Sarah Kilvington
Year of call 1999
Areas of Expertise
Court of Protection,
Family
Family - Tier 1:
"Sarah is a brilliant, all-round counsel. She is great with clients and judges alike."
"She is exceptional in court and with clients as well as always being available to provide advice in between hearings."
"She's very sought after by local solicitors."
Chambers and Partners 2025
Family - Tier 1:
"Sarah is clear and empathetic with clients, who like and trust her. She expertly handles even the most difficult of cases, and she is a robust and highly persuasive advocate."
Legal 500 2025
Family:
"Sarah is a very good advocate with mastery of the law and complex legal issues."
Chambers and Partners 2024
Family - Tier 1:
"Sarah is a tenacious advocate, doing the utmost for her clients. She has great attention to detail and is robust, not just with the other parties, but also with the court."
Legal 500 2024
Family:
‘Sarah is a tenacious advocate who commands the room. She has an innate ability to persuade others to the benefit of the lay client. She has excellent attention to detail, can grasp exceptionally complex cases and can give the client the reassurance in her abilities and expertise. She is just excellent.'
Legal 500 2023
Family (Northern Bar):
"Sarah's confidence and ability as an advocate mean you want her to be on your side." "She has good client care and phenomenal attention to detail."
Chambers and Partners 2022
Family:
"Sarah is approachable and adaptable. Always helpful and insightful. She can be tenacious and forthright, but also pragmatic and diplomatic. Good with clients whether they are professional or lay."
Legal 500 2022
"Sarah is fiercely intelligent and disarmingly pleasant. She grasps the essence of complex financial matters immediately and is brilliant in her approach and application. Sarah is well-liked by clients and instructing solicitors- an absolute credit to her profession."
Legal 500 2021
Family and Children Law: Leading Junior Band 1
"Couples a first-class legal mind with unparalleled knowledge in her areas of specialism."
Legal 500 2020
Family and children law – ranked Tier 1
“Very experienced in cases involving serious abuse.”
Legal 500 2019
"She is unafraid to run difficult and unpopular cases and has particular expertise in serious cases of abuse"
Legal 500, 2017
"Easy to work with, reliable, conscientious and forthright"
Legal 500, 2016
"In addition to complex public law care work, she has a focus on mental health and capacity issues"
Legal 500, 2015
PROFILE
Sarah has a reputation as a skilled advocate who will deliver robust advice whilst not losing sight of the need for sensitivity towards lay clients in often very difficult circumstances.
She is qualified to take instructions on a direct access basis and welcomes queries on that basis via her clerks.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
FAMILY
Sarah has a significant financial relief and trusts of land practice with particular emphasis on complex cases entailing businesses and family trusts. She regularly cross-examines accountants and actuaries as part of this practice. She has a particular interest in financial injunctions.
Sarah has conducted multiple relocation cases - both external and internal, as well as regularly acting in residence and contact disputes.
Sarah is highly experienced in managing complex and demanding public law children cases, mounting a successful appeal in The Supreme Court led by Gwynneth Knowles QC. She has developed a reputation for skilled cross examination, forceful submissions and well-honed skeleton arguments in cases of serious maltreatment and neglect, including cases of sexual abuse, child rape, fabricated and induced illness, emotional abuse and neglect and radicalisation.
OTHER
Sarah sits as a private FDR judge, bringing her considerable experience to bear on that role. Chambers can readily accommodate such hearings either in person or remotely by video-link, as required.
She regularly delivers seminars and writes articles for LexisPSL.
NOTABLE CASES
- Manchester University Hospital v M and another [2019] EWHC 1244 (Fam)
- Re L and B (2013) UKSC 8 - considers the circumstances where a Judge can change their mind following Judgment.
- Re J (A Minor) [2016] EWHC 2430 (Fam) and the linked case of Re J [2016] EWHC 2595 (Fam) - establishing important principles in respect of evidence and publicity.
- Re S-B [2015] EWCA Civ 705 - a successful permission hearing in the Court of Appeal on a direct access basis.
Education
Bar Course, Inns of Court School of Law
Post Graduate Diploma in Law, Manchester Metropolitan University
BA English, Hertford College, Oxford
Prescribed Information
Sarah Kilvington is a practising barrister, who is regulated by the Bar Standards Board. Details of information held by the BSB about Ms Kilvington can be found here.
Ms Kilvington's clerks will happily provide no obligation quotations for all legal services that she provides. Their contact details can be found here. It is most common for Ms Kilvington to undertake court services for a brief fee plus additional refresher fees. For any advisory work, drafting and conferences it is most commonly charged at an hourly rate although fixed fees are available. Ms Kilvington will typically return paperwork within 21 days, however professional commitments, complexity and volume of documentation can affect these approximate timescales.
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