Top Flight Family Lawyer

‘Helen Ward is not merely one of the best, but the best family lawyer in London,’ Lewis Marks QC once said. And the endorsements keep coming. One top lawyer from a rival firm recounts to Spear’s a day in court when he noticed his client say something he shouldn’t have.

Privately, the lawyer rejoiced for a moment as the opposing barrister seemed to have glossed over it. But relief turned to anguish a moment later when a note was passed. Ward had spotted the error and was on to it like a flash.

Perhaps that’s why a client once described her as ‘a tigress who never sleeps’ and told Tatler: ‘Helen has a mind like a jewelled watch and a wise and honest heart – a very rare combination.’ At any rate, Lady Helen Ward’s place at the pinnacle of the profession seems safe for some time to come, as she appears intent on adding to her considerable portfolio of skills.

The coronavirus crisis meant that Ward was among the first of her peers to take part in a hearing remotely, using the videoconferencing platform Zoom, and, at the time of her discussion with Spear’s she was preparing for a five-day Zoom hearing.

‘I expect new techniques will be acquired by us all,’ she says, ‘possibly including our learned judge.’ She also believes these changes may not be temporary: ‘I can imagine a time when personal meetings will be the exception. And one’s carbon footprint may thereby be greatly improved.’