Guildford Chambers > Guildford, England > Set Profile

Chambers of George Coates
Guildford Chambers
STOKE HOUSE, LEAPALE LANE
GUILDFORD
GU1 4LY
England

Email firm Visit website 01483 539131 01483 300542

South Eastern Circuit > Family: children and domestic abuse Tier 2

Guildford Chambers is ‘an excellent set with a strong and unrivalled family team’. Fiona Griffin has longstanding experience of representing parents, grandparents, guardians and local authorities in public and private family law proceedings. Christine Julien has ‘excellent communication and interpersonal skills along with an analytical mind’ and specialises in representing children and vulnerable parents in public law proceedings, with particular expertise in cases involving allegations of physical abuse of children. Andrew Austin is a ‘very robust advocate with keen attention to detail’ and advises on the full range of private children law disputes related to abuse, parental alienation, implacable hostility, and relocation of children.

Leading Juniors

Fiona Griffin –Guildford Chambers 'Fiona has the ability to communicate with a wide range of people. She has interpersonal skills, alongside the ability to express arguments and ideas clearly. She has an analytical mind and a logical approach.'

Ranked: Tier 2

Christine Julien –Guildford Chambers 'Christine is client-focused and excellent with vulnerable individuals in particular. She is direct with her advocacy but also collaborative outside of the courtroom and willing to look beyond the conventional in order to make progress.'

Ranked: Tier 2

Suzanne Kelly –Guildford Chambers 'Suzanne is a strong advocate.'

Ranked: Tier 4

Andrew Austin –Guildford Chambers 'Andrew is an excellent barrister. He has a good attention to detail, is very good with clients, and his advocacy is excellent.'

Ranked: Tier 4

Dominique Gillan –Guildford Chambers ‘Dominique is an effective, precise and detail-orientated advocate. She is also not afraid to challenge clients’ positions during conferences to help direct the case.’

Ranked: Tier 4

Sophia O’Hagan –Guildford Chambers 'Sophia has excellent communication, negotiation and advocacy skills. She grasps the detailed aspects of cases quickly, and her empathy and sensitivity to the emotional aspects of family disputes are her true strengths.'

Ranked: Tier 5

Nicola Holland – Guildford Chambers ‘Nicola is extremely competent. Her attention to detail is second-to-none. She is always fully prepared and a robust advocate in court yet emphatic towards vulnerable clients.’

Ranked: Tier 5

Sarah Moon – Guildford Chambers ‘Sarah is approachable, adaptable, compassionate, thorough, and exactly the right balance of collaborative and tenacious. Her advocacy and cross-examination skills are second-to-none, and she can adapt her style to suit the particular facts of the case and the client.’

Ranked: Tier 5

Testimonials

‘Gavin Street and Simon Morris are extremely efficient, organised and willing to help in any way.’

‘Gavin Street always goes above and beyond to help with any cases which come up on short notice.’

‘Guildford Chambers is incredibly high, and there is consistency in terms of the knowledge and experience of counsel.’

‘Guildford Chambers is excellent and always accommodating and helpful.’

‘Guildford Chambers is always doing their best to offer counsel options. Chambers have a wide variety of excellent family law barristers with skills that will match a range of different cases.’

‘Guildford Chambers is friendly, competent, efficient, and always the first choice in instructing counsel.’

Work highlights

South Eastern Circuit > Family: divorce and financial remedy Tier 2

Guildford Chambers is a ‘strong family law set that offers a good choice of experienced counsel’. George Coates specialises in financial remedy cases involving substantial assets and recently handled GA v EL, a reported case related to the distribution of £70m assets between a separated couple. Andrew Austin is highly regarded for his ‘determination, self-discipline, and logical approach’, while Dominique Gillan garners praise for his ‘strong but polite advocacy’. Hannah McSorley is ‘a reliable barrister known for her excellent bedside manner and sensible and pragmatic advice’.

Leading Juniors

George Coates –Guildford Chambers 'George is hard-working, clever and strong in detail.'

Ranked: Tier 2

Dominique Gillan –Guildford Chambers 'Dominique is professional, has great communication skills and attention to detail and is always happy to assist.'

Ranked: Tier 4

Andrew Austin –Guildford Chambers 'Andrew is a competent barrister who goes the extra mile to resolve any issues.'

Ranked: Tier 4

Testimonials

‘Gavin Street and Simon Morris are exceptional and best clerks. They provide a supportive, quick and personable service.’

‘Gavin Street is excellent.’

‘Gavin Street and Simon Morris are equally helpful and easy to deal with. Gavin will always do his best to find counsel for a case and is adaptable to changes.’

‘Guildford Chambers has a good range of counsel in terms of experience. The clerks are very approachable and helpful.’

‘Guildford Chambers is a good regional chambers which covers all the bases.’

‘Guildford Chambers are excellent and always accommodating and helpful.’

Work highlights

South Eastern Circuit > Property and construction

Leading Juniors

Rowan Morton –Guildford Chambers 'Rowan is tenacious and with superb attention to detail. She is a brilliant advocate.'

