Exciting expansion for one of Gloucestershire's Largest Family Law Teams

Building on an exceptional reputation for client service, Hughes Paddison continues to expand its Family Team – making it one of the largest in Gloucestershire.

Following a successful recruitment drive, we’ve taken on a significant number of both family legal experts and support staff to ensure we can maintain the professional, personable service our clients have come to expect. 

Our 16-strong team now includes 11 expert family advisors (including paralegals) and 5 support staff, all ready to help our clients with their individual set of circumstances.

Jennifer Allen, one of our three Family Directors, says:

Our Family Team members are busier than ever, with the dawn of ‘no fault divorce’ finally being made law in April 2022 together with the hangover impact of Covid and court hearings being delayed until this year. We have noticed that there has been a large volume of new enquiries in the last few months particularly.

This has led to a recruitment drive, which has seen three new paralegals joining the team and several new Training Contracts commencing this autumn. 

Jennifer, who originally started on a Training Contract with the firm in 2006, quickly climbed the ranks with Hughes Paddison, developing from Trainee to Solicitor, then Associate and within 5 short years PQE, finally progressing to Director.

The Telegraph has also reported that “Divorce applications highest in a decade after no-fault divorce introduced”. They continue by saying, “The courts continue to work through significant backlogs following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. Nonetheless, the standout statistic is the increase in divorce applications since the introduction of no-fault divorce on April 6 2022.

We are told that this is the highest quarterly figure for new divorce cases in a decade. Time will tell whether the increase is sustained, which would suggest that, as some feared, a simplified online divorce procedure will lead to higher levels of divorce.”

[Telegraph, 29/09/22]

Sensitive support for clients seeking separation advice

Our Family Law Team prides itself on being genuinely caring, thoughtful and sensitive to everyone’s feelings. Every relationship is different and our professional, personable approach ensures every client receives the very best outcome for their particular set of circumstances.

Issues surrounding relationships, divorce, separation and family are usually highly emotionally charged. But our team members are experienced in minimising stressful situations, and our constructive and informed approach helps move proceedings along in a friendly and supportive way.

We appreciate that when a relationship breaks down – particularly when children are involved – it can be a stressful and very upsetting time. Our experienced Family Team can be relied on to be by your side throughout the process.

Regardless of the issues you may be facing, you can trust our expert team to be able to recommend and guide you through the difficult decisions you may need to make. When you contact us, we will explain in clear and simple language the options available to you, as well as the likely timescales and costs. We will keep you informed at every stage of the process.

“We all want each other to succeed and thrive”

Shaughney, who has been with us for 5 months now, had this to say about working with the Family Team: Starting any new employment can be a scary time but from the first day I attended Hughes Paddison, I was made to feel extremely welcome by everyone here. It really feels like we are one big family. I have made some really strong connections with the members of my team and in the other departments. The directors and fee-earners are always extremely accommodating when I have a query and all the trainees/paralegals are also very supportive – we all want each other to succeed and thrive. I know I can also count on the very knowledgeable administration team to help me.

If you need help, support and or guidance around your current family situation, please do get in touch with our caring and experienced team. Just give us a call on 01242 574 244 for an initial exploratory call.