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 has been a senior consultant in the family department since April 2022, having previously headed the department for 16 years. She is a recognised expert in 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 played a leading role in the development and practice of family law for 40 years. She was the first private law solicitor member of the Family Justice Council, which advises the government on family policy issues. She is an active member of Resolution’s Cohabitation Committee, which campaigns for reform of the law relating to 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.
She has appeared talking about family law issues on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Law in Action’, ‘Woman’s Hour’, ‘Money Box’, ‘You and Yours’ and Radio 5 Live, as well BBC Breakfast, Channel Four News and BBC News.
Career
Articled Middlesborough; qualified 1982; joined Manches LLP 1988; partner 1992.
Languages
A-level French.
Memberships
Chair of Resolution (formerly Solicitors’ Family Law Association) May 2001 to March 2003. Appointed the first 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 2006-7.
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‘s family team is ‘amongst the strongest in London‘, led ‘extremely well‘ by Anna Worwood, ‘an international relocation expert’, and arbitrator and head of strategy for the team James Stewart, who is ‘a first choice for cases involving prenuptial agreements or cross-border matters‘. A number of team members have specialist experience of international matters, including Anglo-US experienced Elizabeth Carson and Rebecca Carlyon, whose client base includes high-profile figures in entertainment, politics and finance. Jane Craig
is particularly engaged in the law around cohabitees, and Linzi Bull is specialised in LGBTQ+ family issues including international surrogacy, and innovative use of pre-conception agreements. For complex financial matters, including those involving trust structures, family offices and offshore assets, Amanda Andrews is a go-to, while international child abduction work is regularly handled by Tammy Knox. In October 2024, the team was joined by Tom Amlot, Lucy Brown, and Kate Williams, all previously at AFP Bloom.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: mid-market
- Private client > Family
- Private client > Family: mediation
Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > Commodities disputes
- Private client > Court of protection
- Employment > Employees/unions
- Employment > Immigration
- Employment > Immigration: human rights
- Employment > Immigration: personal
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: Smaller Deals, £10m-£100m
- Insurance > Personal injury: claimant
- Transport > Travel
- Insurance > Clinical negligence: claimant
- Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
- Public sector > Education: institutions
- Public sector > Education: schools
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Reputation management
- Employment > Senior executives
- Transport > Shipping
- Finance > Trade finance
- Dispute resolution > Banking litigation: investment and retail
- Private client > Charities and not-for-profit
- Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – small-mid cap
- Dispute resolution > Group litigation: Claimant
- Insurance > Product liability: defendant
- Insurance > Professional negligence
- Real estate > Social housing: local authorities and registered providers
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Sport
- Dispute resolution > Tax litigation and investigations
- Corporate and commercial > Venture capital
- Transport > Aviation
- Real estate > Commercial property: development
- Real estate > Commercial property: investment
- Real estate > Construction: contentious
- Real estate > Construction: non-contentious
- Employment > Employers
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: civil
- Insurance > Insurance and reinsurance litigation
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: trade marks, copyright and design
- Real estate > Property litigation
- Real estate > Residential property
- Employment > Pensions (non-contentious)
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Fintech: corporate and commercial