Anthony Hand will always provide an update without delay following a hearing and never hesitates to go above and beyond in supporting those instructing.
Anthony Hand is the Head of the Family Law Children team in chambers. His work is exclusively child law - be that private law, care proceedings or adoption.
Generally, his day to day workload is full of complex cases. Including:
He has been listed in the Legal 500 for every year since 2016. In the Chambers and Partners UK Bar guide 2025 he is “ranked” counsel, and he holds a “Band 1” rating for child law - public and private.
“Anthony Hand is the jewel in the crown on care work. He has the ability to turn the complex into the simple, breaking matters down, exploring and getting to the root of issues”
Recent published cases include:
In his time off, Anthony spends his time gardening, walking his dog, and swimming.
Find out more
Anthony is a family law barrister and specialises in the following areas:
A copy of Anthony's privacy policy can be found here.
Anthony is regulated by the Bar Standards Board, holds professional indemnity insurance with Bar Mutual and is VAT registered.
(1989), Lincoln's Inn
LLB (Hons), University of London (QMC)
Family Law Bar Association
Usually if you act for parents in a non-accidental injury fact find, you find yourself pinned against a wall with the weight of medical expert evidence pressing hard against you. But not always. Published on BAILII today is the decision in Dorset ...
Usually if you act for parents in a non-accidental injury fact find, you find yourself pinned against a wall with the weight of medical expert evidence pressing hard against you. But not always.
Published on BAILII today is the decision in Dorset Council v M (Failure to prove non-accidental injury) [2019] EWFC B63
See - http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWFC/OJ/2019/B63.html
In this case, I acted for the mother. The baby had skull fractures, and perfectly respectable experts concluded that the explanations given by the parents did not fit the injuries, and as such this was a case of non-accidental injury.
However, as experienced child law practitioners will know, whilst the experts advise, it is the court that decides and the judge has to look at ALL of the evidence using a âwide canvasâ.
To cut a long story short, whilst on the one hand the experts said this was ânon-accidental injuryâ, on the other hand the parents were compelling in their denial that anything bad had happened to the baby on their watch. As the trial judge said:
âThe impression I have of these parents weighs heavily in my assessment. I am inclined to believe them.â
As such he found that the Local Authority had failed to discharge the burden of proof placed upon it, he found threshold was not crossed, and the baby returned home.
âWider canvasâ arguments donât always work on behalf of parents in care proceedings (in fact they rarely do in my experience), but sometimes when that argument works, it REALLY works!
To instruct Anthony please contact our clerks on 023 8023 0338 or e-mail clerks@college-chambers.co.uk.
OKAnthony Hand will always provide an update without delay following a hearing and never hesitates to go above and beyond in supporting those instructing.
OKI am always utterly impressed with how bright, engaging and hard working Anthony is. I am also always astounded with his knowledge of the law. Mr Hand is the first choice for Social Workers because of his excellent advocacy skills
OKAnthony Hand heads the care and children team at College Chambers and regularly appears in the High Court. Hand primarily handles Children Act and adoption cases.
OKAnthony did a fact find for us last week and I must say he was excellent. His attention to detail and understanding was remarkable and he was able to deal with difficulties that arose in a calm and measured approach. He facilitates and encourages social workers and managers to be involved and it is clear that he respects and appreciates their views
OKAnthony Hand sits as head of the family law team at the ‘fantastic’ and ‘highly recommended’ College Chambers
OK