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 a deep appreciation of the priorities of clergy and laity at a local level, as well as the pressures and strategic challenges faced by diocesan bishops, senior staff, and boards of finance and education. Our lawyers 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 three diocesan registries: James Hall is registrar of the diocese of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich (since 1998), and Stuart Jones is registrar of the dioceses of Norwich (since 2009) and London (since 2020). Kevin Wilson is deputy in all three and has been appointed as Registrar and legal advisor to the Bishop for the Diocese of Guildford from 1 September 2024.
