THE SPEAR’S 500 Legal


Jacqueline Major Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors


FOCUS Divorce, domestic abuse, child abduction


Sam Longworth Stewarts


FOCUSHigh-value cases


slongworth@stewartslaw.com +44 (0)20 7822 8018 stewartslaw.com


As a longstanding member of Stewarts’ family team, partner Sam Longworth knows the importance of moving quickly on complex divorce cases. ‘My goal is to put clients in a position to make fully informed decisions as to their next steps – and do so from the very first meeting,’ he says. New cases always begin with a realistic assessment of the factors really driving the dispute – whether they are emotional, financial or something else entirely. ‘We need to work out whether these issues will act as a potential barrier to a negotiated settlement,’ he adds. ‘If a settlement is unlikely to be reached without going to court or launching arbitration, then those processes should begin as soon as possible.’


Adviser profile Sam is a leading lawyer in international, complex and high-value divorce and family law cases. He is recognised across the private wealth industries as a leader in his field. His clients range from the sports and entertainment industries to the City and international community, with a particular emphasis on the US, South America, Russia and the Middle East. He has represented clients in key reported court decisions through the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Sam is known for his complete discretion, commercial advice and ability to achieve swift, best-outcome solutions for his clients. He also has extensive experience in ‘private court’- based arbitration for family disputes.


Jacqueline Major traces her decision to move to the bar to a circuit judge who summoned her to his chambers after one of her first hearings. Assuming she’d made a mistake, Major recalls her relief when the judge praised her advocacy skills and urged her to move to the bar. Major joined HJA’s nascent private family practice in 2015. Since then, it has expanded to four partners and five solicitors working across the full spectrum of family law matters, including divorce, financial provision, domestic abuse and child abduction. She is used to working on HNW divorces, many of which involve offshore assets, trusts and companies. A collaborative lawyer, Major prides herself on her ability to resolve disputes constructively.


Magnus Mill Alexiou Fisher Philipps


FOCUS HNW family law mmill@afplaw.co.uk +44 (0)20 7409 1222 afplaw.co.uk


Antonia Mee Burgess Mee


FOCUS Private family law


‘I’m straight-talking and straight- dealing, both with clients and other lawyers,’ Magnus Mill tells Spear’s. A family lawyer with more than two decades’ experience, Mill acts for HNWs and specialises in ‘all’ private family law matters — including pre- and post-nuptial agreements, divorce, financial remedy, offshore financial structures and children’s law. He’s seen pre-nup demand surge to new heights, and says that ‘they are 100 per cent worth doing, so as to save potential trouble later’. The likeable lawyer has the ‘vast majority’ of his work referred by former clients, ‘which we take as a sign that they recognise the good work that we have done for them’, he says. In his free time he’s ‘hooked on being active and outdoors’.


Building on a decade’s worth of experience in the family law arena, Antonia Mee co-founded her own legal outfit in 2013 with fellow Withers alumnus, Peter Burgess. Attaining a coveted stamp of approval from family law veterans Helen Ward and Diana Parker, Burgess Mee’s practice spans the entire spectrum of private family law matters, without compromising on a bespoke service for high-value clients. Mee possesses a particular affinity


for private children work – Burgess Mee notes she is ‘increasingly sought out’ for expertise in this field – while she is empathetic when dealing with psychologically complex cases. Mee has worked closely with Resolution and has extensively advocated for reforms to cohabitation rights.


Adviser profile Magnus is a very experienced family lawyer, with over 20 years spent at the cutting edge of family law, both international and domestic. His hallmark is to provide each client with as early an idea as possible of the likely range of outcomes they face, and then help them navigate there with the minimum of fuss. He’s a keen endurance athlete, but


takes the opposite approach with his client’s cases – being keen to achieve a swift (and cost-effective) conclusion as soon as possible. He brings a blend of no-nonsense advice, persuasive negotiation, compassion and even a touch of humour to each individual’s own difficult and specific set of circumstances.


Newton Kearns was established in 2018, and partner Paul Newton says he likes ‘to think we’ve made significant progress’ since then. ‘We have a reputation for getting jobs done and only litigating when necessary,’ he adds. The firm has a very diverse client base, with clients ranging from the mass affluent to the UHNW. Individually, Newton has been practising for nearly 20 years, and believes his firm has established a good standing in the industry. ‘We get lots of cross- referrals from other family lawyers, and pride ourselves on getting the right results for the client.’ Newton qualified as a solicitor in 2003. Before founding Newton Kearns, he was a partner at a London law firm where he worked for 13 years.


Paul Newton Newton Kearns


FOCUS Family law


John Nicholson Turner Nicholson


FOCUS Cross-border litigation


John Nicholson graduated from Oxford, spent some time in business, joined Manches, qualified as a solicitor and then founded Turner Nicholson in 2016 with Brigid Turner. Nicholson is not afraid to ‘litigate swiftly’ if needs be, but will ‘always avoid unnecessary resort to the courts if there is an appropriate alternative route to a solution’. It’s an approach clients appreciate.


‘John is an intelligent, thoughtful and empathetic adviser with a very sensible, realistic and pragmatic approach to every issue or emotional problem,’ says one. Nicholson’s mediation practice combines with colleague Dr Sara Riley, a trained psychotherapist, to provide a ‘safe and experienced’ forum for clients looking to work together.


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