Alex acts for local authorities, parents, relatives and children in public law proceedings relating to care and placement orders. He has experience in taking instructions from children directly and through their guardian and in cases where clients have mental health problems.

He has been instructed in a variety of interesting private law cases in which disputes have centred around parents’ religious beliefs and mental health. He is experienced in cases involving actual or threatened abduction both within the UK and beyond and in applications for leave to remove a child from the jurisdiction. He has wide experience in disputes over residence and contact, often made complex by allegations of domestic violence.

Alex regularly advises on the possibility of seeking judicial review of local authority decision making and has also advised several local authorities on their potential liability in relation to such claims and those made under the Human Rights Act.

Alex’s experience also includes cases involving ancillary relief, financial remedies and TOLATA matters.

Chambers and Partners (2026) - Family: Children (Band 2) - "He is very good at seeing the wood for the trees and thinking outside the box."

The Legal 500 (2026) - Family, Children and Domestic Abuse (Tier 1) 

Chambers and Partners (2025) - Family: Children (Band 2) - "He is one of the cleverest lawyers practising in the field on this circuit and is a very effective cross-examiner." "A very intelligent, skilful and forceful advocate." "Alex has a technical legal mind and is always able to provide the answer to complex legal questions and queries."

Legal 500 (2025) - Family, Children and Domestic Violence (Tier 1) - "Alex is a very impressive advocate and commands respect - he gets results."

Chambers and Partners (2024) - Family, Children (Band 3) - "Alex's strength is his intellect. He is able to grasp details quickly and analyse the case, and he has great knowledge of the law."

Legal 500 (2024) - Family, Children and Domestic Violence (Tier 1) 

Chambers and Partners (2023) - Family, Children (Band 2) - "Alex Taylor is a children law specialist with a strong reputation for handling complex cases. He is instructed by local authorities, as well as parents and on behalf of children, and is regularly called on to assist with injury and abuse matters, as well as deprivation of liberty cases."

Legal 500 (2023) - Child Law, Public & Private (Tier 1) - "A junior with considerable technical ability and provides excellent client care."

Legal 500 (2022) - Child Law, Public & Private (Tier 1) - "He is rightly perceived as an intellectual tactician by judges and fellow advocates and has a reassuring yet forthright client care approach."

Chambers and Partners (2022) - Matrimonial Finance (Band 3) - "He impressively combines a practical approach and academic techniques."

Chambers and Partners (2021) - (Band 3) - "His grasp of the law and ability to distil it down to clear arguments is second to none." "He is an extremely knowledgeable and determined barrister. He's very quick on his feet and can develop imaginative but highly effective arguments."

Legal 500 (2021) Child Law, Public & Private (Tier 1) - "Alex combines significant intellectual rigour with very genuine kindness and compassion towards both clients and other parties. Alex is diligent and thorough in his preparation and unafraid to argue novel and complex points which are always thoroughly backed by his knowledge of the case and of the law. He is tenacious in court."

Legal 500 (2020) Child Law, Public & Private (Tier 1) - "He builds excellent relationships with professional and lay clients alike."

Chambers and Partners (2020) - (Band 3) - "Good in childcare work."

Chambers and Partners (2019) - "He is very intelligent and works very hard for the client. His written work, advice and pleadings are excellent, as is his advocacy." "His knowledge of the law is superb. He is very bright."

Chambers and Partners (2018) - "A child law specialist, he has vast experience in handling complex public law children's cases. He regularly acts in cases concerning such matters as sexual abuse, adoption, murder, non-accidental injury and cultural practices." Strengths: "He is incredibly thorough, whether representing parents or a local authority." "Very well regarded." Recent work: Represented the local authority in an adoption case concerning three children of Ghanaian parents. The case raised issues of the weight to be attached to cultural and racial background when considering a plan for adoption.

“He has been very supportive throughout and understanding of our concerns taking into account things we were worried about”- Social Worker, Leeds City Council; January 2017.

"Alex has shown great commitment to the client and his advice has been of the highest quality in this unusual and difficult case. He has been pleasant to work with and always accessible, which are also very important"-The Official Solicitor, October 2015. 

Legal 500 (2011) - "Good on his feet."

Family Law Bar Association (FLBA)

Rotherham MBC v M & Others [2025] EWFC 298 (HHJ Afzal CBE) - Alex represented the child before HHJ Afzal CBE, raising issues in respect of an application to revoke a placement order where the child had remained settled with long-term foster carers.  Considered the duties of the local authority and Independent Reviewing Officer, and whether delay had caused detriment.

