Jane Craig > Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP Offices

125 WOOD STREET
LONDON
EC2V 7AW
England
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Jane Craig

Work Department
Family.
Position
Jane headed the family department from 2006 until 31 March 2022, when she stepped down as a partner and became a senior consultant in the firm. She is a recognised expert in high value divorce finances with many years’ experience of cases involving trusts, inherited wealth, complicated remuneration structures and assets overseas. Her expertise includes the preparation of pre nuptial and post nuptial agreements. Jane is also a recognised expert in cases involving unmarried couples and has contributed to a number of significant practice guides to the law in this area. Many of Jane’s cases have an international dimension and she is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), a worldwide association of practising lawyers who are recognised by their peers as the most experienced and expert family law specialists in their respective countries.
Jane has been ranked in The Legal 500 Hall of Fame since 2020, having previously been ranked as a Leading Individual for many years. She is recognised by Best Lawyers UK 2022 as a leading expert in family law and is a Recommended Lawyer in Spears 500 2022. She is ranked as a Leading Individual in Chambers UK High Net Worth and Chambers UK.
Jane has played a leading role in the development and practice of family law for 40 years. She is a former chair of Resolution, the leading organisation of family justice professionals in England and Wales. She was the first private law solicitor member of the Family Justice Council, which advises the government on family policy issues, and chaired its private law Children in Families Committee for six years. She is an active member of Resolution’s Cohabitation Committee, which campaigns for reform of the law to provide protection for vulnerable cohabitants. Jane has represented clients involved in some of the country’s leading reported cases, including T v T, a case relating to jurisdiction in European family disputes and Grey, one of the leading Court of Appeal decisions on the impact of cohabitation on maintenance claims for wives and former wives.
Career
Articled Middlesborough; qualified 1982; joined Manches LLP 1988; partner 1992; chairman of Resolution (formerly Solicitors’ Family Law Association) May 2001 to March 2003. Appointed the private law solicitor member of The Family Justice Council in June 2004; chair of The Family Justice Council Children in Families committee 2005-11; member of The Law Commission’s cohabitation project legal advisory group. Qualified collaborative lawyer. Has contributed to items about family law on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Law in Action’ and ‘Money Box’, as well as commenting regularly in the national and legal press.
Languages
A-level French.
Memberships
Resolution; Family Justice Council Money and Property committee; Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers; Collaborative Family Law; Resolution’s Cohabitation Committee.
Education
Hornsey High School for Girls; Southampton University (1979 LLB 2(1)).
Lawyer Rankings
London > Private client > Family
(Hall of Fame)Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP fields an ‘exceptionally strong team of family lawyers’. The ‘indomitable’ James Stewart and the ‘highly experienced’ Anna Worwood co-head the department that offers the ‘highest level of client care and prepares cases immaculately’. The group frequently acts in some of the most significant international cases that come before the English courts with a particular focus on the USA and the Middle East. It has considerable expertise in Part 111 claims and it has a ‘modern families’ unit that is headed by Linzi Bull – this unit focuses on issues such as surrogacy and the legal issues arising from artificial reproductive technologies. Edward Floyd is now at Farrer & Co while the ‘impressive’ Tammy Knox has been promoted to the partnership. Among the other key members of the team are Jane Craig
; Amanda Andrews and Rebecca Carlyon .
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: mid-market
- Dispute resolution > Commodities disputes
- Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
- Private client > Court of protection
- Employment > Employees/unions
- Private client > Family
- Employment > Immigration
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: smaller deals, up to £50m
- Transport > Travel
- Insurance > Clinical negligence: claimant
- Public sector > Education: institutions
- Insurance > Personal injury: claimant
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Reputation management
- Employment > Senior executives
- Transport > Shipping
- Finance > Trade finance
- Real estate > Construction: non-contentious
- Public sector > Education: schools
- Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – small-mid cap
- Insurance > Product liability: defendant
- Insurance > Professional negligence
- Real estate > Social housing: local authorities and registered providers
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Sport
- Corporate and commercial > Venture capital
- Dispute resolution > Banking litigation: investment and retail
- Private client > Charities and not-for-profit
- Real estate > Commercial property: development
- Real estate > Commercial property: investment
- Real estate > Construction: contentious
- Employment > Employers
- Insurance > Insurance and reinsurance litigation
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: trade marks, copyright and design
- Real estate > Property litigation