Emily Ward

Deputy Head of the Family Team

Emily is Deputy Head of the Family Team and has a strong, busy practice both on and off the North East Circuit. She is a particularly sought after in matrimonial finance and cohabitation disputes, as well as complex children cases.

Emily is an established matrimonial finance specialist and is highly sought after in financial remedy and schedule 1 cases. She acts for clients from pre-issue, where focus is primarily upon strategy, settlement and advice as to evidence, through to final hearings and on appeal. Her case load comprises high net worth clients with large incomes and substantial capital, business, trust assets and/or extensive pension provision, as well as difficult cases where needs exceed the available assets.

Emily is experienced in advising in cases where the issues include pre-acquired wealth, inheritance, complex business and trust structures, liquidity issues and nuptial agreements. She is also often approached to advise in cases where there have been substantial personal injury awards.

In addition, Emily’s family practice encompasses all areas of private children law. She advises and represents clients in a wide range of applications, and she is a favourite in cases involving intractable contact disputes, implacable hostility and vulnerable individuals. She is frequently praised for her sensitive yet sensible approach with clients, having dealt with a significant number of cases in which there has been a parent death or terminal diagnosis of a parent.

Emily also represents clients in cases involving domestic abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviour allegations and also cases where false allegations of abuse against parents and/or children have been made.

Emily’s civil law practice incorporates a range of matters, including land and trust disputes, to which she brings extensive legal knowledge from her authorship and editorship in leading practitioner cohabitation texts, Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 claims, and bankruptcy and insolvency in a family law context.

Given her family law practice, Emily has particular specialism in civil and chancery matters with a family element, including advising in professional negligence issues stemming from family law proceedings/advice and land and trust disputes in a family setting.

LLB (Hons) University of Manchester (2010, First Class) (six prizes)

Bar Professional Training Course (2011)

Middle Temple Godfrey Heilpern Scholar