Corbett Le Quesne

Biography

Barbara Corbett is a Jersey Advocate and English Solicitor with approximately 30 years’ experience as a family lawyer. She is the Senior Partner at Corbett Le Quesne. Barbara is a collaborative lawyer, mediator, family arbitrator, international family lawyer and a specialist children’s lawyer.

Barbara has expertise in all areas of family law and is committed to helping clients resolve problems in a positive and conciliatory manner wherever possible. In addition to her considerable experience dealing with divorce and financial settlements Barbara also advises clients on the preparation of pre-nuptial and other relationship agreements.  Many of Barbara’s cases have an international element, she frequently advises foreign lawyers on Jersey law especially in respect of cross jurisdictional pre-nuptial agreements and cases involving trusts and business assets in Jersey. Barbara is also well-known for her significant children law practice. She represents both adults and children in private and public law cases and has expertise in international relocation cases, financial applications by and on behalf of children, child abduction, surrogacy and adoption in addition to the more usual applications in respect of who children live with and have contact with, including grandparents and wider family members.

In addition to being recognised as being one of the leading family lawyers in Jersey, Barbara is also at the forefront of developing family law in Jersey, particularly the separate representation of children and divorce reform. Barbara is also closely involved in exploring changes in the law relating to surrogacy in her role as a Jersey Law Commissioner. Barbara has had articles published in Family Law, International Family Law, the Jersey and Guernsey Law Review. She has also contributed chapters on Jersey law to Family Law Jurisdictional Comparisons (Thomson Reuters) and International Relocation of Children (Practical Law). 

Barbara is married with five grown up children.

Biography

Nicholas Le Quesne is a Jersey Advocate, a qualified collaborative lawyer and an experienced English solicitor.  He is one of the founding partners of Corbett Le Quesne having established the firm with Advocate Barbara Corbett in November 2017.  

Nicholas advises on all areas of family law, specialising in complex matrimonial finance work and has a particular interest in pre and postnuptial agreements. He also has experience in children matters, including cases involving intractable contact and parental alienation.

Nicholas works with a wide range of clients, both domestic and international.  He builds strong relationships with his clients by listening to them and offering them pragmatic, solution focused advice. He aims to work together with clients to reach a negotiated settlement out of the court arena wherever possible. When proceedings (whether in court or arbitration) are necessary, he is used to litigating to achieve the best possible outcome for his clients.

Nicholas has been published in the Jersey and Guernsey Law Review and is a former winner of the Law Society of Jersey Prize for the Jersey Advocacy constitutional law examination.  He is also a member of the committee of the Jersey Family Law Association. 

Biography

Simon qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales in 2012 and has been practising in Jersey since 2016.

Simon joined Corbett Le Quesne as Head of Private Client in March 2021. He specialises in Wills and Probate and Lasting Powers of Attorney.

Always on hand in times of grief or illness, Simon compassionately guides clients through the potentially complex legal issues that need to be dealt with when a loved one or friend dies or loses capacity. Simon has a down to earth approach and strives to provide clients with peace of mind through clear advice and pragmatic solutions.

Simon is one of only a few advisers in Jersey to hold the STEP Advanced Certificate in Cross Border Estates. He received the highest mark ever awarded to anyone in any STEP qualification anywhere in the world and was therefore also given a STEP Worldwide Excellence Award and a special CLT International Exceptional Performance Award. His interest, expertise and knowledge have led him to being featured on Radio 4 in a report focusing on EU Succession and the complexity of private international law when dealing with the succession of assets situate in the EU by a non-resident.

He is a member of the Capacity and Succession Committee for the Jersey Law Society.

Simon is married with two daughters and is an active member of Rotary Jersey.

Biography

Advocate Kate Donohue is a very experienced family lawyer and a Deputy District Judge on the Northern Circuit. 

Kate started her career in law as a solicitor, qualifying in 2009. She worked in the UK and became Regional Head of Family Law at Simson Millar.  She then qualified as a barrister in 2017 and is a tenant at 18 St John Street Chambers. Three years later she moved to Jersey and started studying towards her advocates exams. She was called to the Jersey Bar in January 2023.

In February 2024 The Lady Chief Justice, The Right Honourable the Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, Head of Judiciary of England and Wales and the President of the Courts of England and Wales appointed Advocate Kate Donohue as a Deputy District Judge to sit within the family jurisdiction on the Northern Circuit of England and Wales.  

Ranked as a Leading Junior Counsel by the Legal 500, Kate advises and acts on private and public law applications including Care proceedings, Residence, Contact, Prohibited Steps and Specific Issue Orders. 

Kate fell in love with Jersey on holidays to the island and moved here with her husband and two children in 2020.

