barristers
She is extremely confident in her approach. Her cross-examination style has great poise and professionalism.’
2
Elizabeth Shaw
Spire Barristers
2
Christopher Styles
Broadway House Chambers
He combines an enviable intellect, a forensic approach, and eloquent, persuasive advocacy with an open and approachable manner with both professional and lay clients.'  
2
Guy Swiffen
Broadway House Chambers
Guy is exceptional. When instructed on complex matters, his knowledge and experience of such cases is unsurpassed. He is always totally prepared, level headed, extremely professional but also approachable, emphatic and attentive to clients. His cross examination is cool, calm yet completely masterful.'
2
Emily Ward
Broadway House Chambers
Emily is a very high quality junior: sensible, intelligent and respected, she fights hard when needed. The family law world is her oyster.'
2
Dornier Whittaker
Broadway House Chambers
Dornier is a tenacious advocate. Her knowledge of the law is outstanding, and she exhibits exceptional insight in handling cases.'
3
Joanne Jenkins
Wilberforce Chambers
Her advocacy is client-focused, persuasive and eloquent. She is extremely talented, always thorough and extremely well-prepared.'
3
Harriet Jones
St John's Buildings
She has a fine eye for detail, excellent advocacy and clear skill in cross-examination.'
3
Richard Lee
Wilberforce Chambers
Richard is an excellent communicator and has an attentive and empathetic bedside manner, especially with challenging clients. A junior with the respect of the judiciary and opponents.'
3
Pennie Stanistreet
St John’s Buildings
She is incredibly hard-working, and her advocacy is concise. She elicits the information she needs from witnesses in an effective way without being bullish or unkind.'
3
Emily Chipchase
Parklane Plowden
Emily is a very efficient and insightful barrister. She is strong beyond her year of call.'
3
Gaynor Hall
Crown Chambers
A confident and accomplished counsel. She is direct and empathetic.'
3
Marie Harbin
Spire Barristers
Marie has an incredible eye for detail. She is forensic in her approach to cases and meticulous in her planning. She is a powerful advocate who will ensure that the client feels robustly advocated for. She looks at every angle and doesn't capitulate under stress.'
3
Joanna Hawkett
Crown Chambers
A formidable advocate with a sensible head, a calm demeanour and steely confidence.'
3
David Horne
Bank House Chambers
David is assiduous in his preparation and always has an in-depth and forensic knowledge of his case and his papers. His advocacy is focused, highly articulate and assured. He has a very calm and reassuring court presence even in the most pressured of situations and displays excellent judgement and persuasiveness.'
3
Ashley Lord
Spire Barristers
A barrister with a fantastic friendly demeanor, who can cut through all of the unnecessary evidence with great efficiency and skill.'
3
Andrew Pike
Dere Street Barristers
A very diligent, thorough and skilled advocate. His preparation is second to none. He is able to give pragmatic advice to clients in difficult circumstances.'
3
Connie Purdy
Spire Barristers
Connie's quiet confidence is apparent when on her feet: her arguments are concise and persuasive. Her client care skills are spectacular.'
3
Jennie Smith
Dere Street Barristers
Jennie is an extremely well-prepared and knowledgeable advocate. She has a friendly manner with clients, offering support and guidance as well as realistic and robust advice.’
3
Francesca Steels
Crown Chambers
Francesca is always calm and reasonable in difficult situations. She is a very strong advocate who never overlooks the minor issues.'
3
Charlotte Wilce
Parklane Plowden
Charlotte is a force to be reckoned with both in person and on paper.'
3
Simon Wilkinson
Parklane Plowden
A talented and formidable advocate, who is always thoroughly prepared and delivers complex arguments in a clear, measured and persuasive way.'
4
Chloe Ogley
Wilberforce Chambers
Chloe is incredibly capable. She is a tenacious advocate, always thoroughly prepared and able to build excellent rapport with clients. She approaches sensitive cases with empathy and understanding but with a core of steel that enables her to put forward the best case possible for her client.'
4
Kate Spence
St John’s Buildings
Kate is an exceptional barrister with an enviable ability to efficiently assimilate and recall information.'
4
Olivia Bennyworth
Crown Chambers
Olivia will go above and beyond for her clients, and is robust in her arguments in court.'
4
Maxine Best
Parklane Plowden
She is always calm, confident and collected in court and utterly tenacious on her feet - she will always fight her corner.'
4
Sarah Fearon
Crown Chambers
4
Nathaniel Garner
Parklane Plowden
Nathaniel is a gifted advocate. His lovely, confident and calm manner instills confidence, and he builds an exceptional rapport with lay clients.'
4
Neelam Mall
Crown Chambers
Neelam is a dedicated junior. She is confident, persuasive, extremely knowledgeable, and has the ability to build relationships with clients and put them at ease in the midst of a complex case.'
4
Tory Putnam
Trinity Chambers
Tory is a fabulous advocate: persuasive, engaging and focused.'
4
Emily Ross
Parklane Plowden
Emily has a lovely way with clients, making them feel at ease. She is responsive and her advocacy skills are excellent.'
4
Lucy Sowden
Parklane Plowden
Lucy is a phenomenal junior who adopts a forensic and analytical approach to her work.'
4
Philippa Wordsworth
Parklane Plowden
4
Angela Wrottesley
Bank House Chambers
Angela is always meticulously prepared, knows her brief inside out and presents her case in a calm and reasoned fashion.'

Rising stars

Rising stars at the Bar are defined as barristers between four and eight years’ call who are seen as up-and-coming members of the Bar in their respective practice areas by clients and peers alike. They will already be instructed in high-profile, complex, and high-value contentious and non-contentious matters, working with and opposite more experienced leading counsel.

1
Hannah Whitehouse
Coram Chambers
She is able, immaculately prepared, realistic and has a warm and sensible manner which win her the judge’s ear. She is a force to be reckoned with.’
1
Jess Butterell
KBW
An impressive junior who knows her brief inside out.'
1
Gemma Carr
Spire Barristers
Gemma is an astute and conscientious junior.'
1
Bede Porter
Crown Chambers
Bede is extremely thorough in his preparation, with extraordinary attention to detail. He is able to put clients at ease, establish rapport and deliver advice in a comprehensible format. His advocacy is of a very high standard, delivered in a calm and persuasive manner.'
1
Harriet Williams
Parklane Plowden
Harriet is agile, resourceful and adept at dealing with any situation that arises.'