Family

3PB is a highly respected family law chambers, with specialist family barristers advising and representing clients throughout the UK and overseas. Our family team, including trained mediators, those with part time judicial appointments, and Queen’s Counsel, provide skilled advice and representation in all tiers of Court up to the Supreme Court.

We are known for our friendly professional approach and are recognised as experts in financial provision (divorce, cohabitation and death), child arrangements orders, property disputes, childcare / adoption, judicial review, professional negligence, regulatory matters, incapacity / Court of Protection welfare issues, international children’s issues and human rights.

The family team acts for individuals, local authorities, care organisations and charities. The set boasts an outstanding reputation in both public and private law children work, including complicated care proceedings.

As a family chambers 3PB has an exceptional record in financial remedy cases, including business and farming assets, in partnership with 3PB’s specialist probate team including contentious probate. Details on 3PB’s probate specialists can be found here.

We are now able to offer a remote Private FDR (financial dispute resolution) Hearing using simple and secure technology. Find out more here.

We work hard to achieve the best possible result, whether through careful negotiation or contested trials, our preparation and excellent advocacy sets us apart.

Chambers & Partners 2021 directory - Band 2 - Midlands Circuit says: 3PB Barristers is a highly reputed set with eminent advocates appearing in matrimonial finance and children law cases. Many of its practitioners offer valuable expertise in both public and private law matters. Matters of a sensitive nature, including sexual abuse, FGM issues, non-accidental injuries, parental alienation and international abduction, are regularly handled. The set is well versed in financial proceedings, such as representing clients in cases with complex business and trust arrangements. The set is described as "one of the best from the point of view of quality of counsel, good service and good administration."

Client service: "The knowledge and experience of the barristers with the support of their clerking team is extraordinary." "The clerks are excellent and trustworthy in their recommendations." "The clerking at 3PB is excellent. The clerks are efficient and proactive. They work well as a team and give second-to-none customer service." Robert Leonard and Ian Charlton are the family practice directors.

Chambers & Partners 2021 - Band 2 - Western Circuit says: 3PB has a well-recognised family and matrimonial practice that takes in both children and finance work. Its barristers routinely undertake children law mandates involving sexual and domestic abuse and non-accidental injury, and also handle relocation and adoption matters often before the High Court. Members also receive instructions in complex financial disputes. Sources laud the barristers' "integrity, approachability and high quality of advice and advocacy." One interviewee says: "It is a well-respected, organised set of chambers and its barristers all complement each other very well."

Client service: "The set is a very efficient and well-oiled machine in how it operates. The clerks are always warm and friendly and work hard to manage diaries and provide counsel to suit instructing solicitors' needs, whatever the case." "They are very responsive and always willing to go the extra mile in terms of finding counsel in urgent situations."

The Legal 500 UK Bar Directory 2021 acknowledges "3PB has a family team with ‘high-calibre barristers’", ranking the set in Tier 2 in Western and the Midlands and Tier 3 in South Eastern. This year, the team achieved a record 21 rankings across its Children Law and Divorce and Financial Remedies specialisms.

Legal 500 UK Bar Directory 2020 - Midlands circuit says: 3PB is rapidly developing its presence on circuit, with some viewing it as 'a go-to set for family finance work'. Members are also instructed on complex public law proceedings involving non-accidental injuries, care arrangements, and fabricated or induced illnesses, as well as private law proceedings dealing with contact, alienation, and relocation. 3PB (Birmingham) is ranked Tier 3.

Legal 500 UK Bar Directory 2020 - South Eastern circuit says: 3PB is praised for its ability to 'meet a variety of client needs from the basic to the complex' and its 'very knowledgeable' members. Nicola Martin is instructed on both financial remedy claims and children act cases, with a particular specialism in applications for international relocation, while James Legg is particularly notable for his work in public law children cases.

Legal 500 UK Bar Directory 2020 - a family team with ‘high-calibre barristers’.

Western circuit says: 3PB has 'exceptional depth in family law', and is praised by clients as 'an exceptional set' which 'overshadows its peers'. The set is home to members who specialise in all areas of family law, including complex care proceedings and high-value financial disputes. Hamish Dunlop, as junior to Nigel Dyer QC, represented the husband in Supreme Court Case Owens v Owens, which considered the legal requirements for divorce without spousal consent.

Legal 500 UK Bar Directory 2018/19 - Western circuit says: "‘Excellent set’ 3PB’s family team is ‘very strong on both financial specialists and child law specialists’. Key areas of instruction include matrimonial finance, child abduction, non-accidental injuries, domestic and sexual abuse cases and care and placement applications, among others. In a major highlight for the set, Hamish Dunlop appeared in the Supreme Court in the high-profile Owens v Owens divorce case; the key issue is whether the current divorce laws should be reformed to allow no-fault divorce. In June 2018 Simon Lillington joined from College Chambers."

Legal 500 UK Bar Directory 2018/19 - Midlands circuit says: "3PB’s team has expertise across a broad range of family law matters, including matrimonial finance, international child abduction and relocation, as well as cases of fabricated and induced illnesses. Vanessa Meachin QC took silk in 2018."

Legal 500 UK Bar Directory 2018/19 - South Eastern circuit says: "At 3PB, members are adept at handling cross-jurisdictional cases, financial remedy matters and public and private children law issues, including cases of abduction and relocation."

Team members are available to work out of any of our six offices in London, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Oxford and Winchester; we also offer state-of-the-art technology for remote meetings.