Hawkins Family Law > Milton Keynes, England > Firm Profile
Hawkins Family Law Offices
THE OLD COURT HOUSE, 19 MARKET SQUARE
STONY STRATFORD
MILTON KEYNES
MK11 1BE
England
- Go to...
- Rankings
- Firm Profile
- Main Contacts
- Lawyer Profiles
Hawkins Family Law > The Legal 500 Rankings
Private client > Family: Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx Tier 1
In Stony Stratford, Hawkins Family Law houses a team of ‘stellar lawyers‘ with notable experience in high-value divorces and separations involving overseas assets and child law issues. Joanna Hawkins heads up the practice with her longstanding expertise in acting for shareholders and directors, and individuals with intergenerational family wealth in the resolution of financial matters. Loraine Davenport primarily handles matters concerning high-net-worth ancillary relief, involving trust elements, in addition to children cases; while Annabel Hayward has ample expertise in advising on cohabitation disputes, and matters in which one party attempts to hide assets. Stacey St Clair departed the practice in 2022.Practice head(s):
Joanna Hawkins
Other key lawyers:
Loraine Davenport; Annabel Hayward; Rebecca Stewart
Testimonials
‘Hawkins Family Law is a real gem. I am yet to encounter anything but stellar lawyers. They work so hard for their clients and carry enormous respect in their local area. Hawkins Family Law’s skill and expertise in family law far surpasses every single other firm in their locality.’
‘It’s a boutique, specialist family law firm, which offers genuine expertise across all areas of family law and is particularly strong on finances. The team are client-focused and pragmatic, yet ready to stand firm to achieve the best outcome.’
‘All of the team at Hawkins Family Law have a brilliant understanding of the level of detail and complexity when dealing with pension arrangements. Hawkins Family Law engage in understanding the financial assets of their clients on a level I’ve not witnessed elsewhere.’
‘Joanna Hawkins has been patient and helpful. I feel that she has my best interests at heart. She has been informative and helpful throughout.’
‘Loraine Davenport has a calm and personal, but professional demeanour. She listens and helps me focus on what is important. Loraine gets it just right.’
‘The team are exceptional at identifying a client’s needs relating to their particular case and providing exceeding accurate, well thought out, and appropriate legal advice and guidance for an effective and swift resolution.’
‘Rebecca Stewart is fantastic from start to finish, including after care between cases, and ensures house sales and split of funds are dealt with properly.’
‘The team are wonderful, and are full of compassion and understanding at a very important and emotional time. Whenever I needed support I only had to ring and my solicitor always answered and calmed me down.’
Hawkins Family Law > Firm Profile
Hawkins Family Law is a niche family practice. The firm was established in 2001 by Jo Hawkins who recognised that there was a need for a different approach to clients going through divorce and separation. The ethos of the firm was and continues to be to provide service to the individual tailored to their needs and to offer choice in terms of the approach to the resolution of their issues. The firm has grown substantially since 2001 with much of that growth being organic, and now offers seven legal advisers with experience in arbitration, collaborative law and mediation.
The firm: Hawkins Family Law practices exclusively in family law and in September 2016 celebrated 15 years, a milestone that the firm takes great pride in.
The greatest percentage of work comprises financial disputes for mid- to high-net-worth, though the firm offers support in all areas except public law and publicly funded work. The team has achieved accreditation for private law children specialism and cohabitation as well as for financial and high-net-worth work.
The individual reputation of the lawyers in the team makes it one of the strongest in Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas, with an increasing profile nationally. The firm is known for aspiring to be the ‘go to’ family lawyers in Milton Keynes and surrounding areas, and its main source of intake continues to be referral.
All of the solicitors and trainees at Hawkins are Resolution members and the three directors plus two other solicitors are collaboratively trained. The collaborative practice continues to be promoted where appropriate with firms on a local and national level. The firm has also continued to promote the use of arbitration and has used the process to conclude several cases swiftly and effectively.
On a local level the firm has been instrumental in running the Milton Keynes regional Resolution group with Loraine Davenport as the acting chair, Annabel Hayward as the regional media representative and Jo Hawkins the new members committee member. All three directors are active members of the Milton Keynes Collaborative Pod and recently the directors have spearheaded negotiations with the local judiciary to improve the litigant in person experience at court. Nationally, Annabel is an active member of Resolution’s cohabitation committee campaigning for a law to protect the rights of cohabiting couples.
Types of work undertaken: The firm is known for its excellent service and advice to clients, particularly its strength in negotiating financial agreements either collaboratively or via litigation, with the focus being on constructive pragmatic advice.
Hawkins Family Law is notably described as a boutique family law firm which punches above its weight in terms of high-value and complex matrimonial finance instructions. It also represents clients in the negotiation of wealth protection agreements and private law childcare arrangements and is justifiably proud of the fact that it can field a team trained in collaborative law and alternative dispute resolution.
The firm also unusually recognises and supports the long-term impact of divorce or separation on the individual ensuring that all clients have the support of the in-house consultant psychotherapist, ensuring that the sensible and constructive approach for which it is known continues after the involvement of the lawyers.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Managing director | Joanna Hawkins | ||
| Private client – family | Joanna Hawkins | ||
| Private client – family | Loraine Davenport | ||
| Private client – family | Annabel Hayward |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Ms Loraine Davenport | Director at Hawkins Family Law. | View Profile |
|
Ms Joanna Hawkins | Joanna is the Managing Director of Hawkins Family Law. | View Profile |
|
Ms Annabel Hayward | Annabel is a Director in the family team. | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Number of UK partners : 3 Number of other UK fee-earners : 4- Private client > Family: Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx