Easy Online Divorce has been shortlisted for Best Client Service Initiative at The Lawyer European Awards 2026, putting the company alongside some of Europe’s leading law firms.
Only eight organisations have made the shortlist, including Bird & Bird, ECIJA, Gómez-Acebo & Pombo and Morgan Lewis & Bockius UK.
For Easy Online Divorce, the recognition comes less than a year after winning Alternative Legal Service Provider of the Year at the British Legal Awards 2025.
Recognition for changing the way divorce is delivered
Easy Online Divorce was founded by James Brien in 2020 following his own experience of divorce.
James believed that for couples who are able to reach agreement, the traditional approach could make divorce more complicated, expensive and adversarial than it needed to be.
Rather than simply putting the existing process online, Easy Online Divorce was built around a different way of delivering divorce services: fixed fees, clear guidance, digital processes and support with both the divorce itself and the financial arrangements that often need to be dealt with alongside it.
The business is now regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and helps people across England and Wales manage divorce and financial settlements without automatically having to follow a solicitor-versus-solicitor route.
Since launching, Easy Online Divorce has helped more than 15,000 people and saved its clients an estimated £8.7 million in legal fees compared with traditional routes.
James Brien, Founder & Managing Director of Easy Online Divorce, said:
“When I started Easy Online Divorce, I wasn’t trying to create another website that processed divorce paperwork.
“I wanted to look at the whole process from the point of view of the people actually going through it and ask why it needed to be as complicated and expensive as it often was.
“To now be shortlisted by The Lawyer alongside firms of this calibre is a real recognition of what the team has built and of the fact that divorce can be delivered differently.”
Building on the British Legal Awards win
The latest recognition follows Easy Online Divorce’s success at the British Legal Awards 2025, where it was named Alternative Legal Service Provider of the Year.
The judges recognised the company for transforming the way couples separate, saving clients money and setting a new standard for legal service delivery.
That award was significant because it recognised not simply the use of technology, but the wider model Easy Online Divorce has built around the needs of separating couples.
For couples who can agree how they want to move forward, divorce does not automatically need to mean two separate legal teams, escalating fees and a process built around conflict.
Easy Online Divorce instead focuses on helping people understand what needs to happen, what decisions need to be made and how to put their agreement on a legally binding footing.
A different model for divorce in England and Wales
The company’s services cover both divorce and financial settlements, including consent orders, clean break orders and pension sharing orders.
Where couples have already reached agreement, Easy Online Divorce can help turn that agreement into the appropriate court order.
Where they need help reaching an agreement, the company also provides a guided service designed to help both sides work through the financial decisions that need to be made before an order is prepared.
The aim is not to treat every divorce as though it is a dispute.
It is to recognise the difference between couples who need the court to decide their finances and those who are capable of reaching an agreement but still need help navigating the legal process properly.
James said:
“There will always be divorces where people need individual legal representation and the court has to step in.
“But that isn’t every divorce.
“For couples who can reach agreement, there should be a simpler, more affordable and less adversarial route that still gives them the certainty and protection they need.”
Making a better way to divorce mainstream
The Lawyer European Awards shortlist is further recognition that new models of delivering legal services are becoming an established part of the market.
For Easy Online Divorce, the ambition is bigger than simply growing an online service.
James added:
“Our aim from the start has been to change the way people think about and approach divorce.
“If a couple can separate without unnecessary conflict, understand their options and deal with their divorce and finances properly without spending thousands of pounds each, that should not be seen as the alternative route.
“It should be a normal way to divorce.”
The winners of The Lawyer European Awards 2026 will be announced later this year.
