Nicola Shaw
Call: 1992
Nicola Shaw
Lincolns Inn (Sunley scholar)
Modern Languages LLB (Hons) Leeds University 1998
University of California Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law
Inns of Court Bar Vocational Course 1991-2
University of Victoria, Wellington, Dispute Resolution LLM Course
Collaborative lawyer, trained 2007
Trained Arbitrator
DDJ 2010
Contact
T: 0113 246 2600 or 01274 722 560
Nicola practises exclusively in the field of Dispute Resolution. Following a career at the Bar specialising in financial remedies, she was appointed as a full time District Judge in 2016. She was lead Judge for her region in the Financial Remedies Court from its inception in 2018 until taking early retirement in 2022. She now sits regularly in the Financial Remedies Court in London, as well as in the local courts on the North East Circuit.
Reputation
Nicola has chaired conferences and been invited as keynote speaker at specialist Dispute Resolution conference.
She was the representative for the Association of District Judges on the International Association of Judges from 2017 to her retirement, which involved being an ambassador for the English and Welsh judiciary on the international stage. She presented papers to the study commission and has chaired discussions in this forum.
She is the editor of the Financial Remedies Journal with a particular responsibility for pFDRs.
Chambers and Partners 2016:
“She is noted for her expertise on the intersection between family law and trusts, with particular experience in TOLATA cases and the co-ownership of property under trust. She can handle civil procedures which would make a lot of family lawyers wobbly at the knees. She's a real expert.”
“She is particularly noted for her training in collaborative law, and her client-friendly approach and innovative thinking set her apart from other practitioners in the field. "She sits as a Deputy District Judge and provides good, solid advice in financial cases. She is very accessible and takes a real interest in the case." "She is thoughtful, very client-friendly and a pleasure to work with."
She specialises in complex financial proceedings and cohabitation disputes. Commentators praise the value of her training in collaborative law, and note her considerable expertise in alternative dispute resolution and mediation. "She takes a holistic view of the client's circumstances and thinks outside of the box to consider the practical consequences of any advice she gives." "Nicola Shaw is very accessible and takes a real interest in the case, providing good, solid advice in financial cases."
Legal 500:
Very approachable and always well prepared
A first-rate lawyer, who is pragmatic with great interpersonal skills has a good, reassuring manner with clients’
Expertise
Nicola acts as a Private FDR Judge, Early Neutral Evaluation Judge and Arbitrator at Broadway House Chambers.
Whilst in practice, Nicola had a special interest in cases involving farms, partnerships and small businesses, as well as being regularly instructed in cases involving complex pensions arrangements.
Since being appointed, she has facilitated and adjudicated in cases which have multi-million pound assets and complex financial structures, across the spectrum to those where the financial assets are small, but which require careful handling to achieve fairness for the parties.
Clerks
Susan Sanders
Call: 2015
Susan Sanders
MA (Hons), University of Edinburgh, Persian and Social Anthropology (1999)
Graduate Diploma in Law (2014, Distinction)
Bar Professional Training Course (2015, Outstanding)
Middle Temple
Queen Mother Scholar (2014)
Family Law Mediator
Legal Aid Supplier Number 02ENW
Contact
T: 01274 722 560 or 0113 246 2600
Susan joined Broadway House in September 2016 after successfully completing a mixed pupillage.
She practises family and immigration law and has a particular interest and expertise in the overlap between these two areas. She is qualified to undertake work on a direct access basis.
Susan has an insightful approach and is regularly instructed to represent those who require sensitive and considerate client-care.
Before coming to the Bar Susan worked for human rights organisations and campaigned and carried out research in Afghanistan for Amnesty International. Susan speaks French and Farsi.
Susan is a family mediator and is available to mediate in cases involving child arrangements disputes and financial issues after separation.
