The Ecclesiastical Team offers advice on all aspects of the highly specialist and complex area of law relating to the Church of England.
Our dedicated ecclesiastical lawyers have a wide range of legal experience, particularly advising clergy, laity, church officers, parishes, dioceses and the national church institutions as well as to bishops and cathedral deans and chapters.
Years of experience and practice have given our Team an appreciation of the priorities of clergy and laity at a local level, as well as the strategic challenges faced by bishops, senior staff, and diocesan boards of finance and education. The members of our team have a deep understanding of ecclesiastical laws and are committed to the Church’s mission and ministry, and to supporting these priorities.
Birketts currently hosts five diocesan registries. Kevin Wilson serves as Registrar of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich (from 2025) and of the Diocese of Guildford (from 2024), and also acts as Deputy Registrar in both Norwich and London. Stuart Jones is Registrar of the Dioceses of Norwich (since 2009) and London (since 2020).
Alison Stock, who joined Birketts at the start of 2025, is Registrar of the Diocese of Exeter (since 2018).
The team at Birketts are excellent. They have a great understanding of working with charities and are also proactively supporting us with updates from the sector and collaborating with us to support others in the sector.
Legal 500 [UK 2026]
