Jenny Smith

Jenny is a Partner at Harper Macleod and has experience in all aspects of family law, including divorce and separation, civil partnership, financial provision, cohabitant claims, preparation of pre and post nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements and issues to do with children including residence and contact.

Jenny has a particular interest and experience in the financial issues arising from separation and divorce, often involving high net worth, complex or unusual matters. Over her plus twenty year career she has been involved in many complicated cases in both the Sheriff Court and the Court of Session.

Jenny aims to be calm, pro-active and organised in her approach. She appreciates her clients are often distressed and anxious. Her role is to guide them through an unfamiliar process and help them to make the best decisions for them and their family. She knows cost is a real concern. Jenny aims to always resolve cases in the most effective and cost-efficient way possible. Often, that is best achieved through negotiation or collaborative practice. However, sometimes court is the only option and if so she is a robust litigator too.

Jenny is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in family law as well as an accredited family mediator. She is trained in interdisciplinary collaborative practice. Jenny is a “Ranked Lawyer” in Chambers UK legal directory for Family Law

Up until 2021 she was a tutor in family law on the Strathclyde University Diploma in Professional Legal Practice.  She is  a committee member of the national collaborative practice group. She regularly writes articles and blogs and deliver talks, both externally and internally.

Jenny's current caseload features several mid to high net worth divorce cases.  They include litigated and negotiated cases. Several involve complex business assets. She also has a number of cohabitation cases, both those where parties want to regulate aspects of their cohabitation in the event of separation and those where cohabitants have separated or one has died. She has several cases involving issues to do with children.  Jenny also has cases where she is acting as a mediator.

She is a “Ranked Lawyer” in Chambers UK legal directory where she is noted as being experienced in handling matrimonial finance matters including financial provision and insolvency. She is highlighted by sources as a “knowledgeable, proactive, realistic and exceptionally hard working” practitioner who “asks the difficult questions and very often has the answers.”

Jenny is also a “Recommended Lawyer” in The Legal 500 where it is said she brings “a careful and considered approach, which has been effective in bringing about a good outcome in the cases in which I have acted on her instructions.”