Hall Brown Family Law has enhanced its reputation as one of the UK’s leading legal practices by increasing the number of its lawyers included in a guide of the most respected advisers to the country’s wealthiest individuals.

Six of its lawyers feature in the latest Spear’s 500, which has been dubbed the ‘Michelin Guide to wealth’ because it is made up of more than 3,000 professionals acting on behalf of high net worth clients on a diverse range of subjects, such as legal issues, property and art acquisition, and wealth management.

Hall Brown co-founder Sam Hall retains his place on the list along with Manchester colleagues, Andrew Newbury and Beth Wilkins, and two of the firm’s senior London fee earners, Izzy Walsh and Catherine Bell.

Partner Andrew Breakwell, who is the senior lawyer in Hall Brown’s operations in Birmingham, has also been named in the Spear’s guide for the first time.

Sam Hall said that Hall Brown’s greater representation demonstrated the firm’s strength in depth.

“We pride ourselves on having people who we believe to be the very best at every level of the business – from an award-winning support team through young legal talent with immense potential to our senior fee earners.

“Everyone making such an esteemed list as that compiled by Spear’s would readily acknowledge that they are able to generate such profile and do such fabulous work because of the contributions made by their colleagues too.

“It is one reason why we pay such great attention not only to recruiting very capable individuals but making sure that they want to stay with us.

“We have been fortunate enough to achieve both since we opened in the same year as Spear’s published its first family law index and that consistency is key to our being able to provide excellent support to clients.”

The Spear’s 500 became the world’s first comprehensive guide to the top private client advisers when it was launched in 2016 by publishers of Spear’s magazine, a title aimed at high net worth individuals.

Organisers have stressed that inclusion in the annual classification is “entirely merit-based” and based solely on independent research undertaken by Spear’s own researchers.

In presenting its latest findings, Spear’s outlined how “navigating family law matters can be particularly challenging for HNW individuals, especially in an ever-changing legal landscape” due to the “complexity and scale” of their financial and personal affairs.

The featured family lawyers, it has stated, “are equipped to advise on high-value divorces, cohabitation disputes, child custody arrangements, nuptial agreements, mediation and more.”

Sam Hall has described how, over the last decade, Hall Brown has succeeded in attracting a wide client base that consists of business leaders, entrepreneurs, footballers, sportspeople and high-profile individuals who often have complex assets and interests abroad.

While Andrew Newbury has been singled out for his “ferocious intellect and great deal of technical skill and knowledge”, Beth Wilkins is likened to “an iron fist in a velvet glove” – allying an ability to empathise with clients to a relentless drive to secure the best outcome for them.

Izzy Walsh, who joined Hall Brown to head up its first London office in 2019, is highlighted for a varied caseload which often extends across numerous jurisdictions and Catherine Bell earns her inclusion for work comprising divorce, cohabitation disputes and the welfare of children.

Andrew Breakwell has, meanwhile, overseen a substantial growth in Hall Brown’s operations in Birmingham since being appointed in December 2023.

Publication of the Spear’s family law index caps another remarkable run of recognition for Hall Brown.

Last month, it was named one of the UK’s 10 Best medium-sized Places to Work for the third year in a row and one of the country’s four best workplaces for women.

That meant Hall Brown had once again completed a clean sweep of the UK’s most significant legal and employer rankings, after already placing in the top tier of Doyle’s, Legal 500, Chambers and Partners, eprivateclient and the Times’ Best Law Firms listings.

Hall Brown, which opened its headquarters in Manchester in April 2016, now also has offices in London, Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham and Liverpool, and has boasted of a continued strong demand for its services.

The firm now employs 83 staff nationwide, 61 of whom are fee earners.