Top Flight Family Lawyer

In a field that is dominated by women – especially the so-called ‘Queen Bees’ – Julian Lipson is considered by many to be the leading man. In fact, when Spear’s asked the lawyers in this year’s Family Law Index to say who, from outside their own firm, they would instruct for their own (hypothetical) divorce, Lipson was tied for second place ( with three other lawyers just behind Fiona Shackleton). However, he doesn’t believe clients select representation on the basis of gender. ‘I don’t think people give two hoots these days about whether they’ve got a man or a woman,’ he says. ‘They want someone who’s really good, and with whom they have a chemistry.’ Many clients also want to have ‘the shortest divorce in history’, notes Lipson, who often acts for (and against) household names and, as a fluent French speaker, in cases with an international dimension.

‘They want it to be done without drama. Nobody wants to be a reported case. Never. Nobody wants to be seen in court. Nobody wants to have the roulette wheel of not knowing what’s going to happen; they want to create their own decision. So I think it’s a big success if you can get clients in and out within a couple of months. They are delighted when that happens.’