Frances Hughes

Practice Areas

Matrimonial and Family

Career

Frances Hughes trained at Theodore Goddard from 1979-81, qualified in 1981 and was assistant in the matrimonial department from 1981-83. She set up the matrimonial department at Bates, Wells & Braithwaite in 1983. Frances founded Hughes Fowler Carruthers 2001 and remains Senior Partner. Frances is a fellow and former governor at large of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (formerly IAML) and former vice-president of the European chapter. She is an accredited FMA and Resolution (formerly SFLA) mediator of many years standing, and regularly chairs conferences and broadcasts on television and radio and lectures on family law matters nationally and internationally. Frances Hughes is an acknowledged leading expert in family law. She is a highly successful negotiator and settles the vast majority of her cases. She is also a renowned and highly successful litigator with vast experience of complex and international family law issues and many reported cases in her name. Frances is featured in Spear’s Family Law Index’s “Top Flight Family Lawyers List”, where she is described as one of the “Queens Bees” in the industry. Frances is always a top 10 Spear’s and Citywealth Family and Matrimonial lawyer and was awarded the Citywealth Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year in the Powerwomen Awards 2018.

Frances is consistently recognised by The Legal 500 and Chambers as a “Star individual” and a top family lawyer.

Chambers UK 2024 describes Frances as “a master tactician” and “the best solicitor doing this area of the law, with further commentators saying “Frances knows everything and has fantastic experience and judgment.” The Guide also praises her for her ability to “win a case that no one else can, because from the get-go she has a strategic vision of where the case will go.” Chambers UK 2023 commends Frances as “tactically brilliant”, stating that she “can always see five steps ahead.” A Chambers source comments “her dealing with clients is unsurpassed. She just handles them extremely well,” while another praises her for being “fearless, tenacious and not afraid to take on cases which, at first, appear to be against her because she can spot angles that others won’t see.”

Frances continues to be recognised as a Star Individual in Chambers HNW 2024 and is described as “a force to be reckoned with…she is direct, straightforward and great at handling the most complex and tricky cases. Her ability to talk straight to clients is impressive.” Frances is also commended as “tactically brilliant; she can always see five steps ahead”. Chambers notes that “her judgement is just impeccable, she’s very clever and she’s supremely experienced. I think her dealing with clients is unsurpassed; she just handles them extremely well.” Chambers HNW 2021 describes Frances as “a complete star”, praising her for her ability “to get quickly and accurately to the key issues in a case almost immediately. An hour of her time is probably worth more than six hours of most people’s time”. Chambers HNW also notes “she is outstanding. She has got a really great reputation and it is entirely deserved. She has a very no-nonsense approach, she is very good at cutting to the chase. She identifies exactly what clients need and then achieves it for them. She is just brilliant”.

Chambers 2019 regarded Frances as a “grande dame of family law” with an “unsurpassed intellect”. Chambers 2020 describes her as “probably the best family lawyer there is – she brings so much skill and brainpower to her role”. Chambers also described Frances as "probably untouchable in terms of her abilities; she's dynamic, she's highly skilled and she brings a lot to a case".

The Legal 500 UK 2024 reconfirms Frances’ ranking in ‘The Legal 500 Hall of Fame’, describing her as the “go-to solicitor for complex financial disputes,” with a source enthusing that “she knows how to win.” The guide further notes that she is the “pre-eminent practitioner” in family law. The Legal 500 UK 2022 comments that she “has rightly bestrode the family law world like a colossus”. The directory further notes she “achieves unlikely outcomes by pure force of personality when required” and is “the most tactically astute mind in planning and executing a case, and loved by clients who feel utterly protected, and never led down the garden path”. Frances is also praised for having a “stellar reputation” which is entirely deserved and second to none and it is highlighted “she has achieved countless victories against the odds. She has an extraordinary drive and will to win which brings success where others would look to cut her their losses”. The Legal 500 UK 2019 says that Frances is “one of a small group of practitioners who has been conducting and shaping all the leading cases for a generation. She is clear-sighted and very tactically astute”.

Professional Memberships

Law Society; Resolution (formerly SFLA); FMA; IAFL (formerly IAML); FRSA; Times' Law Panel.

Personal

Frances graduated with an English degree from St Anne's College, Oxford before moving to law. She is a former board member of The Poetry Society, current member of the Theatre de Complicite Trust and trustee of the Arts Patron Trust. She is a keen amateur viola player and has an interest in opera and theatre.