Reputation
Articles
Unreasonable law – contested divorce and the case of Owens v Owens
Seminars
- Public Law Children: Deprivation of Liberty (2018)
- Disclosure of Material: Family & Criminal Proceedings (2018)
- Gatekeeping the IAC- Restrictions on appeal rights: Third Country, Clearly Unfounded and Remove First Certificates (2018)
- Trafficking and Age assessments (2019)
- ‘Immigration Applications for Children in Care & Immigration Issues for Kinship Carers/Parents Abroad’ (2021)
- How to prepare for a Deportation Appeal – Family and Private Life (2022)
Legal Directories
“She advocates with clarity and confidence, helping the client and the tribunal panel with complex procedural and legal issues.” (Legal 500, 2026)
“Her approach to advocacy is creative and engaging, whilst also being measured and sensitive. A junior who demonstrates careful and methodical reasoning.” (Legal 500, 2025)
“Susan is a very diligent barrister, with extensive knowledge of asylum and immigration law. She is an excellent communicator, and her ability to listen to clients puts them at ease during stressful situations for them. She is pragmatic and clear when giving advice” (Legal 500, 2023 and 2024)
“Susan is very dedicated and has in-depth knowledge of immigration law. Her advocacy is thoughtful and measured. She is particularly attentive to the needs of vulnerable clients and quickly builds a rapport with them.” (Legal 500, 2022)
Expertise
Family
Susan has a busy practice in all areas of family law and represents privately and publicly funded clients from directions hearings through to contested final hearings. She is regularly instructed in private law finding of fact hearings involving serious allegations, including rape, and in public law proceedings for the local authority. She is also involved in cases of domestic abuse, forced marriage, and those with an immigration element. She regularly advises local authorities in relation to immigration issues within public law proceedings.
She is a sensitive and effective communicator. One lay client said she is “absolutely wonderful and very professional with her work, [a] fantastic lady with big experience and commitment”.
Immigration
Susan regularly appears in the First Tier and Upper Tribunals and is committed to providing first class representation to those seeking asylum. She is often asked to advise and drafts judicial review claims as well as applications for permission to appeal.
Before coming to the Bar Susan worked for many years as a legal representative for asylum seekers at Refugee and Migrant Justice and in private practice. She is passionate about representing vulnerable individuals and carries out pro bono advocacy for the Manuel Bravo Project and Bail for Immigration Detainees. Her experience working in Central Africa, Iran and Afghanistan provides invaluable background for this work.
“The clients were very happy with the way the appeal was prepared and presented, [and] asked that I extend the family’s thank you to you. I am attaching a copy of the Tribunal’s decision … the appeal was allowed. This is an excellent result in a potentially tricky case with a long and difficult history" (Instructing Solicitor)
Notable Cases
Family
Re X – Represented mother in successful application to terminate a father's parental responsibility. This unusual application was made following the father's conviction for coercive and controlling behaviour and rape of the mother.
Re D – Junior counsel in High Court hearing considering allegations of child sexual exploitation
A v A – Finding of fact dealing with allegations of shooting and attempted kidnap
H v H – Finding of fact successfully represented a father facing allegations of sexual and physical abuse. No findings were made.
N v H –Successfully argued for set-aside of a declaration of trust on the basis of fraud at a preliminary issue hearing in financial remedy proceedings
Immigration
JG v SSHD – Successfully appealed decision to deport Jamaican national convicted of burglary, appeal then upheld by UT
EB v SSHD – Permission to appeal granted by the UT on basis of application of European case law to article 3 medical case, pending Supreme Court hearing of AM (Zimbabwe)
GK v SSHD – Upper Tribunal allowed human rights appeal of elderly Indian relative, finding paragraph 276ADE(1)(vi) was met. Appeal had been dismissed by First Tier Tribunal.
