Ranking tables
Family/Matrimonial | UK Bar
South Eastern (Bar)
Rankings overview for Sets
All Sets profiles
Band 1
1 Harcourt ChambersFamily/Matrimonial2026 | Band 1 | 13 Years RankedHarcourt Chambers is a standout set with operations in London and Oxford, which has long held sway as the leader on the South Eastern Circuit for an array of family and matrimonial cases. Its pre-eminent members are instructed in all aspects of family law, being able to tackle everything from high net worth financial remedy issues to complex care and adoption proceedings, as well as cases involving serious criminal charges. A source comments: "Harcourt Chambers has strength in the breadth and depth of its barristers from top to bottom." Another adds: "There is a wide and impressive range of practitioners, all of whom demonstrate strong expertise, professionalism, and a consistently high standard of advocacy."
Simon Boutwood is the chambers director.
Band 2
2 1 Crown Office RowFamily/Matrimonial2026 | Band 2 | 13 Years Ranked1 Crown Office Row's Brighton chambers boast solid expertise in a broad array of family law matters. The set's barristers specialise in public and private children law matters, including care proceedings and parental alienation issues, as well as matrimonial finance cases. Barristers at the set are regularly instructed by vulnerable clients, such as abuse victims and people with learning and other difficulties. A source comments: "All barristers at 1COR have an intricate and in-depth knowledge of their area of practice and any related matters". Another source states: "The set has barristers of all levels and experience, all of whom provide quality advice on different issues".
The practice director is David Bingham.
2 42BR BarristersFamily/Matrimonial2026 | Band 2 | 3 Years Ranked42BR Barristers is a well-established set with a range of barristers able to handle complex matrimonial finance and children law matters. Members have extensive experience in finance-related issues, including those arising from the breakdown of civil partnerships, divorces with international elements, pre- and postnuptial agreements, and cases involving company assets, pensions and trusts. In addition to this, the set can offer clients members with significant expertise in public and private children law, including care proceedings, adoptions, abductions and radicalisation. An interviewee comments: "The barristers have a great range of skills." A different source states: "The barristers are friendly and approachable, they have a great knowledge of the law."
Steve Sheridan is the set's director of clerking.