Ella Cantor-Freedman Consultant Family Barrister

Ella is an experienced family law barrister with over 20 years of experience. Over the course of her career, she has developed a substantial practice representing clients in complex and sensitive children and financial remedy proceedings across the country.

Areas of expertise

Ella's practice covers a broad range of family law matters, including:

• Private law children proceedings
• Child arrangements
• Relocation applications (internal and international)
• Specific Issue and Prohibited Steps Orders
• Domestic abuse injunctions
• Enforcement and variation applications
• High-conflict parenting disputes
• Divorce and separation
• Financial remedy proceedings
• Interim financial applications
• Schedule 1 Children Act applications
• Direct access work
• Litigation and case management
• Advocacy at interim and final hearings

She regularly represents clients at every stage of proceedings, from urgent interim hearings through to fully contested final hearings.

Ella also holds a litigation extension. This enables her to conduct litigation and manage suitable cases from start to finish, providing clients with continuity, consistency and strategic oversight throughout their matter.

Approach to work and client

Ella is known for combining clear, strategic legal advice with strong and effective advocacy. She takes a pragmatic, approachable and straightforward approach, ensuring clients fully understand their position while feeling supported throughout what is often an emotionally and financially difficult process. She encourages constructive resolution and sensible negotiation wherever possible, but is also a confident and robust advocate when litigation becomes necessary. Clients value her thorough preparation, attention to detail and calm guidance during highly sensitive and challenging disputes.

She particularly enjoys the strategic and analytical aspects of family law, especially complex children cases where careful preparation and effective advocacy can significantly impact outcomes for both parents and children. She also takes great pride in advocacy and cross-examination in contested hearings, particularly in cases involving complex factual disputes, domestic abuse allegations or difficult family dynamics.

Career Highlights

Notable cases throughout her career include:

• Representing a client in High Court proceedings concerning an international surrogacy arrangement involving a child conceived in Georgia, raising complex issues surrounding parental status, international law and the recognition of overseas surrogacy arrangements within the UK.
• Representing a mother in public law proceedings where a child was on the verge of adoption. Following extensive work on the matter and successful appeals against earlier court decisions, the child was ultimately returned to the mother’s care, making the case professionally and personally significant given the life-changing consequences for the family involved.
• Ella has also represented clients in a wide range of complex family disputes, including highly contested relocation applications, multi-day fact-finding hearings involving serious allegations of domestic abuse, and private law disputes involving allegations of parental alienation and long-term breakdowns in parent-child relationships.

Outside of work, Ella enjoys travelling, current affairs, reading and meeting people from a wide range of backgrounds. She values good conversation and understanding what motivates people, qualities that help her build strong rapport with clients and provide reassurance during difficult periods in their lives.