Frances Stratton
Call 2013
Director, ranked family law firm
Frances’ practice encompasses all areas of private family law. She enjoys researching complex legal and procedural issues and updated chapters from two volumes of the practitioner reference book Atkins Court Forms.
Frances frequently works with clients who reside in other jurisdictions and has spent time advising in Jersey. In 2019 she won a prestigious Pegasus Scholarship, which enabled her to work in India for several months. Whilst in India Frances divided her time between the Supreme Court of India, the Delhi High Court and the Delhi Commission for Women. Her work comprised everything from observing cases which are of interest to the international community at large (namely the litigation arising out of current crisis in Kashmir) to considering measures to improve police responses to allegations of domestic violence and assisting with advocacy training workshops for law students in Delhi.
Frances advises and acts in proceedings relating to all areas of family finance, including applications pursuant to Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, TOLATA 1996 and enforcement (a topic on which she has given seminars to groups of solicitors).
Frances is equally comfortable being instructed as junior counsel in matters relating to high net worth individuals as she is acting and advising on her own, in both big and small money cases.
Frances’ children law practice includes international child abduction, internal and external relocation and child arrangement disputes.
Frances has a particular interest in complex private law disputes, including those involving allegations of parental alienation, a topic on which she has lectured. She is regularly instructed in cases where there are allegations of serious domestic abuse or which involve complicated forensic issues.
She is alive to the many multifaceted issues that can arise in private law cases, including those relating to non-traditional families and grandparents seeking to restore a relationship with their grandchildren.
Awards and Scholarships
- Pegasus Scholar 2019
- Lord Justice Holker Award
- Gray’s Inn Residential Scholarship
- First prize in the Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers Marion Simmonds QC Essay Competition 2012
Education
- Jesus College, University of Cambridge: Law MA (Hons)
- Kaplan Law School: Bar Professional Training Course (Very Competent)
Professional Memberships
- The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn
- The Family Law Bar Association
Publications
- Contributor to ‘Atkins Court Forms (Second Edition) (2016) Volumes 20 (1) and (2) Family:
- Relationships and their Breakdown (Parts I, II)’
- Frances summarises recent judgments for Family Law Week.