Celebrating a passionate team making real change

22nd January 2026

Image: JEP article

The JEP have published an article in Business Insight talking about the highlights of our year - you can read it here: 

"IT is not unusual for lawyers to campaign on behalf of a particular client but at one Jersey law firm, the team have a reputation for going a little further than that.

Indeed, as Corbett Le Quesne senior associate Anna Styles explains, since setting up the firm nine years ago, co-founder Barbara Corbett has become well known both in the Island and overseas as an “inspirational and formidable” powerhouse.

In a showcase of her indefatigable energy, for almost a decade, the advocate has fought for the rights of same-sex parents and those using assisted reproduction, a campaign which eventually ended in success last year, as the Island added a “milestone” law to its statute books.

That law, introduced as part of a package of reforms to Jersey’s Children and Civil Status Law, means that same-sex parents now have the same legal recognition and responsibilities which have long been automatically awarded to heterosexual couples.

“That is a massive change, and one which has made the world of difference to all those families who felt that they were being discriminated against under the previous system,” said Anna. “Before the new law came into effect in November, with female couples, only the mother who gave birth to the child was listed on the birth certificate and given automatic parental responsibility, which meant that Barbara and the team had to go to great lengths to obtain parents’ equal rights. Often, this was achieved by applying for joint residence orders, which have equal parental responsibility to both parents, but this could be very distressing for the families involved.

“Now, those rights are awarded automatically and both parents can be named on the child’s birth certificate, something which has completely transformed couples’ lives. After the law came in, we held a celebratory party at Tinto’s Softplay and you could see from the passionate way in which attendees responded to the news just how important this legislative change is.”

Having achieved such a major breakthrough, one could forgive the Corbett Le Quesne team for sitting back and taking things slightly more easily but that, as Anna reflects, is simply not in their nature.

“Barbara and associate solicitor Jamie-Lee Morgan are also long-time campaigners for no-fault divorce, something which has now been officially proposed and is due to be debated by States Members this year,” she said. “In fact, it was a Law Commission paper which Barbara spearheaded in 2014 which became the basis for the current proposals.”

Hailed as one of the “biggest reforms to family law in decades”, the proposed legislation would allow couples to end their marriages without placing blame on either partner.

“At the moment, if someone wants to get divorced (without being separated for a year or more) they have to stipulate why and cite a particular incident or behavioural trait of their partner,” Anna added. “You also, unless there are exceptional circumstances, have to be married for a minimum of three years before you can petition for divorce, which can be particularly painful for someone who has endured a horrendous experience early in their marriage.”

Having campaigned extensively both locally and at rallies in the UK, Jamie-Lee and Barbara are now hoping that this new law will come into effect before the end of this year.

“Such a move would enable couples whose marriage has broken down to separate with minimum distress to the parties and any children and, as far as possible, to promote a good continuing relationship between the parties and their children,” added Anna.

And this philosophy, she says, sits at the heart of Corbett Le Quesne, a boutique firm which specialises in family and private client law.

“We are committed to resolving matters as quickly as possible, always putting our clients’ welfare at the heart of the matter and acting in a way which minimises both the distress and cost involved in any case,” she explained.

While much of the lawyers’ time may be spent either meeting clients or representing them in court, twice a year the team also host an international conference, with the March event focusing on children’s law and the autumn event switching the attention to general family law.

“These events, which always take place in Jersey, are hugely important for us, not just for the networking opportunities and high-calibre speakers which they bring to the Island but for the issues which they bring into the spotlight,” said Anna.

Indeed, as she explains, these conferences have been instrumental in driving changes to the Island’s judicial system.

“Conversations at one such event led to the creation of Family Foundation a unique service providing free conciliation and support to people separating with the assistance of the Jersey Family Conciliation Service ” Anna explained.

“Following the creation of this service, family judge Samantha McFadzean addressed another of our conferences, sharing information and experiences gained from this system with international lawyers.”

And there is another development which the Corbett Le Quesne team is hoping might come to fruition following last year’s children’s law conference, at which the keynote speaker was the Right Hon Lord Justice Peter Jackson.

