Mayfair · London · Est. 1897
For more than a century, Harrington & Vale has advised individuals, families and enterprises at the moments that define them — in dispute and in negotiation, in the structuring of wealth and in its passage to the next generation.
127
Years of continuous practice
40+
Partners and counsel
£4.2bn
Value of matters concluded in the last decade
23
Jurisdictions advised across
The Firm
Harrington & Vale was founded in 1897 by two barristers who believed that the best legal advice is given slowly, read carefully, and delivered without theatre. That conviction still governs the firm.
We are deliberately small for the work we take. Every matter is led by a partner, and every partner remains reachable. Our clients — families, trustees, founders and institutions — tend to arrive by introduction and to stay for decades. Several have been with us for three generations.
We are not a firm for every dispute or every transaction. Where a matter falls outside our competence, we say so, and we know the right hands to place it in. Where it falls within it, few firms in London carry more accumulated experience.
“The law, practised properly, is a form of stewardship.”
Henry Harrington, Founder, 1897
Practice Areas
Our practices are few and deep. Each is led by a partner recognised in the directories, and each draws on the others — because our clients' affairs rarely sit neatly within one.
We conduct high-value commercial litigation, arbitration and mediation in the English courts and before international tribunals. Our advocates are instructed in contractual, shareholder, fiduciary and professional negligence disputes where the outcome genuinely matters.
For four generations we have advised families, trustees and family offices on the preservation and transfer of wealth — from wills and lasting powers of attorney to contested probate and cross-border succession.
We act for owner-managed businesses, investors and boards on acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures and governance. Our advice is partner-led throughout, commercially grounded and delivered without layers of delegation.
From prime central London residences to landed estates and commercial portfolios, our property team handles acquisitions, financing, development and landlord and tenant matters with discretion and pace.
Our tax counsel advise on residence and domicile, UK and offshore structuring, and the tax-efficient passage of assets between generations, working alongside our clients' accountants and fiduciaries.
We guide private individuals through investor, talent and family migration routes, and act decisively — with leading counsel — where reputation, privacy or defamation is at stake.
Our People
There is no hand-off at Harrington & Vale. The partner you instruct is the partner who advises, drafts, negotiates and, where required, appears.
Senior Partner — Disputes
Called to the Bar in 1984 and taking silk in 2003, Edward has appeared in many of the leading commercial cases of the last three decades before the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
Managing Partner — Private Wealth
Alexandra advises international families and trustees on succession across multiple jurisdictions. She is ranked in Chambers High Net Worth and is a full member of STEP.
Partner — Corporate
Marcus leads the firm's transactional practice, acting on acquisitions and investments principally for owner-managed businesses, entrepreneurs and family capital.
Partner — Property
Beatrice has acted on some of the most significant prime residential purchases in the capital over the past twenty years, and heads the firm's landed estates practice.
“In the most difficult year our family has known, they were the steadiest people in the room. Their advice was spare, exact, and always right.”
A client of twenty-six years
Testimonials are published with permission; names are withheld as a matter of course.
Insights & Commentary
The shift to a residence-based inheritance tax system has changed the calculus for internationally mobile families. We consider what the settled position now means for existing structures — and for those arriving in, and leaving, the United Kingdom.
Read the noteA run of recent decisions has sharpened the courts' approach to worldwide freezing relief. Edward Harrington KC examines the evidential thresholds applicants must now meet, and the undertakings that continue to catch the unprepared.
Read the noteUnregistered land, flying freeholds and archaic covenants remain everyday obstacles at the very top of the market. Beatrice Ashcombe sets out how diligence, not discount, resolves them.
Read the noteContact
Initial consultations are held in person at Grosvenor Square or by private video conference. All enquiries are treated in strict confidence, whether or not the firm is ultimately instructed.