Nick Manners
Nick Manners is a British solicitor who specialises in family law. He is a partner at the London law firm Payne Hicks Beach, where he serves as Head of the Family Department.[1] His work focuses on financial remedy cases, international divorce, and disputes involving children. Nick Manners has been recognised in professional directories such as Chambers and Partners [2] and The Legal 500 for his expertise in complex family law proceedings. Nick Manners is one of the few family lawyers to have taken a case successfully to the UK Supreme Court in 2023.[3]
Early life and education
Nick Manners was educated at Westminster School and studied English literature at the University of Exeter before training as a solicitor . He joined Payne Hicks Beach in 2010 (after completing his training contract there).
Legal career
Nick Manners has spent his entire career at Payne Hicks Beach. He was promoted to Senior Associate in 2017 and became a partner in December 2020.[3] In 2024 he succeeded Baroness Shackleton as Head of the Family Department.[3] He worked closely with Baroness Shackleton on many high-profile cases during his career.[4] As a family litigator he represents high-net-worth clients including business people, entrepreneurs, and even royalty in both financial remedy and children disputes.[3] Nick was part of the PHB legal team in AAZ v BBZ (2016), which resulted in a £453 million award in a financial remedy case,[5] and in the privacy case Appleton & Gallagher v News Group Newspapers (2015).[6] He has also acted in leading children cases such as Ciccone v Ritchie (2016).[7] Notably, Nick Manners was one of the lawyers representing Princess Haya bint al-Hussein in her divorce from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.[8] Nick appeared in Potanin v Potanina, a 2024 Supreme Court appeal on London financial orders.[9]
Specialisation and practice
Nick Manners handles complex cases involving substantial assets, often with an international element, including foreign divorce regimes and Sharia marriage issues.[1] In addition to finances and divorce, he routinely advises on children matters (custody/relocation disputes and abduction cases) and on pre- and post-nuptial agreements.[3] He has also worked on civil partnership dissolutions and Inheritance Act claims.[1]
Notable cases
Among Nick Manners’s reported cases are several landmarks in family law.
- In AAZ v BBZ (2016), he helped secure a record £453 million settlement for the wife.[10]
- was on the team for Appleton & Gallagher v News Group Newspapers (2015), a privacy dispute in the Family Court
- Ciccone v Ritchie (2016), a contentious relocation case [1].
- In 2021 Nick represented Princess Haya in her divorce from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum[11] – a case that involved allegations of phone hacking.[12]
- In 2024, he took Potanin v Potanina [13] to the Supreme Court on an appeal about the valuation of frozen London assets (the UK Supreme Court unanimously upheld the lower court’s decision).[9]
- Other cases include Barclay v Barclay (2021) [14] and Potanin v Potanina [15] at the Court of Appeal.[9] (Many of these high-value cases were handled jointly with Baroness Shackleton.[2])
Media, publications and speaking
Nick Manners is a frequent family-law commentator and has been quoted in national media coverage relating to divorce and family law issues.[16] In March 2021 he wrote commentary for The Times on the surge in domestic violence cases during COVID lockdowns,[16] and was quoted in The Daily Mail about the pandemic’s toll on broken families.[17] He co-authored articles on family law topics for publications such as Spear’s Magazine (e.g. an article on non-court dispute resolution ) [18] and Tatler (e.g. on international prenuptial agreements).[19] He has spoken at professional events (for example, at the MAD World Summit on mental health and family breakdown) and is quoted in trade outlets like Today’s Family Lawyer.[20] He has been described by The Legal 500 as “an intelligent, pragmatic family lawyer with a calm manner".[1]
Professional memberships
Nick Manners is an accredited member of Resolution, the UK association of family lawyers committed to non-confrontational dispute.[21] (He is also a solicitor of England & Wales, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.[22])
See also
- Marilyn Stowe
- Fiona Shackleton
- Jane Simpson
- Collaborative law
Referencing
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Nick Manners > Payne Hicks Beach LLP > London | Lawyer profiles". www.legal500.com. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ "Chambers and Partners | Showcasing the Best Legal Talent". chambers.com. Archived from the original on 2025-10-10. Retrieved 2025-10-24. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Linkedin, Connect on. "Nick Manners". Payne Hicks Beach. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ Bostock, Bill. "Princess Haya has hired Prince William and Harry's lawyer to fight her corner in a custody battle with the emir of Dubai, and she's an expert in royal disputes". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
- ↑ "AAZ v BBZ [2017] WTLR 765 – Law Journals". www.lawjournals.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ "Payne Hicks Beach—Nick Manners". New Law Journal. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ "Access Restricted". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ "Princess Haya: The princess, the sheikh and the £550m divorce settlement". BBC News. 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Potanina (Respondent) v Potanin (Appellant) - UK Supreme Court". www.supremecourt.uk. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ "Payne Hicks Beach—Nick Manners". New Law Journal. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ Kirk, Tristan (2021-12-21). "Record-breaking payout after Dubai ruler divorce from Princess". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
- ↑ "Princess Haya: Dubai ruler had ex-wife's phone hacked - UK court". BBC News. 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ Martinson, Jane (2022-07-28). "Frederick Barclay could face jail over failed payments to ex-wife". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ "BARCLAY V BARCLAY". Payne Hicks Beach. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ "POTANINA V POTANIN". Payne Hicks Beach. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Nick Manners, Jonathan Ames, Legal (2021-03-25). "Domestic violence drives rise in lockdown divorces". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ↑ "Covid's horrific toll on families: 'Alarm bells should be ringing' - Nick Manners quoted in the Daily Mail". Payne Hicks Beach. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ Manners, Nick (2025-04-08). "International prenuptial agreements: how to navigate cross-border PNAs". Spear's. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ Media, Katie Johnson, Digital Journalist, Today's (2024-08-22). "Prenuptial agreements amid high-profile marriages and divorces sparks debate". Today's Family Lawyer. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ Difference, Make A (2024-07-04). "First 50 Speakers announced for the MAD World Festival of Workplace Culture, Employee Health and Wellbeing - make a difference - workplace culture, mental health, wellbeing". make a difference - workplace culture, mental health, wellbeing. Archived from the original on 2024-09-09. Retrieved 2025-10-22. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Resolution" Check
|url=value (help). Retrieved 2025-10-22. - ↑ "Person". www.sra.org.uk. 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
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