Clients and staff come before profits at law firm Hall Brown. Unusually for the legal industry, its lawyers have no billing targets. This enables them to be better at their jobs, it removes a significant source of mental health pressure and is beneficial for clients.

The firm, which is based in Manchester, London and Sheffield, specialises in divorce and civil partnership dissolutions, financial settlements, issues relating to children, unmarried couples and cohabitation issues, pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, prioritisation of children’s well-being, and domestic abuse cases.

It was founded in 2016 with the aim of doing things differently. Its 49-strong staff believes exceptional service, support, and guidance are vital for clients at a stressful and traumatic period in their lives. This means being accessible, regardless of the day of the week or the time of day.

It also means taking on fewer clients so the firm can ensure it is able to respond when needed, as well as avoiding legal jargon, by giving honest, straight-talking advice with understanding and empathy.

Finally, it means delivering the best value. To do this the firm charges reasonable hourly rates and offers the swiftest, smoothest possible resolution to family law issues.

Hall Brown is also different from other firms in that 50% of its partners are female — the Industry average is 23% — and 84% of the team are women, against an Industry average of 49%.