Re D (Parentage: Local Authority Application) [2024] EWHC 305 (Fam); [2024] 2 FLR 222 - Alex represented the child before Poole J in a complex case examining the extent of a local authority’s standing to seek DNA evidence of parentage. 

XY Council v MN & Ors (Re RN: Deprivation of Liberty and Parental Consent) [2022] EWHC 2576 (Fam) - Alex represented the Local Authority before HHJ Hayes KC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge in a case which considered whether parental consent can authorise restrictions amounting to a deprivation of liberty for a 12-year-old child.

Nottingham City Council v XYZ & Others [2022] EWHC 2334 (Fam) - Alex represented an intervener before Lieven J in a fact-finding hearing about serious non-accidental injury.  The case involved consideration of whether three children should give oral evidence.

Re TT (Children: Discharge of Care Order) [2021] EWCA Civ 742; [2022] 1 FLR 211 - Alex represented the appellant mother in the Court of Appeal.  The case confirmed that welfare is the paramount consideration on an application to discharge a care order and rejected the “near-threshold” test proposed in GM v Carmarthenshire CC [2018] EWFC 36.

A and Another v X and Others (G Adoption: Notice under s 35 ACA 2002; Revocation of Placement Order) [2021] EWFC 93 - Alex represented the Local Authority in complex adoption proceedings concerning siblings before Theis J. The judgment commended Alex’s “constructive and collaborative approach.”

Re E (Adoption by One Person) [2021] EWFC 45; [2022] 1 FLR 804 - Alex represented the Local Authority before Cobb J,  successfully arguing that two people no longer in a relationship could be regarded as “living as partners in an enduring family relationship” under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 allowing the non-biological parent to apply for an adoption order.

Re Y (A Child: Appropriate Local Authority) [2019] EWCA Civ 2209; [2020] 1 FLR 1141 - Alex made written submissions to the Court of Appeal on behalf of the child in a case which determined which local authority should be designated under s 31(8) Children Act 1989. The Court endorsed a pragmatic, fact-based approach to designation disputes.

Re S (Care Proceedings: Article 15 Second Transfer) [2018] EWHC 3054 (Fam)

Re S (No. 2) (Care Proceedings: Article 15 Second Application for Transfer) [2019] EWFC 12; [2019] 1 WLR 5045

Re S (No. 3) (Care Proceedings: Article 56 Placement in the Republic of Ireland) [2019] EWFC 36 - Alex represented a local authority in the High Court in each of these three cases concerning the placement of a child in English care proceedings in Ireland and the subsequent applications for proceedings to be transferred to Ireland.

Re S and H-S (Children) (Care Proceedings: Harm) [2018] EWCA Civ 1282; [2019] 1 FLR 363 - Alex represented  the Appellant Mother in the Court of Appeal.  The case gave guidance on the threshold criteria under s 31 Children Act 1989 sets out that threshold findings of fact in care cases should be set out in or annexed to final orders.

CZ and Others v Kirklees Council [2017] EWFC 11; [2018] 1 FLR 23 - Alex represented one of the claimants in Human Rights Act 1998 claim (Arts 6 & 8 ECHR) following emergency removal of a baby.  The case considered the basis for awarding damages, and procedural fairness.

Re C (A Child) [2015] EWFC B201 - Alex represented  the Father, instructed by the Official Solicitor.  The court found serious breaches of the father’s Article 6 and 8 rights after he was wrongly excluded from the proceedings despite having parental responsibility.

Re A (Children) (Placement Orders: Cultural Heritage) [2015] EWCA Civ 1254; [2017] 1 FLR 1 - Alex represented the Local Authority in the Court of Appeal.  The court considered the balancing of cultural heritage with other welfare factors in adoption. It dismissed the parents’ appeals and upheld the decision to make placement orders.

Re K (A Child) [2010] EWCA Civ 478 - Alex represented the Appellant Father in the Court of Appeal in a successful appeal against the refusal of supervised contact. The Court remitted the case for rehearing, emphasising the child’s right to maintain a relationship with both parents.  Subsequently contact was permitted.

Alex regularly provides lectures and seminars for local authority staff, solicitors and other interested groups. His lectures are CPD accredited.

BA (Hons) (Oxon) - English. First Class, Oxford University Violet Vaughan Morgan Prize in English, Graduate Diploma in Law, City University, Inner Temple Major Scholarship and Basil Nield Award.