The Bar - Regional Bar • Northern Circuit
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Family: divorce and financial remedy

St John's Buildings

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St John’s Buildings represents national and international clients across a range of family and matrimonial finance mandates, including private financial dispute resolution, inherited wealth and trusts, and hidden assets, as well as separation, pre and post-nuptial, and civil partnership agreements. Among the silks, matrimonial finance practitioner Sally Harrison KC is frequently sought after by high-net-worth and high-profile individuals to handle their cases, which often involve complex business and trust structures, and she has appeared before the Caymanian and Northern Irish courts. Samantha Hillas KC‘s practice consists exclusively of financial remedy work, and she regularly acts on cases regarding pre and post-nuptial agreements and cases involving non-disclosure. Schedule 1 claims are a key area of activity for Charles Eastwood, in addition to matrimonial cases regarding high-value assets, and Hannah Wood is skilled in separation agreements and business assets. Frances De Navarro boasts expertise in inherited wealth and non-matrimonial assets, as well as freezing injunctions.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'The family clerking at St John's Buildings is always excellent. Ryan Barker is always amazingly helpful and super organised.'
  • 'Emma Manning is amazing with an excellent, client-focussed approach and a can-do attitude.'
  • 'Ryan Barker is a class act; an absolute stand-out clerk who is supported fantastically by Emma Manning. It's always about solutions, not problems.'
  • 'Gail Whelan and Emma Manning are both superb. Quick and attentive in their response, and professional and courteous in communications.'
  • 'The clerks are brilliant. Paul Laverty, Ryan Barker, and Emma Manning in particular are fantastic.'
  • 'Ryan Barker knows what solicitors need from a clerk and delivers every time.'
  • 'The family clerks are extremely good. Ryan Barker in particular is excellent to work with. Always going the extra mile for you.'
  • 'The clerks are incredibly helpful and commercially minded. Paul Laverty, Ryan Barker, and Emma Manning cannot do enough to help you. Ryan in particular has excelled himself and proven himself to be a senior clerk in the making.'

Silks

Leading Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
Sally Harrison KC
St John’s Buildings
 ‘Sally is a phenomenal advocate, brilliantly prepared, has a lovely manner with the lay client and is accessible to and supportive of her instructing solicitor. She is not just one of the best family law silks in the north but, in fact, the entire country.’
Samantha Hillas KC
St John’s Buildings
 ‘Samantha is an extremely persuasive advocate, as she can convey complex legal arguments beautifully simply and has a gift for boiling issues down to their simplest components, which makes them easily digestible to judges and opponents alike. She is always impeccably prepared, is interactive in her approach to hearings, and is extremely accessible to those instructing when they require advice on niche issues.’

Juniors

Leading Juniors
Leading juniors are those with significant experience of key cases, strong market recognition from both peers and clients, and are seen as future candidates for silk.
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Charles Eastwood
St John’s Buildings
 'Charles is a go-to financial remedy counsel in Manchester. He is extremely knowledgeable, always well prepared, gives the case 110%, his negotiation and advocacy skills are excellent, and clients love him.'
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Frances De Navarro
St John’s Buildings
 'Frances remains calm in a storm and has a wonderful way of putting clients at ease notwithstanding the pressures of the day. Even when faced with a 'losing' argument, she remains tenacious and thorough until the end, and she has a keen eye for detail and her client care is second-to-none.'
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Neil Montaldo
St John’s Buildings
 'Neil is a gifted advocate, his judgement is spot on, and he is tactically strong. His bedside manner with the lay client is first rate and he makes himself available to his instructing solicitor, making him an excellent all-round family law talent and one of the leading juniors at the family bar in the north.'
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Elisabeth Cooper
St John’s Buildings
 'Elisabeth is lovely to work with; very approachable, incredibly detailed, and really focussed in her approach. She goes above and beyond in terms of preparation and gets brilliant results for the client in difficult cases.'
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Hannah Wood
St John’s Buildings
 'Hannah is always at the end of an email or a phone call, and nothing is too much trouble for her. She puts clients at ease within minutes of her meeting them and goes the extra mile for clients, she leaves no stone unturned, and she is a calm and extremely competent advocate.'
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Simon Charles
St John’s Buildings
 'Simon has the very rare ability of taking highly technical legal points and turning them into straightforward and persuasive arguments. He masters complex issues with ease and gives commercially minded advice, and his advocacy is also highly effective.'
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Michelle Burley
St John’s Buildings
 'A brilliant all-rounder, Michelle is strong with both children and finance cases. She works incredibly hard and her prep work is immaculate, she knows cases inside out, and she is brilliant with clients and a delight to instruct.'

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