Festive greetings and reflections on 2025

18 December 2025

It has certainly been a busy year for Edward Cooke Family Law! We round off 2025 by looking back at our team’s achievements over the last 12 months, whilst looking forward to our next exciting year.

We would like to thank everyone we have worked with this year, from the whole Edward Cooke Family Law team to our wonderful suppliers and fellow professionals. None of what we do is possible without your help and support.

So, as we take a moment to reflect on 2025, we hope you will enjoy a glimpse of life here behind the scenes.

Continuing our client-focused, children-centred approach

Support for our clients is at the heart of what we do. They trust us with the most delicate and difficult matters as we help them navigate separation, divorce and modern family issues. While we always strive, wherever possible, to help resolve matters outside court, the issues they face can be emotionally draining. And we are particularly grateful for the care we and our clients receive from the therapeutic professionals we work with.

We continue to develop resources for clients and fellow professionals - from guides, blogs and videos to flowcharts - and we have been pleased to contribute to national initiatives such as Good Divorce Week and Family Mediation Week.

A huge thanks to our growing team

Our team has grown significantly this year, getting off to flying start with the opening of our third office in Farnham, Surrey in January 2025. Three new solicitors joined us over the last 12 months, and we will be joined by another solicitor early in the New Year. In all, we have welcomed six new members to the team this year:

Alongside this growth, our expertise has been reflected in positive reviews from our clients: we now have 65 reviews on Review Solicitors, all of which are 5 star. This is a remarkable achievement and a standard we are committed to continuing.

    

    

Continued development and excellence

One of our most important commitments is to professional development. We are delighted that Grace Parker-White, Jelena Korobkova and Jamilla Sabo have all qualified as Collaborative Lawyers this year.

We were also happy to welcome Laura Rosefield and Hannah Budd of the Rosefield Divorce Consultancy, London to our annual team day at Chichester Cathedral. They ran a hugely helpful workshop on Trauma Informed Practice, attended by everyone in our team.

We continue to write for and feature in the press on family law matters. Together with Karin Walker, Edward wrote on mediation in domestic abuse cases in the Financial Remedies Journal, and was interviewed by  Karen Jones as part of the Citywealth Leaders List series; Lauren Guy and Edward both wrote pieces for Resolution’s The Review magazine; and Edward also featured in an article in Tatler on ‘co-parenting approaches over the school holidays’.

     

Working with other professionals

We are privileged to work on a day-to-day basis with so many other professionals to help deliver the best solutions to our clients.

We were delighted to welcome many of them to our second Southern Family Law Conference in June in Guildford. Despite being the hottest day of the year (and the air conditioning conspiring against us!), it was another fantastic day of learning and development. A particular word of thanks here to our fabulous speakers. Details of our 2026 conference will be forthcoming soon.

We continue to build connections in our legal and business communities around Chichester, Brighton and Farnham, with like-minded professionals and in various Resolution regional and national groups.

Edward continues his role on the Family Solutions Group committee. The committee is working hard to bring about positive change for families, by reframing support following parental separation. Watch this space for a report in the first part of 2026, which Edward is co-authoring.

We continue to speak at events aimed at sharing best practice, too. Two of our Modern Family specialists, Lauren Guy and Victoria Maxwell, are co-hosting a free Surrogacy webinar with Four Brick Court in January 2026, whilst Edward Cooke spoke at an event run by 29 Bedford Row Chambers on non-court dispute resolution at Killick Wealth Management in London in November.

    

Recognition

Our work continues to receive national recognition, at an individual and firm level, including:

The most important recognition we receive is from our clients, and the ongoing referrals of work which come from them and from fellow professionals. We are truly grateful for this.

    

Strengthening our community-focused ethos

The team has come together for charity events and socials, but also to celebrate new arrivals, sporting achievements, engagements and weddings, and we have shared in life’s harder moments, providing support to each other. We are lucky to have a fantastic, close-knit team, who in turn help each other be the best they can for our clients.

We are proud to have made a difference in our local communities through our continued support of charities and organisations. They include:

     

   

With thanks and festive wishes

Thank you to everyone who has been part of our story in 2025. It is a privilege to support so many families through periods of change and to work with so many other hard working, committed professionals. It is inspiring to see how the world of family law is changing for the better, with so many exciting and constructive initiatives being launched in the last 12 months.

With warmest wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the whole team at Edward Cooke Family Law.