Practice Areas
Dispute Resolution
‘Alongside his assiduous preparation and carefully considered paperwork, he brings to a contested trial great intelligence and psychological insight. He is hugely skilful in extracting from witnesses the evidence he seeks to persuade the tribunal to find in his client’s favour.’
Legal 500 2021 – Top Tier
Experience
Year of Call: 1991
Year of Silk: 2010
Education
St John’s College, Cambridge (MA)
Appointments
Co-chair, Association of Lawyers for Children, 2008-2010
National Family Justice Board, 2008-2010
President, Cambridge Union, 1988
Profile
Piers practises exclusively in the field of children law.
He took silk at the age of 41 and has since forged a predominantly private children law practice, principally involving disputes over child arrangements and allied issues. He is particularly well-known for his expertise in intractable disputes (including those involving allegations of parental alienation) and in the areas of relocation (international and domestic) and LGBT+ parenting.
He still regularly appears in public law cases entailing allegations of very serious physical, sexual or emotional abuse and is frequently instructed in appeals on important points of law and practice. His practice also includes cross-border abduction and jurisdictional disputes.
Piers has appeared in numerous reported cases at first instance and appellate level. Over the last 15 years he has been consistently recommended for children law by the major guides to the legal profession and is currently ranked in the top tier for children law by the Legal 500, who recently described him as “the favourite children’s counsel to the rich and famous”. He is typically brought in from the outset of cases to strategise and run them from start to finish. His recent clients have included leading figures from the worlds of business, sport and entertainment.
Publications & Lecturing
Co-author, Dictionary of Private Children Law (Class Legal, 2021).
Revised and updated the ‘Children and Young Persons’ volumes of Halsbury’s Laws of England (5th edition, 2012).
Co-author, The Public Law Outline: The Court Companion (Family Law, 2008).
Co-author, Contact: The New Deal (Family Law, 2006).
Contributor to Family Law journal and Family Law Week.
Regular lecturer of judges and practitioners on children law topics (including most recently on relocation for the 2020 White Paper Children Law Conference).
Interviews on children law and practice to The Times, The Observer, The Independent, BBC and Sky News.
Acknowledged in Joanna Trollope’s best-selling novel, Friday Nights: “I am indebted to Piers Pressdee, who wrote A Football Guide for the Thinking Woman especially for me. Clear, energetic, comprehensive and funny, it deserves to be a best-seller in its own right.”
Professional Memberships
Association of Lawyers for Children
FLBA
Directories
“Alongside his assiduous preparation and carefully considered paperwork, he brings to a contested trial great intelligence and psychological insight. He is hugely skilful in extracting from witnesses the evidence he seeks to persuade the tribunal to find in his client’s favour.”
Legal 500 2021 – Top Tier
“Expert private law children practitioner instructed by London’s top firms … demonstrates strength in child arrangements and relocation cases and is notable for his experience in abuse and non-accidental injury cases … highly astute, articulate and user-friendly … has got a good way of dealing with clients, opponents, and the courtroom, and is extremely charming and effective.”
Chambers & Partners 2021