Phillips Law

Family Law

Partner, Mediator and Co-Head of Family Law

“Elizabeth was really professional, as well as understanding, during the difficult period of my separation. She would know when to get down to business, or just listen, and she is very knowledgeable.” The Legal 500, Recommended Lawyer, 2021

Elizabeth’s considerable expertise has been gained during a career specialising in family law. She successfully and empathetically advocates for her clients in a wide range of legal situations arising from family breakdown, aiming to reach an early settlement where possible but pro-actively and assertively pursuing litigation through the Family Court if required.

Elizabeth is a Resolution Accredited Specialist lawyer in Children and Finance cases and, as a member of Resolution, upholds the Code of Practice to ensure that the needs of the whole family, particularly any children, are prioritised.

In addition to her work as a Family Solicitor, Elizabeth is an Accredited Family Mediator and assists families and couples in resolving the details of their financial settlement and arrangements for their children without the need for litigation. Elizabeth is qualified to offer Mediation, Information and Assessment Meetings.

Elizabeth’s areas of specialist practice are:

Divorce and dissolution proceedings; Financial remedy proceedings; Pre-nuptial and Post-nuptial Agreements; Separation Agreements; Child Arrangement Orders; Other family-based arrangements for children including Special Guardianship Orders; and Child Protection concerns.

Some recent cases of note include:

Successfully defending an application to change long-standing child arrangements including defending tenuous unsubstantiated allegations and obtaining an order preventing further applications; Concluding long-running negotiations by way of a Consent Order in financial proceedings involving total assets exceeding £5m including pension assets, complex share schemes and business interests; Advising on claims that a client had dissipated assets within financial remedy proceedings and settling the case favourably at an early stage; Advising on and achieving a pre-nuptial agreement safeguarding the majority of the client’s assets in the event of a future separation; and Successfully achieving a Child Arrangements ‘Living With’ Order in our client’s favour so that our client could protect the children where there were child protection concerns.