Eleanor Dewhurst
- 2008
- clerks@pallantchambers.co.uk
‘thorough, approachable and supportive advocate capable of explaining complex matters very clearly to clients’
Legal 500 - 2025
'Eleanor is an extremely skilled advocate. She possesses excellent communication skills both in court and outside when carefully and compassionately dealing with clients.'
Legal 500 - 2025
Eleanor is outstanding, extremely thorough, efficient, and knowledgeable.
Instructing Solicitor
She has stepped in, taken control, and delivered.
Instructing Solicitor
Clients always feel reassured that she understands all the issues in their case. Eleanor is very approachable to both professionals and clients and often goes the extra mile.
Instructing Solicitor - March 2022
Eleanor is able to give robust advice to clients whilst at the same time remaining supportive of them.
Instructing Solicitor - March 2022
Eleanor has excellent attention to detail and I feel confident she will really get to grips with a case and provide all the necessary support for the client
Instructing Solicitor - March 2022
‘She is very hardworking and diligent'
Legal 500
'She always makes sure the client is fully aware of what is happening.’
Legal 500
"Conducts her cases with the upmost attention to detail."
Legal 500
Qualifications, Memberships & Appointments
- BA (Hons) History and Politics, The Queen’s College, Oxford University
- Graduate Diploma in Law, The College of Law, Guildford
- Bar Vocational Course, The College of Law, London
- Middle Temple Inn
- Family Law Bar Association
BSB/VAT number
- BSB: 54636
- VAT: 100421492
Practice Overview
Eleanor is a specialist family practitioner with extensive experience across the core areas of family law and a particular interest in domestic finance and property issues.
She is regularly instructed to act in High Court matters and has appeared in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal where she has been praised for her “persuasive advocacy” and the “conspicuously high standard” of her paperwork.
Eleanor has been consistently recommended as a leading family junior in the Legal 500 for the last 9 years for both children and finance matters. Clients appreciate her thorough preparation, warm manner and pragmatic approach.
Family Finance
Eleanor accepts instructions in the following areas:
- Financial Remedies on Divorce
- Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989
- Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996
- Court of Protection
- Inheritance Act 1975
Children (Private Law)
Eleanor is confident in dealing with high-risk cases involving significant safeguarding concerns including those where there are allegations of domestic abuse between parents, sexual, physical or emotional abuse of the child(ren), substance misuse issues and/or mental health concerns.
Eleanor is very familiar with conducting “quasi public law” cases where there have been previous care proceedings or there is ongoing Children’s Services involvement and/or a Section 37 report has been directed.
Examples of recent cases undertaken by Eleanor include:
– successful application for shared “lives with” order on behalf of the Father, which was opposed by the Mother at the final hearing;
– on behalf of the Father successfully resisted an application for internal relocation of the children by the Mother where there was an informal shared care arrangement in place between the parents;
– on behalf of the Mother successfully negotiated a final Child Arrangements Order for the child to live with the Mother and spend time with the Father at the First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment against a Father acting in person where the parties had previously attended mediation on several occasions and failed to reach an agreement;
– on behalf of the Father, successfully resisted an urgent application by the Mother for the immediate return of the children who had been removed from the family home by the Father.
Eleanor also has experience of cases involving:
– disputes in respect of the child’s name, school and medical treatment;
– applications by step-parents and grandparents;
– special guardianship, including applications for contact by parents where a child is living with a special guardian;
– enforcement of existing orders relating to the children.
Domestic Violence
Eleanor accepts instructions in proceedings for Non-Molestation Orders and Occupation Orders and is always happy to advise or assist with drafting Schedules of Findings Sought.
Eleanor has extensive experience of cases involving allegations of domestic abuse and has undertaken specialist advocacy training in respect of vulnerable witnesses.
Eleanor spoke at the most recent Portsmouth Family Court Forum on how the Family Court approaches allegations of domestic abuse and has also delivered seminars on how to draft Schedules of Findings Sought in domestic abuse cases.
Vulnerable Clients
Eleanor has undertaken specialist advocacy training in relation to vulnerable witnesses and is able to manage clients who are vulnerable with sensitivity and care, whether their vulnerability is due to their age, mental health, learning difficulties, experiences of abuse or for other reasons.
Eleanor has considerable experience of cases in which there is reason to believe the client, or the other party, may lack capacity to conduct proceedings including those where the involvement of the Official Solicitor is required.