Bury Grammar School
Keele University BA Law and Psychology
College of Law Chester
Qualified as Solicitor in 1982. Transferred to the Bar in 2001.
FLBA
Child Concern
Leonie is head of the family team at 18 St John Street. She is an extremely experienced family practitioner, having commenced her career as a solicitor in 1982. Initially she had a wide-ranging practice but quickly progressed to specialise in all areas of family law. In 2001, after 17 years in practice as a solicitor, she transferred to the Bar where she continues to practice exclusively in family law.
Leonie’s practice encompasses all areas of family law including financial remedy proceedings, private law applications, injunctive proceedings arising out of domestic abuse and public law applications as well as TOLATA claims. She appears regularly in the High Court as well as the lower courts and has appeared in the Court of Appeal several times, both with and without a leader.
In financial remedy proceedings Leonie is often instructed in complex high net worth cases, including those which involve the ownership of companies and family businesses. In addition, she specialises in TOLATA claims, an area of law in which she has a particular interest. She welcomes initial conferences at an early stage both in financial remedy and TOLATA cases as she considers them to be essential in identifying the issues and providing the best chance of settling the case.
Leonie represents clients at Private FDR hearings and is available to sit as a Barrister Judge.
Leonie has vast experience in private law proceedings including both internal and international relocation cases as well as the more straightforward issues as to with whom a child should live and the arrangements for seeing a parent without primary care. Similarly, she has extensive experience of cases involving domestic abuse and addictions, including cases where the children are separately represented.
Leonie continues to represent clients in public law proceedings if requested.
Leonie is regarded as a calm and measured opponent but as someone who will remain firm in her instructions and fight steadfastly for her client. She has extremely good people skills and believes that those greatly assist her in achieving the best outcome for her clients.
Re: (1) B (2) H (Children) [2012] EWCA Civ 1359
Re: R (A Child) [2014] EWCA Civ 597
Re: LCC v T [2014] EWCA Civ 3321 {Fam}
In our latest Family Finance blog, Jon Grierson looks at Private Financial Dispute Resolution (FDR) and its role and advantages as an alternative arrangement to the court process. Information on the Private FDR Judges available at 18…
> Read More ALL ARTICLESIn our latest Family Finance blog, Jon Grierson looks at Private Financial Dispute Resolution (FDR) and its role and advantages as an alternative…
In our latest blog, Christopher Lothian-Field provides a brief examination of how to maximise costs recovery using the post-October 2023 Part 36 regime…
We're thrilled to be celebrating two milestone work anniversaries at 18 St John Street Chambers this month. March 2025 sees two members of…