Top Ten Family Lawyers

Lawyer of choice to high-flying entrepreneurs, entertainers, financiers and sporting UHNWs, Catherine Bedford made her name building Lee & Thompson’s family department from scratch and making it one of London’s top-ranked outfits. In 2017 she took her entire team to Harbottle & Lewis, a firm known for its privacy work with A-list celebrities and international royalty.

The warm and engaging Canadian emphasises reducing stress and emotional turmoil, but that doesn’t mean she’s afraid to get tough or tell hard truths when necessary: ‘I’m not a lawyer who tells the client what they want to hear. Ever,’ she says.

It’s a good thing she doesn’t stand for the antics commonly associated with family law’s old guard: ‘It’s really important to have lawyers who are respectful and work as a team – we don’t do egos and prima donnas here.’

An expert across the full spectrum of family law issues, Bedford is particularly experienced in exposing and defending trusts (she is also well practised in helping fathers obtain sole residency orders).

One Wall Street veteran was full of praise after the Oxford and McGill University graduate took over his partner’s case from a firm that had ‘made a shambles’ of it: ‘She was superlative on all counts… a quick and accurate study, insightful and tactically smart. I would recommend her most strongly.’