I am a partner and Head of the Family Law team. Described by Legal 500 as giving “supportive and compassionate advice”. I qualified in 1996 and have many years experience in all areas of Family Law. My main areas of practice are:
- Pre-marital agreements (prenuptial and pre-civil partnership)
- Cohabitation agreements and disputes arising from the breakdown of cohabitation
- Divorce
- Finances – all aspects especially mid-high net worth, off shore assets, trusts, and companies
- Variation of previous financial orders
- Children – contact and residence disputes
- Schedule 1 applications – provision for children by unmarried parents
- Enforcement of financial orders
- Contentious Probate – Inheritance Act claims, trusts disputes.
I have trained as a collaborative lawyer, and always try to resolve disputes constructively. Even if litigation is necessary I will continue to offer pragmatic advice on settlement – I have only had two cases go to trial in 10 years of practice.
Career
- Partner at Hodge Jones & Allen
- Senior Associate at Winckworth Sherwood
- Assistant solicitor at Finers Stephens Innocent
- Qualfiied as a barrister
- Qualified as a solicitor
Client comments
- “I first met Jacqueline when I was in a very distressed state about the state of my marriage, and with a 3 month old baby to boot. Not only did she provide me with sage advice around the steps I needed to take, she was incredibly empathic and supportive so encouraged my welfare too. Given getting divorced is a very lonely process this was so important. Jacqueline saved me many months of time given she anticipated the way my divorce would run, and therefore that we should push for a court timetable from the outset. She was very protective of my interests but in a way that was pragmatic and reasonable. Overall, she helped make that period of time feel manageable, and I was very well supported, and, critically the outcome was absolutely as I wanted.”
- “I moved my divorce case to Jacqueline Major after over a year with another firm during which I felt constantly on the back foot during protracted proceedings where my ex-wife seemed to hold all the aces. Jacqueline quickly re-established the initiative and put us on the front foot! She is calm, supportive and understanding during what is a difficult period in your life, yet she stays focused on the things that matter in the case and that will matter to the court. This focus and drive helped me to not only resolve the legal elements in a timely way but also to get through the emotion aspects of my divorce. Ultimately her judgement, first rate knowledge of the law and skill delivered me a fair settlement which has allowed me to move on with my life as well as providing real value for money. I cannot recommend her highly enough.”
Memberships
- Law Society
- Resolution
- ACTAPS (association of contentious trusts and probate specialists)
- South East Solutions Collaborative Law group
- Member of Lincoln’s Inn