“He is the lead judge for the UK's Family Drug and Alcohol Courts, and Barbara describes him as the ‘FDAC guru’,” said Anna. “While he was in the Island for the conference, he met several senior members of the judiciary, including the now Bailiff, and we are very much hoping that his visit will be the foundation for a Family Drug and Alcohol Court in Jersey.”

This, she says, is something which the family law team feel passionately about, as addiction is one of the most common reasons that children are removed from their families.

Indeed, it is a problem which Barbara and the team have seen in many cases, including a particularly “emotional” one in which the mother of a three-year-old boy was unable to overcome her alcohol addiction and ended up losing her child, who was adopted by strangers.

“This was an incredibly sad case but it is by no means the only one of its kind,” reflected Anna. “Addiction is a significant problem in Jersey and current care proceedings often mean that children have to be taken away because the parents can’t change quickly enough to satisfy the court’s timeframes.

“The aim of Family Drug and Alcohol Courts is to keep these vulnerable families together by supporting parents through their addition issues through a series of informal hearings, attended by social workers and a psychologist or psychiatrist, rather than a lawyer.

“While the cost of setting up such a court is significant, evidence in the UK shows that significantly more parents in FDACs stopped misusing substances compared to those in traditional courts, and we strongly believe that such a service would pay for itself in both the short term and long term. In Jersey, being a smaller jurisdiction, it has been proposed that the FDAC court has a wider remit to assist families with other issues, such as mental health as well as addiction.”

Having previously spoken of the value of “problem-solving Family Drug and Alcohol Courts” and saying that “research shows that every £1 spent on an FDAC reaps £2 or £3 benefit”, there is a good chance, says Anna, that his presence at the conference will add further fire to the team’s campaign for such a facility in the Island.

While Barbara and the team will continue to campaign for an FDAC in Jersey, the 2026 conferences will also bring a range of other legal matters into the spotlight.

“The theme of the March conference, at which The Hon Mrs Justice Theis, a judge of the High Court of England and Wales, will be the keynote speaker is Modern Families, which include sessions on topics such as parentage, assisted reproduction, surrogacy, adoption and LGBTQ+ families,” said Anna.

And this will be followed in October by the Jersey International Family Law Conference, at which the keynote speaker will be Sir Andrew McFarlane, who recently announced that he would be stepping down from his position as president of the Family Division. The theme of this conference is “Chattels, from the hamster to the super yacht” exploring how assets are dealt with on divorce, particularly pets, which are currently considered as possessions rather than as children would be, with arrangements for “residence” and “contact”.

This year’s conferences may also, Anna adds, gain office manager Lizzie Keogh her fourth nomination as Family Law Champion in the Lexis Nexis Family Law Awards.

“Last year Lizzie was a Family Law Champion finalist for the third year in a row at the Family Law Awards,” said Anna. “She runs amazing conferences and is hugely appreciated both by the team here and by everyone who attends our events, and to have been a finalist at these prestigious awards for three consecutive years is an incredible achievement.”

And Lizzie is not the only one receiving national recognition for each achievements, with Corbett Le Quesne having also been a finalist in the Children Law Team of the Year and the Family Law Firm of the Year at the same event.

“Barbara has also been shortlisted for the Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year Award in the Citywealth Power Women Awards International 2026, and head of private client Simon Lofthouse was shortlisted for Lawyer of the Year Channel Islands and Isle of Man at the 2026 Citywealth IFC Awards. Meanwhile, Corbett Le Quesne was nominated for the Boutique Law Firm of the Year Award 2026 in the Citywealth IFC Awards.”

While rightly proud of these accolades, there is something else in which the team takes pride and that is its fundraising efforts for local charities.

“Having partnered with Autism Jersey last year, this year Corbett Le Quesne has partnered with Jersey Cheshire Home, a charity to whose board Barbara was appointed last year,” explained Anna. “We raise around £5,000 a year for our chosen charity at our conferences and also take part in activities to increase awareness of the organisation and support its work. This is hugely rewarding, and something to which we are all looking forward in 2026.”

Thank you to Emily Moore at the Jersey Evening Post for this lovely write up.