Edward Cooke Family Law celebrates significant success with enhanced rankings in Legal 500 2025 directory
03 October 2024
The firm is celebrating success in the UK Legal 500 rankings for 2025. Building upon the successes of previous years, Edward Cooke Family Law is now recognised in the Legal 500 across the following areas:
- Tier 2 Family Law Firm - Kent, Surrey and Sussex: The firm has made significant strides in being elevated from a Tier 3 firm in 2024 to a Tier 2 firm in 2025 in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. This reflects the firm’s growing reputation as one of the leading family law firms in the South. Edward Cooke, Michelle Lewis, Lauren Guy and Victoria Maxwell are all recommended lawyers in this area.
- Tier 3 Family Mediation Firm - London: Edward Cooke Family Law is included in the prestigious Family Mediation London rankings for the first time this year, recognising the fact that the firm regularly mediates complex, high-net-worth and high-conflict matters for clients and solicitor referrers from across London and the South East and is now regarded as one of the leading family mediation providers across the South East region. Edward Cooke, Michelle Lewis and Lauren Guy are all named as recommended lawyer mediators in this area.
- Four Ranked Lawyers: Edward Cooke, Michelle Lewis, Lauren Guy and Victoria Maxwell are all named as Recommended Lawyers in The Legal 500 2025. Having four ranked lawyers in our team of seven family law specialists is a tremendous achievement and reflects the quality of the service and depth of experience that we offer, with each lawyer making exceptional contributions across different specialisms within family law, including divorce, mediation, financial matters, children matters, surrogacy, fertility law and modern families.
- Leading Firm for Client Satisfaction: We are particularly proud to be recognised for our high levels of customer service and client satisfaction. We have always placed client care at the heart of what we do, and we are delighted to be recognised for the trust and confidence our clients have in us.
As a boutique family law firm, established in 2018, the rankings are a fantastic recognition of the firm’s commitment to excellence and our team’s dedication and expertise.
Founder and Managing Director Edward Cooke commented:
“We strive to achieve the best outcomes for all the families and individuals we support. We pride ourselves on helping clients reach a resolution to their issues in the best possible way, where possible out of court.
As a team we are exceptionally proud of the results from this year’s Legal 500 research, and the comments that have been shared - we would like to thank our clients and colleagues for their feedback and support. I would also like to thank all of our fabulous team for their continued hard work and commitment to our clients. We look forward to continuing to build on this success in the years to come.”
The Legal 500 – Explained
For over 36 years, The Legal 500 has independently reviewed and analysed the capabilities of law firms across the world to compile the highly respected Legal 500 rankings, which enable clients to consider independent verification and validation of firms they may be considering, to make informed decisions about their strengths, capabilities and specialisms.
The list is compiled by a team of researchers who have unrivalled experience in the legal market, drawing on a variety of inputs, including client feedback and interviews with leading private practice lawyers, assessing firms against a series of criteria.
The Legal 500 – Our Profile
We are delighted to have such widespread recognition of our expertise and quality of service in the Legal 500 once again this year.
As part of the process, The Legal 500 write a summary of the firm, which is included in full below but can also be seen on The Legal 500 website:
Tier 2 Family Law Firm - Kent, Surrey and Sussex:
"Family law boutique Edward Cooke Family Law operates out of Chichester and Brighton, and stands out for its commitment to alternative forms of dispute resolution, including mediation, collaborative practice, and the Resolution Together one lawyer two clients model. Practice head and founder Edward Cooke is noted by clients for being ‘quite simply brilliant’, and is an expert in child inclusive and hybrid forms of mediation. Lauren Guy leads the Brighton office, and is sought out for her specialism in surrogacy and fertility law."
Tier 3 Mediation Firm - London:
"Edward Cooke Family Law operates out of Chichester and Brighton, working broadly across London and the South East. It handles high-value financial disputes, complex children matters, and has an established surrogacy and fertility team. Firm founder Edward Cooke is experienced in hybrid and traditional mediation, and is particularly praised for his work as a child-inclusive mediator. Lauren Guy mediates alongside her leading fertility and surrogacy work, while Michelle Lewis is a go-to for children matters."
Feedback includes:
"Lauren Guy is professional and focused when dealing with a challenging and disruptive cases. At each stage from Round Table to mediation and eventually court she offered professional support as well as emotional to ensure I was guided through each process of the divorce."
‘"Edward Cooke is quite simply brilliant. He is really personable and clients trust him. He is, in addition, an extremely experienced mediator and will try to divert cases into a more amicable process if possible which is very valuable for clients."
‘"The team really care about their cases. They focus on getting the best possible outcome for their clients without losing sight of the need to be proportionate from a costs perspective.’"
Read more on our Legal 500 profile here.
