Stewarts has hired leading family law silk Alex Verdan KC from 4 Paper Buildings (4PB) to head its specialist children’s team and create a “one-stop shop” advocacy offering for its ultra-high-net-worth and high-profile clients.
He brings more than 35 years of experience as an advocate in children’s disputes, with a former client list that includes royalty, heads of state and UHNW and high-profile individuals.
As a former head of chambers at 4PB, he was involved in numerous high-profile child cases over the last few decades, the majority of which were outside the public domain due to strict laws surrounding client confidentiality in child cases.
However, the move coincides with a period during which the easing of court reporting restrictions has enhanced transparency standards in family courts, prompting UHNW clients to consider ADR options.
Meanwhile, reductions in court funding have decreased the number of sitting days available to family judges – including those handling child matters in both public and private contexts.
Verdan said: “Having worked closely with the Stewarts team whilst at 4PB, I am delighted to be joining them to head up their specialist children’s team. The rise of non-court dispute resolution, particularly arbitration, has placed a premium on immediate, in-house strategic advice and advocacy.
“From the client’s perspective, having all expertise under one roof will offer more choices and options and ensure faster advice, consistent strategy and more efficient case progression.”
Verdan is not the first barrister to join Stewarts. Other hires have included commercial litigator Ian Gatt KC, who left to join Brick Court in 2024, while Richard Kovalskey KC – now of Reed Smith – joined the firm in 2018 before moving to Cohen & Gresser.
Verdan is, however, the first family silk to head up a team at the firm. Very few family law solicitors are silks; family law specialist June Venters KC, who founded Venters Solicitors, became the first female solicitor-advocate silk in 2006 and is now dual-qualified as a barrister.
Verdan will continue to sit as a deputy High Court judge and, as a family law arbitrator, will build on his busy arbitration practice under the Stewarts banner, significantly strengthening its arbitration offering. He is also an experienced mediator, advising on international mediation.
Stewarts’ head of family Stephen Foster said the appointment “represents a pivotal moment for our specialist children’s team”, calling the fusion of services “simple but radical”.
By combining the best of the Bar with his team, “Stewarts will now offer clients a genuinely integrated, one-stop-shop model that delivers seamless counsel and solicitor services from case inception to conclusion”, Foster added.
Stuart Dench, Stewarts’ managing partner, said: “This is an exciting appointment which underlines our commitment to innovation and will enhance our ability to deliver sophisticated, comprehensive and seamless legal solutions for clients at every stage of complex legal matters.”
Charles Hale KC, the joint head of chambers at 4PB alongside current Bar Council chair Barbara Mills KC, said 4PB remained “the standout set for family law in the UK and internationally with 27 specialist silks and 95 members”.
He added that Verdan’s move, in the latter part of his career, “is just another example of the innovative approach that chambers has adopted to the provision of expert advice in family practice”.
Praising Verdan, he said: “Being head of chambers in 4PB is not so much herding cats, as we always say of the Bar, it’s really herding giants. Alex was one of those giants at the Family Bar and will forever remain a part of the 4PB family wherever he is.”
Mills, who was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Women and Diversity in Law Awards in 2024, has made promoting the work of the Family Bar, along with securing adequate public resourcing for practitioners and the courts, one of her priorities in office.
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