Alex Aspinwall joined FOURTEEN as a tenant following a three-month probationary tenancy ending in December 2022. He now welcomes instructions in all areas of family law and has experience acting for clients at first instance and appellate levels.
Alex is regularly instructed in complex financial remedy proceedings acting both alone and as junior counsel. Alex has advised and appeared in proceedings involving issues of 3rd party intervenors (individuals and corporate bodies), disputes as to assets held under trust and property held internationally. He regularly appears in First Appointments, FDRs, and Final Hearings as well as developing a busy practice in providing pre-action advice.
Alex has a particular interest in cases involving an international element. Alex has recently acted in numerous Forum and Jurisdiction disputes and prides himself on providing robust and pragmatic advice at an early stage of proceedings. International disputes concerning Forum, Jurisdiction and application of the DMPA 1973 are a topic in which Alex has an active academic interest, and he has provided training/lectures on the same.
Alex regularly provides seminars and training sessions to solicitors and welcomes the opportunity to engage with the academic side of family law in the form of unusual cases or novel issues.
Alex has appeared in a number of reported cases. Most recently, Alex represented the applicant mother in AB v CD [2025] EWHC 3657 (Fam) before Mr Justice Williams. The hearing marked the culmination of long running proceedings and Alex obtained findings of domestic abuse against the father leading to a favourable contact order.
Alex has experience conducting protracted fact-finding and final hearings in private child law proceedings. He recently represented the applicant father in the reported matter of Re A-M & Anor [2023] EWFC 124, a case involving significant allegations of abuse across multiple jurisdictions. He further appeared in the reported matter of The Mother v The Father [2024] EWFC 139.
Before completing pupillage, Alex was a paralegal at boutique Mayfair solicitors Peters May and assisted on a broad range of family law matters. Alex maintains a strong academic interest in family law stretching back to his research thesis and time spent as a part-time family law academic at Durham University.
Alex is also Direct Access qualified.
What the directories say
‘Alex is a fabulous advocate. Very calm and quick thinking on his feet, He is confident and he can charm a difficult client. Alex loves a challenge – solicitors can throw the most complex international case at him and he’ll not only get to grips with it with ease but he’ll see the wood for the trees.’ Legal500 2026
Testimonials
‘I have just finished at a FDR in Maidstone on a complicated case. We instructed Alex Aspinwall who was our paralegal before coming to you. I just wanted you to know how impressed I was with both Alex’s note and his oral submissions. He is booked to represent the client for the 3 day final hearing next summer.’
‘Alexander Aspinwall is an exceptional barrister, possessing very impressive technical and intellectual ability. He is assertive and tenaciously fights the client’s corner and provides high quality representation and advocacy. He is brilliant with clients and his client care is second to none. He goes over and above and complex issues are always dealt with in such a way that he is able to cut through all of the detail and assist clients through extremely challenging situations. We regularly instruct Alexander Aspinwall in complex international cases involving jurisdictional issues, cases involving serious physical abuse and complex children cases.’
‘May I please start by saying HOW EXCELLENT Alex was, he was very robust, clear and very, very professional. I can only say I wish I had him from the beginning! He was really, really good and I also felt at ease when he started representing me, being confident and knowing the case inside out despite not having anything to do with it before. He was so professional and efficient.’
Scholarships & Awards
2021: Inner Temple Major Scholarship Award
2021: Inner Temple Duke of Edinburgh Award
2021: BPP Academic Excellence Scholarship
Education
Durham University- First Class Honours
Durham University- MJur Research Masters focusing on the discretionary operation of section 8 Child Arrangements Orders. Full thesis available at http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13950/
BBP Manchester- BTPC (Very Competent)
Data Protection
Alex Aspinwall’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) registration number is ZB227780.
Please see here for his Data Privacy Notice.
