Rachael Kelsey

About

Exceptional judgment. International perspective. Uncompromising commitment.

Rachael Kelsey is one of Scotland’s most prominent and internationally respected family lawyers, recognised for her strategic ability, technical expertise and independent judgment in complex, high-value and cross-border cases.

Scotland’s only Chambers “Star Individual”, the only Scottish lawyer ranked Band 1 in the UK-wide Chambers High Net Worth Guide and a Legal 500 Hall of Fame member, Rachael was “Private Client Lawyer of the Year” at the inaugural 2023 Legal 500 Scottish Law Awards.

Her practice focuses on complex financial claims and international and intra-UK jurisdictional disputes involving finances and children. She advises business founders on changing ownership structures, valuations and liquidity from pre-seed through successive funding rounds, and clients with inherited wealth, trust interests and sophisticated financial arrangements.

Rachael regularly acts for high-profile individuals, including on family disputes involving privacy and reputational concerns. She anticipates challenges, tackles difficult cases, gives candid advice and identifies solutions others may overlook. She has acted in multiple reported cases that have shaped the development of Scots family law.

Rachael was the first Scot and first woman from the UK elected to lead the International Academy of Family Lawyers. Her standing has led to invitations to serve on influential national and international bodies contributing to the development of family law.

Rachael co-founded SKO Family Law Specialists in 2008, building Scotland’s leading specialist family law firm before joining Burges Salmon in 2026.

Experience

• Entrepreneurial wealth and business interests: Advising founders on financial claims involving changing shareholdings, valuations and liquidity, from pre-seed investment through Series A and subsequent funding rounds and second and third generation business owners.
• International and intra-UK jurisdiction: Advising on competing jurisdictions in financial and child law proceedings, including cases where divorce, financial claims and arrangements for children may be determined under different legal systems and where jurisdiction matters in relation to pre-nups.
• Landmark litigation on financial jurisdiction: Acting in the Scottish divorce alongside the Supreme Court case of Villiers v Villiers [2020] UKSC 30 and JMS v HMS [2025] CSOH 80, significant cases concerning jurisdiction in financial disputes arising from divorce.
• Privacy, reputation and high-profile clients: Representing high-profile individuals in sensitive family disputes, addressing privacy and reputational risks alongside complex financial claims and arrangements for children.
• LGBTQ families, parentage and surrogacy: Over two decades’ experience representing LGBTQ clients, alongside expertise in parentage, surrogacy and the evolving legal recognition of diverse family structures.
• Economic abuse and coercive control: At the forefront of ensuring emerging understandings of coercive control and economic abuse are considered in family law proceedings, including AH v SH [2021] CSOH 71 and PSC v NS [2025] CSOH 90.

Credentials

• Admitted as a solicitor: Scotland (1996)
• President International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) (2023-2025)
• Scottish Civil Justice Committee Family Law Committee Member (2016-to date)
• International Family Law Committee, Royal Courts of Justice Member (2018-to date)
• Ministry of Justice Advisory Group on Recognition and Enforcement of Protection Orders Across Borders (2026)
• Hague Conference on Private International Law, representative of Observer organisation on Experts’ Group on Parentage and Surrogacy Project (2019-2022) and Working Group (2023-2025)
• Scottish Law Commission Advisory Group for Review of Contract Law: Third Party Rights Member (2016)
• Co-Founder Family Law Arbitration Group Scotland (FLAGS) 2011