Advised EEA extended family member who, as a result, obtained residence permit on the basis of the EU Court of Justice case of Lounes
Clerks
Fen Greatley-Hirsch
Call: 2018
Fen Greatley-Hirsch
LLM Legal Practice (Barristers) – BPP Law School
Adv. LLM Public International Law – Leiden University
LLB Law with French Law – University of Warwick
ADM-ODR International Qualified Civil Commercial Mediator
Baron Dr ver Heyden de Lancey Prize (Middle Temple)
The Queen Mother Scholarship (Middle Temple)
White Rose (WRoCAH) Doctoral Scholarship (Arts and Humanities Research Council)
Grade 3 Prosecutor
Contact
T: 0113 246 2600
Fen joined Chambers in December 2020 after completing a common law pupillage under the supervision of Giles Bridge and Paul Smith.
He accepts instructions in family and criminal cases and is available for consultation in conference or written advice.
Fen’s practice is shaped by his experiences in academia and working in client-facing roles with a several national and international charitable organisations, including Citizens Advice Bureau, the Free Representation Unit, and Nightline.
This work put him in regular contact with individuals from all walks of life and particularly vulnerable populations, young people, persons with disabilities and mental health conditions, and non-native English speakers. As a result, Fen understands and responds to a wide range of client needs. He approaches all matters with the utmost commitment to client care and is often praised for taking the time to ensure clients’ questions and concerns are addressed and that they feel fully represented.
Fen’s academic research focuses on issues of mental and legal capacity in criminal law using vulnerability theory. He has served on the editorial board of academic journals, worked as a research assistant for an NGO conducting strategic human rights litigation, and delivered papers at academic conferences around the world. As such, he is is able to build and present complex information and arguments in a clear and accessible way.
Reputation
Expertise
Family
Fen accepts instructions in private and public Children Act proceedings at all stages, from first hearings to final hearings. A well-rounded practice sees him represent parents, Local Authorities and intervenors alike.
He has a real strength in client care and is often commended for ensuring his clients fully understand the developments in and prospects of their case and leave hearings feeling heard and fully represented.
Fen has gained particular expertise in contested and fact-finding hearings, assisted by a keen eye for detail and a forensic approach honed through criminal practice.
He regularly deals with cases involving allegations of a very serious nature – such as domestic violence, non-accidental injuries, and sexual harm – and does so with sensitivity and tact.
Fen has considerable experience representing vulnerable clients, including young persons, persons with disabilities, those with mental health issues, and those who do not speak English. He welcomes instructions in cases involving non-traditional families and those with international or intercultural elements.
Crime
Fen both prosecutes and defends at all stages – pre-trial, trial, sentence, and appeal.
He regularly appears in courts across the North Eastern and Northern Circuits in relation to the following types of offences:
- Assaults (up to and including s18);
- Road traffic;
- Public order (affrays);
- Dishonesty (handling stolen goods; burglary; robbery);
- Drugs offences (possession with intent to supply; production);
- Sexual offences (sexual assault; indecent images)
Fen is a member of the CPS General Crime Panel at Grade 3.
For the last couple of years he has been building his Crown Court trial practice and welcomes defence instructions.
He has completed the vulnerable witness training and, particularly given his experience dealing with similar matters in the family courts, is well-equipped to defend in rape, sexual assault and other such sensitive matters.
More generally, Fen’s background in academia has equipped him with the ability to quickly process and familiarise himself with large volumes of documents, as well as to make complex information accessible to a lay audience. It has also given him the research skills to locate useful case law that sometimes makes all the difference.
He has been praised by solicitors, benches and clients themselves for his skilled and sensitive witness handling and an ability to resonate with juries.
Fen builds rapports with clients easily, which quickly allows him to elicit the information needed both to build the strongest case and to address the opposing one effectively.
He has a keen eye for detail and in evidential hearings is particularly adept at witness handling, cross-examining with a forensic approach honed through criminal practice.
Fen has considerable experience representing vulnerable clients, including young persons, persons with disabilities, those with mental health issues, and those who do not speak English.
