Nicholas Allen KC

Silk - 2018   |   Call - 1995
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Chambers and its members are regulated by the Bar Standards Board.

Appointments

Deputy High Court Judge 2021

Attorney & Counsellor at Law, New York (admitted 1998)

Recorder, 2015

Arbitrator, 2016

Silk, 2018

Memberships

Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb)

Family Law Bar Association (committee member 2003-2008)

Former member of the Complaints Committee of the Bar Standards Board (2005-2007)

Former member of Resolution’s Dispute Resolution Committee (2011-2015)

Member of the American Bar Association

Recommendations

Chambers & Partners 2022 “high-value financial specialist who regularly handles cases using the collaborative process, having trained as collaborative counsel. He is commended for his attention to detail and his sympathetic manner with clients, and is also a trained arbitrator. Strengths: ‘He pays attention to the detail of complex cases.’ ‘He can translate the law into layman’s terms and instils confidence from the minute he walks into the room.’ ‘A thorough, hard-working details man.’ ”

Chambers & Partners 2021 “Strengths: ‘Handles cases with meticulous detail and has a wonderful bedside manner with clients which puts them at great ease.’ ‘He is incredibly thorough, all over the detail, and someone who engenders trust and confidence.’ ‘While intellectual in his approach, he is able to explain and involve clients in his thought process and decision-making.’”

Chambers & Partners 2020 “Strengths: ‘Clients have a lot of confidence in him because he’s meticulous and knows all the detail.’ ‘He’s intelligent and has gravitas. People tend to listen to what he’s saying because his delivery is so calm and sensible.’”

Chambers & Partners 2019 “Strengths: ‘Nick has got an attention to detail which is second to none, and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law. His presentation is also immaculate, with never a syllable, word or comma out of place.’”

Chambers & Partners 2018 “Strengths: ‘He is painstaking and meticulous. His knowledge of case law is second to none and this shines through in his position notes and skeletons. These are always provided on a timely basis.’”

Chambers & Partners 2017 “Strengths: “He reads absolutely everything he’s sent and knows the papers inside out. He instils a huge amount of confidence in clients, he is an extremely charming advocate and he can disarm difficult cases.’”

Chambers & Partners 2016 “commonly thought of in the profession as “a future silk.” He specialises in matrimonial finance and is particularly noted for the quality of his preparation. Strengths: ‘Clients absolutely love him. He is very good with sensitive clients, and difficult ones too. He is such a details man. Clients know he knows their case inside and out. Really thorough, really clever and a great advocate, he is going to be a silk.’ ”

Chambers & Partners 2015 “a favourite among solicitors for high net worth financial remedy work … ‘His grasp of the law is phenomenal. His greatest talent is the depth in which he will go into a case. When I send him a brief I know he’ll read it twice and be 100% prepared. I’ve never seen him flounder in court or not know a page number. He is a phenomenal comfort to those that instruct him.’ ”

Chambers & Partners 2014 “utterly superb … he has exceptional technical knowledge, and is very good with flustered clients”

Chambers & Partners 2013 “first class client skills … a tremendous eye for detail and a first-rate knowledge of matrimonial law”

Chambers & Partners 2012 “one of his main strengths is his exceptional client care skills … his bedside manner is perfect for vulnerable clients, and his advocacy is first class”

Legal 500 2022 “assimilates every fact and nuance of a case, and provides clients with clear, helpful advice. He inspires confidence in his instructing solicitors”

Legal 500 2021 “always knows the detail of the case – even where the papers are voluminous he has read them all at least once”

Legal 500 2020 “is fantastic and knows his papers inside and out on every case”

Legal 500 2018/19 “nothing escapes his attention”

Legal 500 2017 “one of the most technically strong members of the Bar”

Legal 500 2016 “he encapsulates the perfect combination of a brilliant legal mind and empathy towards clients”

Legal 500 2015 “his knowledge of black-letter and case law is spot on”

Legal 500 2014 “a real ‘details’ man, who is definitely a silk of the future”

Legal 500 2013 “blessed with a superb legal mind and excellent advocacy skills”

Legal 500 2012 “an absolute star of the Family Bar”

Legal 500 2011“hugely responsive, unfailingly courteous and an absolute delight to work with”

Publications

Nicholas is a regular lecturer including to full-time and part-time judges at the Judicial College. He is a member of the JUSTICE Working Party, Improving Access to Justice for Separating Families, chaired by Professor Gillian Douglas which commenced work in January 2021.

Nicholas is the editor of the family law chapters of Foskett on Compromise (Ninth Edition, Sweet & Maxwell (2019)). He is a founder member of the Editorial Board of the Financial Remedies Journal (published by Class Legal). He has had several articles published in Family Law. He co-authored the FLBA’s ‘Good Practice’ guidance for FDR Appointments much of which was later included in similar guidance published by both Resolution and by the Family Justice Council. He also contributed to Resolution’s Guide to Good Practice for Family Lawyers on Working with the Bar in Family Cases (2018 revision).

• Author of ‘Arbitration After Haley – If Not Now, When?’ [2021] Fam Law 811

• Author of ‘Some Are More Equal Than Others: Special Contribution After XW v XH’ [2020] Fam Law 1485

• Acknowledged contributor to ‘Private FDRs’ [2020] Fam Law 815 by Simon Bruce (of Farrer & Co)

• Editor of the family law chapters of “Foskett on Compromise” (Ninth Edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2019)

• Author of ‘Lying Around the Kitchen – Imerman Nine Years On’ [2019] Fam Law 1131

• Co-author of ‘Till death or re-marriage do our finances part: L v L’ [2012] Fam Law 665

• Co-author of ‘The Law and Financial Provision on the Dissolution of Civil Partnerships’ [2009] Fam Law 836

• Acknowledged contributor to Ancillary Relief after Miller and McFarlane by Nicholas Francis QC and David Salter (Lime Legal, 2006)

• Acknowledged in Cohabitation and Trusts of Land by Darlington, Heaton and Wagstaffe (Thomson/Sweet & Maxwell, 2006)

• Nicholas is a regular lecturer to regional Resolutions and Law Societies and also in-house for solicitors’ firms.

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Personal

Nicholas is Chairman of the Emmanuel Society, the alumni organisation of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Nicholas is a former recipient of the Herchel Smith Scholarship from Emmanuel to Harvard University where he spent a year as Visiting Scholar at the university’s Law Faculty.

Relevant News and Articles

  • FRESH CARROT, BIGGER STICK: Forthcoming rule changes and the ‘encouragement’ of NCDR’ – Nicholas Allen KC and Andrew Day.

    Nicholas Allen KC and Andrew Day consider the forthcoming rule changes that will arise from the Family Procedure (Amendment No.2) Rules 2023, due to...

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  • Freebar Visibility Project

    The Freebar Visibility Project celebrates diversity at the Bar. The project contains a collection of profiles from LGBT+ members of the profession. The profiles include...

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  • Nicholas Allen QC and Ben Douglas-Jones QC appointed as Deputy High Court Judges

    Chambers is delighted to announce that Nicholas Allen QC and Ben Douglas-Jones QC have been appointed as Deputy High Court Judges, pursuant to section...

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  • Nicholas Allen QC has joined chambers as a door tenant

    The members of the Family Finance Team are delighted to announce that Nicholas Allen QC has joined chambers as a door tenant. Nicholas, who...

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