Top Recommended Family Lawyers

Nicholas Westley began his career in family law with an eight-year spell as a barrister at QEB, but he joined law firm Lee & Thompson in 2013 before moving to Harbottle & Lewis, where he is a partner, in 2017. Being a solicitor, he says, means ‘you go to court less often, you sort things out yourself. And you make a deal only when you’re happy with it and it’s good for your client.’

Part of the job is to understand that you can be called on by clients ‘24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year’. He learned that from his colleague Catherine Bedford, who heads up the family team at Harbottle: ‘She’s brilliant – a conductor who brings everything together.’