Introduction
Nick Howell-Jones been at the Bar over 20 years and has been Involved in every kind of private law dispute. This includes acting for parents, children and 16(4) guardians. He undertakes work at the more complex end including international aspects, serious allegations, and multi party cases.
Nick is a matrimonial finance and family trusts specialist. He is experienced at dealing with financial remedy applications at all stages. Representing clients with complex trusts, farming issues, business and removal of assets and all forms of complex assets and issues.
Nick is available for instructions through direct access.
Nick specialises exclusively in public law proceedings.
He represents local authorities, parents and children in public law cases involving the most serious types of non-accidental injury and is regularly instructed to deal with cases that include:
- Child death.
- Attempted suffocation.
- Sexual abuse (including subject child as victim and perpetrator).
- Complex medical issues.
- FII
- Mental health, including parents who require the assistance of the Official solicitor (acting for both parents via the Official Solicitor).
- FGM – Nick did the very first FGMPO on the day the law was introduced.
Nick is known for his ability to get on with lay clients and to get to the core of any dispute and known to be uncompromising in his approach for any client, ensuring they receive the best and most robust representation.
He lectures on public law matters to lawyers, social workers and other professionals.
Family Finance
Nick is an established family law specialist with extensive experience of dealing with financial disputes between separating spouses, civil partners and unmarried couples. He has been instructed in cases of significant legal or factual complexity, both where the parties’ means are substantial, farming cases and complex arrangements and also where the available resources are more modest, to advise and to appear in the High Court and in the Family Court, nationwide.
Reported Cases
- Coventry City Council v XX YY Z [2024] EWFC 249 (B) Name and shamed expert. A case where an independent social worker was cross examined and found to be deficient in her assessment.
- LCC and V&B [2023] EWFC 268 (B), Expert heavily criticised by the court for being unprofessional.
- Derbyshire County Council v M and Nottingham NHS Trust [2022] before Justice Judd – Representing a child in an end of life case.
- RE M (Children: Applications by Email) [2021] EWCA Civ 806
- Cumbria County Council v S E R EWHC 2782 (FAM) [2019], where the court considered whether to make a ICO or final SGO.
- Birmingham City Council v S, R and A[2007] 1 FLR 1223. In that case, the father did not wish his devout Muslim parents to be informed of his child’s birth, fearing ostracism from his family; he sought a declaration that the local authority and guardian “be forbidden to disclose directly or indirectly to the paternal family any detail that the father is in fact the father of [the child]”.
