Charles Russell Speechlys LLP

James Freeman

James is a leading family lawyer and advises on all issues arising from relationship breakdown, specialising in difficult or complex cases. These commonly involve international issues, offshore assets and trusts, business interests or hidden assets, and the construction of sophisticated financial settlements. He often advises trustees, intervenors and family offices in relation to divorce proceedings. James has considerable experience of cross-border work, in particular Anglo-French cases. He is also experienced in pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements both international and domestic. He is committed to resolving disputes in a constructive way wherever possible and to that end is trained as a Mediator and Collaborative Lawyer. He is a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and a member of the Franco-British Lawyers Society.

William Longrigg

William is head of the family sector group and specialises in divorce, financial relief (including pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements) and private law children cases. He also lectures on a range of family law issues, including trusts and matrimonial breakdown. William has wide experience of cases with an international element. Experience: many high-profile divorce cases involving international jurisdiction issues and/or trusts.

Joshua Green

Joshua specialises in family law including pre and post nuptial agreements, divorce, finances and arrangements for children after their parents have separated.  Many of Joshua’s cases have an international element and involve high-net worth, high profile individuals in cases dealing with complex financial structures including trusts, inherited wealth and family businesses. Joshua has significant experience in acting in challenging international children matters, including applications for parents to permanently leave the jurisdiction with their children, cases involving publicity and media law issues, and acting for clients in the sports industry. Joshua was named as one of eprivateclient’s “Top 35 under 35” 2018 and a "Next Generation Lawyer" in The Legal 500 2019. He was also listed as a "Rising Star" in The Spear's 500 2019. He has written a number of articles for Family Law Journal on issues such as legal funding in family proceedings, religious issues in children cases and domestic abuse and harm in international relocation cases. Joshua is admitted to practise in England and Wales. Experience highlights RJ v Tigipko [2019] EWHC 448 (Fam) Re J (Children: Permission to Remove from Jurisdiction) [2018]EWCA Civ 1372 S and V (Children - Leave to Remove) [2018] EWFC 26 Fields v Fields [2015] EWHC 1670 (Fam) H v S [2011] EWHC B23 (Fam)

Miranda Fisher

Miranda specialises in family law, including prenuptial agreements, financial settlement on divorce and arrangements for children after parents separate. She has been a specialist family law practitioner for over twenty years, and is equally adept at dealing with complex financial disputes and the most difficult children cases. Her financial cases often involve trusts, inherited wealth, family businesses, offshore asset structures, and the protection of family wealth through pre/post nuptial agreements. Miranda is experienced in international family law cases involving financial issues and the relocation of/arrangements for children, applications to the English Court for financial settlement following divorce proceedings overseas, and jurisdiction disputes, particularly concerning Eastern and Western Europe, the United States of America and the Middle East. Miranda has expertise in Islamic family law issues and is Head of the Charles Russell Speechlys Middle East Family Practice. She is a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL). Miranda regularly advises high profile clients, including in the sport and media industries, and is accustomed to dealing with privacy issues. She is co-author of Privacy and Disclosure for Family Lawyers for Resolution and Child Contact: Law and Practice for Law Society Publishing.

Sarah Higgins

Sarah handles all areas of family law with particular focus on financial applications, children, cohabitation and marital agreements. Sarah advises those involved in disputes concerning their financial arrangements following relationship breakdown, whether as spouses/cohabitants or third parties such as trustees. Many clients are international or have assets abroad. Sarah is experienced in advising civil partners. Children issues include acting for parents or other family members. Sarah is experienced in dealing with cases with substantial and complex assets in various jurisdictions in particular where there are trusts, and where there are issues of non disclosure and disputed valuations. She drafts and advises on both marital and civil partnership agreements. Her children work includes acting in cases where one parent wishes to relocate to a different country with a child. Sarah is experienced in dealing with matters where there are allegations of drug or alcohol abuse. She is a trained mediator and a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.

Sarah Jane Boon

Sarah Jane advises on all areas of family law, with a particular emphasis on the financial claims that arise on divorce and applications to the English Court for financial settlement following an overseas divorce. She has a growing practice in wealth protection via nuptial and cohabitation agreements and she also advises on all private children law matters, from disputes about parental arrangements and financial claims to the relocation of children across jurisdictions. Sarah Jane has a great deal of experience in complex cases concerning substantial family wealth and those with an international element, as well as more standard domestic cases. Sarah Jane was listed in the eprivateclient 35 under 35 list in 2015 and appears in the 2018 Citywealth Leaders List (having been shortlisted in Citywealth’s Future Leaders awards in 2017). She was also listed in Legal 500 as a New Generation Lawyer in both 2017 and 2018, and then as a Next Generation Partner in 2019. She has recently been quoted in the Times, Financial Times and Huffington Post on recent family law issues.

Jamie Kennaugh

Jamie’s experience includes a wide range of private family law proceedings, including contested divorces, civil partnership dissolution, financial relief, pre/post nuptial agreements and arrangements for children on separation. Jamie acts for and against individuals across a broad range of industries and backgrounds – including the sports field, entrepreneurs and those with wider family wealth.  She has clients based both in the UK and globally, with a reach beyond Europe in the Middle East and the U.S.  She has a strong interest in dealing with complex trust assets on divorce. Complementing her experience in dealing with finances on separation, Jamie is a particular specialist in private law children work and her cases are often cross jurisdictional. She advises individuals on wide-ranging arrangements for their children, including internal and external relocation.  Jamie also has experience in dealing with domestic abuse matters. She has contributed to various publications and legal sources, including the mainstream press.