Ranked: Tier 1

Christopher McCauley - Guildford Chambers 'Christopher has a good eye for detail and is excellent at keeping in contact to discuss issues. He offers proactive and pragmatic advice.'

Ranked: Tier 2

Guildford Chambers is a progressive, multi-disciplinary set of barristers, uniquely positioned to provide competitive and effective advocacy for individuals and businesses in the South East.

The set’s portfolio of clients value its collaborative approach and strong and successful working relationships. Guildford Chambers operates a system of specialist practice groups which ensure clients receive the best advice and advocacy from their chosen barrister. The set’s barristers and its experienced and responsive clerking team share an uncompromising attitude to quality and client service, with a sensible approach to cost. Chambers’ core fields of specialism are family, children and finance; property; wills, trusts and probate; commercial; personal injury and employment and regulatory.

Established in 1976, Guildford Chambers has a deserved reputation for excellence in its fields of practice, and a friendly, down-to-earth approach. It accepts instructions from solicitors in private or corporate practice and local authorities and prosecutes on behalf of many agencies. Its members appear in courts and tribunals, chair arbitrations and attend conferences at venues throughout the country, and some are part-time judges. We have the latest IT facilities and can conduct conferences and hearings remotely or from Chambers. We undertake direct professional access work and welcomes direct instructions from surveyors, accountants, and members of other approved professional bodies. Members also undertake public access work.

Department	Name	Email	Telephone
Senior Clerk	Simon Morris
First junior Clerk	Gavin Street
Head of Chambers	COATES, George (1990)
Member of Chambers	SMALLWOOD, Laura (1987)
Member of Chambers	JULIEN, Christine (1991)
Member of Chambers	SELLERS, Robin (1994)
Member of Chambers	O'HAGAN, Sophia (1996)
Member of Chambers	MOULDER, Paul (1997)
Deputy Head of Chambers	GILLAN, Dominique (1998)
Member of Chambers	MITCHELL, Christian (2001)
Member of Chambers	GRIFFIN, Fiona (2003)
Member of Chambers	MORTON, Rowan (2004)
Member of Chambers	McLAUGHLIN, Victoria (2004)
Member of Chambers	WALKER-HAWORTH, Jamie (2005)
Member of Chambers	AUSTIN, Andrew (2009)
Member of Chambers	McCAULEY, Christopher (2009)
Member of Chambers	McSORLEY, Hannah (2010)
Member of Chambers	HOLLAND, Nicola (2010)
Member of Chambers	MOON, Sarah (2013)
Member of Chambers	TRIM, Luke (2014)
Member of Chambers	NOTHNAGLE, Nikola (2014)
Member of Chambers	KHAN, Bilawal (2017)
Member of Chambers	KELLY, Suzanne (2018)
Member of Chambers	MATTHEWS, Ruth (2021)

Name	Position	Profile
Andrew Austin	Family Andrew accepts instructions in family law, specialising in private children and…	View Profile
George Coates	Family George Coates specialises in financial remedies in divorce proceedings and related…	View Profile
Dominique Gillan	Dominique has developed an extensive practice in the field of ancillary relief.…	View Profile
Fiona Griffin	Fiona has considerable experience representing parents, grandparents, guardians and local authorities in…	View Profile
Janet Haywood	Janet practises exclusively in family law, including children’s cases and domestic violence…	View Profile
Nicola Holland	Nicola was graded ‘outstanding’ on the Bar Vocational Course and awarded the…	View Profile
Michael Jones	Family: Michael has experience in ancillary relief and conducting all matters in…	View Profile
Christine Julien	Christine has specialized in all areas of family law for the past…	View Profile
Suzanne Kelly	Suzanne represents clients in all aspects of Family Law in particular children…	View Profile
Mr Bilawal Khan	Profile Bill is a barrister whose practice combines court advocacy and advisory…	View Profile
Miss Ruth Matthews	Profile Ruth joined Guildford Chambers as a tenant in October 2023 following…	View Profile
Chris McCauley	Commercial and Company Christopher’s commercial practice has a chancery focus and his…	View Profile
Victoria McLaughlin	Ancillary relief: advising and acting in all aspects of ancillary relief and…	View Profile
Christian Mitchell	Family: Christian Mitchell has extensive experience in both public and private aspects…	View Profile
Sarah Moon	Sarah accepts instructions in all areas family law and has experience in…	View Profile
Rowan Morton	Property Rowan has a diverse property practice that incorporates ToLATA, proprietary estoppel,…	View Profile
Paul Moulder	Property Paul is regularly instructed by landlords and tenants in relation to…	View Profile
Miss Nikola Nothnagel		View Profile
Miss Sophia O'Hagan	Profile Sophia has developed an extensive and respected practice in both public…	View Profile
Robin Sellers	Crime: Robin has practised as a criminal barrister for over 20 years,…	View Profile
Laura Smallwood	Laura practised in London and then at Guildford Chambers, predominantly in landlord…	View Profile
Luke Trim	Luke joined Guildford Chambers in 2018 as a civil law pupil. Luke…	View Profile
Jamie Walker-Haworth	Personal Injury Prior to joining chambers, Jamie spent 8 years as an…	View Profile