Hall Brown Family Law is delighted to announce the promotion of Melanie Hadwin to Partner.

Since joining the Sheffield team at Hall Brown Family Law three years ago, Melanie has gone from strength to strength, not only helping clients achieve excellent resolution of their family law issues, but also as a driving force behind internal supervision procedures that have helped develop staff at all levels.

Head of the Sheffield office, Alison Fernandes, described Mel’s promotion as “fully justified and extremely well deserved” and added “we are all delighted Mel is taking this next step in her career at Hall Brown and look forward to Mel continuing to shape the firm and the first rate offering we provide to clients”.

Mel is hailed by one of the UK’s leading legal industry rankings as a “standout” lawyer and has been integral to Hall Brown becoming one of South Yorkshire’s leading family law practices; further recognised by winning Family Law of the Year award at the 2025 Yorkshire Legal Awards.

Alison noted “Mel has been an incredibly important figure in that success, recognised by her legal industry peers and clients alike, both for her skill and being a highly experienced and focused lawyer to have on your side.

“The same formidable capabilities which have seen her reputation grow so substantially have contributed to a rise in her caseload and that of the entire Sheffield office.

“We felt that the time was right to recognise Mel’s role in what we do by making her Partner.

“More than managing her own increasing volume of work, she also plays a significant role in helping develop her junior colleagues – something which we believe is integral to our approach, not just in South Yorkshire but across all of our offices nationwide.

“Mel has already helped deliver first rate results for her clients, and we are looking forward to her continuing to help to shape our future too.”

Having established premises in the city in April 2020, Hall Brown has swiftly become renowned in the region, being the only family law practice in the South Yorkshire region to be ranked as tier 1 in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners legal directories. The firm is now home to some of the country’s foremost family law specialists.

Sheffield born and bred, Mel spent almost 20 years building her practice with two firms based in the city prior to joining Hall Brown in January 2023.

A 10-strong team now works out of the firm’s premises in the heart of Sheffield city centre and has earned considerable praise from the country’s premier legal rankings.

Both Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners included Hall Brown in the top tier of family law operators in South Yorkshire.

Partner and Head of Sheffield, Alison Fernandes, featured as a Leading Partner in both Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners whilst Consultants, Martin Loxley and Zoe Round were named in Legal 500’s Hall of Fame with Zoe also ranked as a Senior Statesperson in Chambers and Partners.

Mel was heralded as one of Legal 500’s Leading Associates. In an even more personal tribute, Legal 500 added: “Her clients are extremely lucky. She gives counsel constructive ideas…and adds enormous value.”

Her elevation to Partner concludes Hall Brown’s annual round of promotions, which this year has underlined its emphasis on developing young legal talent as a key ingredient for success in its latest round of promotions.

It saw six staff rewarded for their contribution to growth across its 6 offices nationally, including Ella Ashforth who was promoted earlier this month to Associate Solicitor in the Sheffield office.

Earlier this year, Hall Brown also completed yet another clean sweep in the most prestigious domestic and international tables, adding top billing in Doyle’s Guide to prominent shows in Legal 500, Chambers and Partners, eprivateclient and the Times’ own rankings.

The firm was also one of only 11 legal firms nationwide to feature in the Sunday Times’s list of the UK’s Best Places to Work.

Judges described how the firm’s continued growth since opening its doors in 2016 was due to “the culture and wellbeing of the team”.