Family law barristers.
Counsel for divorce, financial remedy, child arrangements and private children law. Clerk&Counsel is a clerking agency that places BSB-registered family barristers across England and Wales.
Family law work is unlike commercial litigation in one important respect: the parties usually have to keep dealing with each other after the case ends. A good family barrister is a clear advocate at the right moments and a realistic negotiator at every other moment. The counsel we clerk for do exactly that, for parties to divorce and dissolution, financial remedy and child arrangements proceedings, schedule 1 applications, and the negotiation and drafting of nuptial agreements.
Clerk&Counsel is not a barristers' chambers. We are a clerking agency and a trading style of Found First Digital Ltd. We route instructions to specialist family counsel with the right experience, availability and fee structure for the case in front of you — independent counsel, regulated by the Bar Standards Board.
Types of family work we cover.
The work we routinely place with family barristers includes:
- Divorce and dissolution — including jurisdiction disputes, recognition of overseas divorces and Hague Convention issues.
- Financial remedy — needs cases, sharing-principle cases, big-money cases involving trusts, private companies, partnership interests and foreign assets.
- Maintenance Pending Suit, LSPOs (legal services payment orders) and interim financial provision.
- Schedule 1 Children Act 1989 claims for unmarried parents — capital and periodical payments.
- Pre-nuptial, post-nuptial and cohabitation agreements — drafting, advising and litigating their weight.
- Child arrangements — live-with and spend-time orders, specific issue and prohibited steps orders.
- Internal and international relocation, including 'leave to remove' applications.
- Hague Convention 1980 child abduction proceedings — for left-behind and taking parents.
- TOLATA and cohabitation property disputes (often heard alongside Schedule 1 claims).
- Public law children work — care and supervision proceedings, special guardianship, placement and adoption (selected counsel only).
Family Court, FRC and High Court.
Most family work is heard in the Family Court — historically in local justice centres in front of magistrates and District Judges, and in the larger family hearing centres in front of Circuit Judges. Financial remedy proceedings now sit within the Financial Remedies Court, with regional zones and a streamlined Standard Procedure. Complex, high-value or jurisdictional cases are reserved to High Court Judges in the Family Division.
Children Act proceedings move from a First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment (FHDRA) to a Dispute Resolution Appointment (DRA) and, if necessary, a contested final hearing. Financial remedy proceedings move through a First Appointment, an FDR (a judge-led, without-prejudice settlement hearing) and, if needed, a contested final hearing. Most cases settle at or before the FDR or DRA — and counsel's job is to make sure your case is in the strongest possible position to do so.
Negotiation, FDR and trial.
The Pre-Action Protocol for financial remedy, the FDR pilot, the Standard Procedure and the increasing judicial appetite for NCDR (non-court dispute resolution — mediation, arbitration, early neutral evaluation, collaborative law) all point in the same direction: family cases that settle settle well, and family cases that fight rarely deliver a better outcome than a sensible FDR result. The counsel we place are pragmatic about that — and the right barrister for an FDR is not always the right barrister for a five-day final hearing.
We will discuss the realistic forum and procedural options with you — court, arbitration, private FDR, mediation, early neutral evaluation — before recommending counsel.
What we actually do.
When you brief us on a family matter, we:
- Read the brief and run conflict checks (including against the other side and any previous involvement).
- Identify a shortlist of suitable, BSB-registered family barristers.
- Confirm availability, indicative fees and any current directory recognition.
- Handle the engagement letter and onboarding paperwork digitally.
Specialist areas within this practice.
- Divorce barristers
Counsel for divorce, financial remedy, MPS and LSPO, sharing and needs cases, and complex asset disputes.
- Child arrangements barristers
Private children law — live-with and spend-time orders, specific issue and prohibited steps, relocation and Hague Convention.
- Direct access family law barristers
Public Access family counsel instructed directly without a solicitor, on a fixed fee for divorce, financial remedy, FDR and child arrangements.
Family matter on your desk?
Send a short brief — the proceedings, the next hearing, the assets or children involved at a high level. A clerk will come back with shortlisted counsel and indicative fees.
Common questions.
What does a family law barrister do?
A family law barrister is a self-employed advocate specialising in family proceedings. They advise on divorce and dissolution, financial remedy on relationship breakdown, child arrangements and other private children law, schedule 1 claims for unmarried parents, pre- and post-nuptial agreements, and (where instructed) public law children work. They appear in the Family Court at all levels, in the Financial Remedies Court and in the Family Division of the High Court.
What is the difference between a family barrister and a family solicitor?
A solicitor manages the file day to day — correspondence, disclosure, court bundles, witness liaison — and instructs counsel where specialist advocacy or written advice is needed. A family barrister is a specialist advocate and adviser, brought in for contested hearings, FDRs, final hearings and complex advice on settlement. Many family matters use both throughout; some can be conducted under direct access by counsel alone.
Can I instruct a family barrister directly without a solicitor?
Often, yes, where the barrister is Public Access qualified and the matter is suitable. Direct access is common in straightforward child arrangements applications, MIAM-exempt cases, financial remedy hearings where disclosure is largely complete, and one-off advisory work. Where a case needs ongoing case management or has safeguarding complexity, we will recommend instructing a solicitor first.
Are family hearings public?
Family proceedings are heard in private as a default, although the family transparency reforms now allow accredited journalists and legal bloggers to attend and, in many cases, report on financial remedy and children proceedings subject to anonymisation. The barristers we place are familiar with the current reporting pilot framework and with the practical questions it raises for parties.
How are fees agreed?
Hourly, brief, conference and fixed fees are agreed in writing before counsel accepts the case. For FHDRA, DRA, FDR and short final hearings, fixed and stage fees are common. We will be clear on any refresher and uplift before booking the hearing.
Are you a barristers' chambers?
No. Clerk&Counsel is a clerking agency, not a chambers and not a firm of solicitors. We route instructions to suitable, BSB-registered family counsel, including barristers from chambers we clerk for and independent specialists.