Notable Cases
R v X - Leeds Crown Court (Defence 2025)
Fen Greatley-Hirsch secured acquittal. Client at trial charged with multiple counts of voyeurism (s67 Sexual Offences Act 2003) over a 3-year period. Significant issues relating to the admissibility of several key aspects of the Crown’s case - including a video recorded interview and forensic downloads – in the context of adherence to ABE guidance, chain of custody, and principles of character evidence.
R v H - Bradford Crown Court (Defence 2024)
Fen and Nicola Hoskins secured a suspended sentence for father and son clients who were charged with intent to pervert the course of justice.
https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/24427369.lying-father-sons-story-fell-apart-police-dug-deeper/
R v Shaw - Leeds Crown Court (Prosecution 2023)
Prosecuted 'professional burglar' who was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/crime/career-criminal-rammed-police-car-as-he-drove-professional-burglary-team-around-leeds-4422603
R v Ndokajwas - Bradford Crown Court (Prosecution 2023)
Prosecuted man after cannabis farm worth £670k found. Marsel Ndokajwas was sentenced to two years imprisonment for the production of cannabis. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-67571625
R v X - Youth Court (Defence 2023)
Fen defended in the Youth Court in a serious sexual assault trial.The trial involved child witnesses and implementing the s28 procedure. Fen made a successful submission of no case to answer, which prevented the need for the defendant to give evidence. https://www.broadwayhouse.co.uk/news/fen-greatley-hirsch-youth-court-2023
R v X - Leeds Crown Court (Defence 2023)
Fen Greatley-Hirsch Secures Suspended Sentence for his Client in a Serious Three-handed Affray. https://www.broadwayhouse.co.uk/news/fen-greatley-hirsch-secures-suspended-sentence
Clerks
Andrzej Bojarski KC
Door Tenant - Call 1995 | Silk 2024
Andrzej Bojarski KC
Barrister, Arbitrator and Mediator
LLB (Hons) London School of Economics
Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers
Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb)
Family Law Bar Association
Chancery Bar Association
Gray’s Inn
Contact
E: clerks@broadwayhouse.co.uk
T: 01274 722 560 or 0113 246 2600
Andrzej Bojarski KC is a senior barrister and a leading ADR practitioner (as a family law arbitrator and a mediator), with a practice which has an unrivalled span across family law and chancery law. He is routinely instructed in cases involving complex business and trust structures, difficult issues of commercial law or corporate law, or with claims involving third parties. Much of his case load involves cross-border international elements. As well as his matrimonial work he deals with the chancery aspects of family disputes, including ToLATA claims and Inheritance Act disputes. He has developed particular expertise in crypto assets and FinTech.
Andrzej is also one of the most experienced and frequently chosen arbitrators and private FDR neutral evaluators. He is also a popular and effective mediator, known for bringing calmness to acrimonious disputes and finding creative solutions to apparently intractable problems.
Andrzej writes and lectures widely on English family law. He has been the Consultant Editor of the last two editions of the Matrimonial and Civil Partnership Law volumes of the authoritative legal encyclopaedia Halsbury’s Laws of England and he is also the author of a leading textbook on financial remedies in divorce.
Reputation
"A silent assassin. Pleasant and solutions-focused, he's forward-thinking and amicable with his opposite number, but in court he's ruthless in the way he presents the case and makes submissions to judges."
"A super advocate who is very easy to listen to. He's focused, he doesn't take nonsense points and he makes the most of his good ones. His cross-examination is really good."
"Andrzej Bojarski is excellent - he's very calm and very well-liked by his clients. He gives good advice and his paperwork and preparation are perfect."
(Chambers and Partners, 2023)
‘Andrzej brings his advocacy skills to the private judging sphere. He is thorough, empathetic and kind, hugely intelligent, and probably thinking five steps ahead of the advocates in front of him on every case, hard-working and keen to find/broker settlement. He is fully resolution-focused and will leave no stone unturned in trying to get a couple to that end.’
