Edward Cooke

Practice Areas

Edward Cooke is a specialist family lawyer, an accredited mediator and a collaborative lawyer. He is recognised as a leading practitioner in his field and has been working full-time as a family lawyer for over 25 years. Edward founded Edward Cooke Family Law in 2018.

Edward’s work as a family law solicitor encompasses all areas of family law, including divorce, financial issues, children work and cases involving unmarried couples and civil partners.

He has built a reputation as a leading specialist in the area. He not only has wide experience in dealing with the full range of family cases, but also regularly handles complex court cases involving substantial assets, trusts, farms and family businesses.

Edward believes firmly in the benefits of non-court resolution. He is an experienced and accredited family law mediator and collaborative lawyer and is also qualified to meet with children in the mediation process. In appropriate cases, he sensitively feeds back children’s views to their parents. By bringing their voices into the mediation process in an inclusive and professional way, he enables deadlocks to be broken in many high-conflict mediations.

Edward is also trained to conduct hybrid mediations, used very successfully in cases with complex assets or financial arrangements. Hybrid mediation is effective in cases with a barrier to parties negotiating face-to-face. Edward is one of a select group nationwide to be trained in this method and regularly undertakes high-net-worth mediations using this approach.

Regardless of whether he represents clients in court, through the collaborative process or in mediation, he always seeks to find solutions which are constructive, child-focused, and fair.

Edward and his team support clients with :

- Divorce and Separation

- Financial Issues Arising upon Divorce and Separation

- Children

- Modern Family Structures

- Surrogacy, Donor Conception and Fertility Law

- Cohabitation Disputes and Agreements

- Domestic Abuse, Injunctions and Emergency Remedies

- Pre and Post Nuptial Agreements

Career

After obtaining a degree in History at Bristol University, Edward attained his Post Graduate Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in London.

Having started his legal career at leading London Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May, he decided instead to specialise in family law. After working for 18 years as a family lawyer in West Sussex and Hampshire, he founded Edward Cooke Family Law in 2018.

Professional Memberships

Edward is a member of the Family Solutions Group.

Edward is a member of Resolution. He was a founder member of the West Sussex branch of Resolution and has sat on its regional committee since it was established in 2002. Edward was a Director and National Committee member at Resolution for 6 years, from 2017 to 2023.

Edward is a member of the Law Society Family Law panel.

Edward is a member and former President of the Chichester and District Law Society.

Edward is a member of the Three Counties Family Law Group and the Chichester and South Downs Collaborative Pod, groups of collaborative family law professionals.

Publications

Edward has written extensively on the subject of family law in publications including Resolution’s The Review, Financial Remedies Journal, The Law Society Gazette and The Solicitors Journal.

Edward is regularly approached for comment and interview across press and media, including The Times, The Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, Tatler, Citywealth, New Statesman, The Sun, Mail Online, This Is Money, BBC Radio Sussex, BBC South Today, Sussex World, Chichester Observer, The Argus, Family Lore and New Law Journal.

Edward co-authored Resolution's Parenting through separation guide.

Personal

Edward grew up in Chichester. He enjoys all types of music, walking his golden retriever, running and spending time with his family.

Edward is a highly accomplished musician. He plays the church organ, piano and sings. His most entertaining experience as a musician was as a backing singer to Barry Manilow when he was a student.

Awards