It’s a good feeling to start a new year on the basis that we have great things to celebrate from the year that has just passed! In 2024, we at Bastian Lloyd Morris Solicitor Advocates (BLM) were part of the team that won the Lexis Nexis Family Law Case of the Year award. This was even more delightful given that it is the second time in three years that we have won this prestigious award. We also won it in 2022. ‘Be not afraid of greatness’ – the Supreme Court has virtually become our second home.
The Family Law Case of the Year award is presented to the legal teams involved in one of the most important family law cases which actually concluded during the previous 12 months. The case will be significant in that it has established a new precedent, determined a new legal principle or otherwise substantially affected the interpretation of existing law, in the jurisdiction of England and Wales.
Most of the cases nominated for this category of award have involved either international family law issues, disputes relating to extremely vulnerable children, or serious matters relating to long-standing domestic abuse. Often all three.
All of the nominated cases, under any objective analysis, will have impacted upon the central importance of the family in modern society. This is important as modern families are often ethnically diverse, multi-national and multi-cultural. The winner of the category is decided by a judging panel of eminent practitioners.
BLM is very proud of its success in winning the awards. These achievements underline the fact that our lawyers have the necessary experience and appropriate expertise to deal with complex family law cases, which have complicated factual matrices, in a manner most consistent with our ethos of achieving the best possible outcomes. Our continued focus on excellence is a hallmark that enables us to provide considered and realistic advice, as early as possible, prior to and within proceedings. This ensures the strongest possible position can be advanced at Court for every client. We subscribe to the view that the client is the most important member of the team, because Together Each Achieves More!
Obviously now is not the time to deal in detail with the legal intricacies of either case*, but both have set important precedents for judges, lawyers, academics and litigants. Both have clarified the Family Court’s rules, duties and responsibilities, given important guidance to advocates, and set firm platforms from which clear and unambiguous advice can be given to clients. Both cases now allow Family Law judges to say ‘this is the law of the land’. It goes without saying that certainty and clarity are important tools for lawyers when it comes to advising their clients and helping them to put their cases before the courts.
In the 2022 case, the Supreme Court ruled that both the Family Court and the Court of Appeal had erred in failing to consider the proportionality of the order to permanently remove the children from their parents’ care. It therefore revoked the removal orders. In the 2024 case the President of the Family Division took the opportunity to reaffirm the wide and flexible powers of the Family Court nearly ten years after its formation.
Some achieve greatness and some have it thrust upon them! At BLM it’s the expectation for each and every case!
Contact Bastian Lloyd Morris on 01908 546580 or visit the website
Syvil Lloyd Morris
Solicitor Advocate and Co-Founder,
Bastian Lloyd Morris
*H-W (Children); H-W (Children) (No 2) [2022] UKSC 17 (Re H-W) and K (Children) (Powers of the Family Court) [2024] EWCA Civ 2 (11 January 2024)