‘Andrzej gives clear well thought and excellent advice. He is a very good advocate and unfailingly polite to all involved. He is reliable and hugely experienced. He puts clients at their ease.’ He has ‘excellent client care skills’ and is an ‘incredibly easy barrister to work with’.
(Legal 500, 2023)
"Andrzej is fair-minded, technical and able to deal with the most difficult areas of family law."
"He really gets under the skin of the case from an early stage, and is personable, calm and understated. His technical knowledge is excellent."
"He is well prepared, very knowledgeable and has a great eye for detail."
"He's very financially astute, and I rate him very highly"
(Chambers & Partners, 2020)
"Has the ability to untangle the most complicated financial setup and then offer practical advice." (Legal 500, 2020)
"Andrzej is a master for detail and an excellent draftsman."(Chambers & Partners, 2019)
"He wins by being clever, persuasive and rational." (Chambers & Partners, 2019)
"Go-to individual for financial work. I know I can trust him and he will cut to the chase. He is brilliant with the client too." (Chambers & Partners, 2017)
"A very accomplished advocate. Good on paper and in court." (Chambers & Partners, 2017)
"Andrzej is excellent for financial work. His expertise in complicated offshore finances is second to none, and he is a barrister who offers strong advice." (Chambers & Partners, 2017)
"He is just outstanding. He knows the law and procedure like the back of his hand."(Chambers & Partners, 2016)
"Measured, eloquent, sensible" (Chambers & Partners, 2016)
Publications:
Consultant Editor of the Matrimonial and Civil Partnership Law volumes of Halsbury’s Laws of England.
Author of Unlocking Matrimonial Assets on Divorce (Family Law, 3rd edition 2012)
Author of numerous articles and regular presenter of webinars, seminars and lectures on family law.
Ranked as a leading practitioner for financial remedies work and ADR by both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners.
Expertise
Finance: Andrzej is very highly rated as one of the most knowledgeable and skilled lawyers in the field of family finance, dealing with cases where the parties were married and are divorcing, and also in disputes between unmarried couples or resulting from other family relationship breakdowns. He is routinely instructed in the most difficult cases and has particular experience of trusts and complex business structures, usually with a multi-jurisdictional and international dimension. He is also well-known for his experience of and expertise in cases involving crypto-assets and FinTech, business and corporate governance issues in the midst of relationship breakdown, and property disputes involving families, including in relation to the estates of the deceased.
While he was still a junior barrister the influential Chambers & Partners Bar rankings listed Andrzej as one of only four “Star Individuals” in Matrimonial Finance work in London.
ADR: Andrzej has been a family law arbitrator since 2012 and has been acting as a neutral evaluator in private FDRs since 2017. He has conducted in excess of 200 arbitrations and private FDRs with many clients regarding him as the ‘go to’ tribunal in difficult cases. The Legal 500 says “Andrzej brings his advocacy skills to the private judging sphere. He is thorough, empathetic and kind, hugely intelligent, and probably thinking five steps ahead of the advocates in front of him on every case, hard-working and keen to find/broker settlement. He is fully resolution-focused and will leave no stone unturned in trying to get a couple to that end.”
International: Many of Andrzej’s cases involve an international dimension and he has extensive experience of jurisdictional disputes and the tracing or assets and enforcement of orders across international borders. He is also regularly approached to offer advice on English law to lawyers overseas. Andrzej is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.
Notable Cases
Unger v Ul Hasan [2023] UKSC 22. Seminal Supreme Court decision on whether unadjudicated matrimonial claims survive the death of a party.
Baker v Baker [2022] EWFC 15 and [2023] EWFC 136. Successful repudiation of a wife’s claim that a husband had undisclosed assets of over $30 million.
Joseph v Grandison [2019] EWHC 977 (Fam). Successful enforcement of a ‘best endeavours’ injunction.
Clerks