Biography

Jamie-Lee completed her Jersey Solicitor's exams in 2022 and was sworn in as a Jersey Ecrivain in January 2023, a few days after joining Corbett Le Quesne. 

Jamie-Lee has approximately 10 years experience in the field of family law having gained a paralegal qualification with the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (which means she is able to advise on English Law family matters), a Diploma in family law and a degree in Law, all whilst working full-time.

Biography

Anna went to school at Jersey College for Girls and after doing her law degree at the University of Manchester, where she obtained a 2:1 LLB (Hons) she undertook her Bar Vocational Course at BPP in London in 2005. Having been the only Ogier bursary student in her year at JCG Anna returned to Jersey and worked at Ogier in the personal law department advising on family, personal injury and criminal law. Anna started to specialise in family law and was involved in some leading cases in relation to implacable hostility.  In 2009 Anna completed the QLTT qualified as an English Solicitor. Anna was on the green committee and charity committee there and was also involved in the working group which established the Institute of Law in Jersey. 

In 2010 Anna left Jersey to travel for a year. In that time she completed a charity cycle ride along the coast of Vietnam cycling from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh. Upon returning she worked in commercial interior design, set up a business supporting local entrepreneurs and worked in an International Family Office before leaving work to have her son. While off with her son Anna obtained levels 2 and 3 of her CPCAB counselling qualifications and became an Advanced Emotional Freedom Technique Practitioner. In 2019 Anna self-published a book called I am like a Rainbow to help children learn about and accept their feelings.

Anna returned to family law in 2019, joining Corbett Le Quesne as an Associate and was promoted to Senior Associate in May 2022. She became Head of Marketing alongside her legal work, utilising her experience when self employed. She now works in the Private Client Department and assists Lizzie with the conferences as well as her legal and marketing work. 

Biography

Louise is a Paralegal in the Private Client Department at Corbett Le Quesne, having joined in January 2020. Louise has experience in both family law and private client work and regularly assists with Delegateships, Probates, Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs). She is caring and empathetic and provides organised, calm and proactive assistance to her clients.

Louise was educated at Jersey College for Girls. Louise then became CIPD qualified at Associate level and worked in Human Resources both locally in Jersey for various Trust and Finance companies and Internationally at the QUT University in Brisbane, Australia. 

Louise moved to The Bahamas and worked remotely for a year before returning at the beginning of 2025. She completed her English law degree with the University of London via the Institute of Law in Jersey and attained a 2:2 in 2024. Her plan is to become a qualified Solicitor specialising in Private Client.

Louise is a founding Committee Member of the Jersey International Legal Association (JILA).

Biography

Lizzie Keogh is the officer manager at Corbett Le Quesne. Lizzie has had a diverse employment background. She spent many years working in childcare, followed by work in horticulture helping to run an online garden centre and then various roles in administration.

Her interest in law came about after working as a receptionist at the Royal Court and meeting Barbara Corbett there. After a year and a half working alongside Barbara and Nick at BCR Law, she made the decision to move with them and help set up Corbett Le Quesne in November 2017. 

Lizzie provides homemade cakes for the office and did once win an award for her carrot cake!

Biography

Sarah originally trained as a nursery nurse and worked in nurseries and a local primary school before moving into law.  While her children were young she trained and worked as a child minder. 

More recently Sarah gained management experience in various law firms and as office manager for a billion-Euro private equity company before joining Corbett Le Quesne in December 2022. Sarah manages the busy Private Client Team.  

Simon Lofthouse, Head of Private Client commented “I couldn’t be happier to welcome Sarah to the group. She is a delight to work with and has already made herself invaluable. She has significant experience in probate administration and is excellent with clients.”

Biography

Jess joined Corbett Le Quesne in 2023 as an intern having previously worked at the Jersey Financial Services Commission as a Registry/Policy Assistant. It was quickly apparent that she would be an excellent addition to the team at Corbett Le Quesne. 

Jess obtained a 2:1 (Hons) Degree in Law in 2023 through the Jersey Institute of Law and is currently studying towards her SQE to become an English Solicitor. She hopes to study towards her advocates exams in the future and wants to specialise in family law.

Biography

Juliette completed her undergraduate BA degree in Criminology at the University of Liverpool achieving a 2:1 and receiving a first for her dissertation. Juliette achieved a distinction in her law conversion course which she completed in 2024.

Juliette is a valued member of the team, always willing to learn and to help with various types of work. She is focusing on family law but is also learning various skills working with the private client team.

Initially joining as an intern while studying, she was employed on a permanent basis in 2024 and was promoted to start as a paralegal working full time in January 2025. 

In September 2024 she attended her first strategy away weekend in Welford with everyone and it was lovely for everyone to spend more time together outside of the workplace.