Easy Online Divorce, the SRA-regulated law firm founded by James Brien, has won Alternative Legal Service Provider of the Year at the 2025 British Legal Awards.
James Brien, Founder & Managing Director of Easy Online Divorce, founded the business in 2020 following his own experience of divorce. Easy Online Divorce provides fixed-fee divorce and agreed financial order services to couples across England and Wales.
The firm was created around the belief that where separating couples are able to reach agreement, divorce should not automatically begin with two opposing solicitors.
Since launching in 2020, Easy Online Divorce has helped more than 15,000 people and estimates that its services have saved clients £8.7 million in legal fees.
Easy Online Divorce became authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA No. 8008631) in November 2024, establishing the business as a regulated law firm rather than a DIY divorce or document-only service.
Easy Online Divorce named Alternative Legal Service Provider of the Year
The British Legal Awards recognise organisations and individuals from across the legal industry, with Easy Online Divorce winning Alternative Legal Service Provider of the Year 2025.
The award represents a significant milestone for a business James originally started from his kitchen table in Newquay, Cornwall.
Easy Online Divorce was established to provide another route for couples who are able to reach agreement over their divorce and financial arrangements, without automatically putting them into a traditional solicitor-against-solicitor process.
James said:
“I started Easy Online Divorce because I didn’t think the traditional process of two opposing solicitors worked for many separating couples. If two people can reach agreement, putting them on opposite sides can create conflict that wasn’t there to begin with, making the process more stressful and pushing up the cost.”
An SRA-regulated alternative to the traditional divorce model
Easy Online Divorce is an online law firm authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and provides legal services throughout England and Wales.
The firm manages uncontested divorces and prepares agreed financial orders, including consent orders, clean break orders and pension sharing orders.
Its approach is described as “one couple, one expert”: a regulated, fixed-fee model designed around the couple rather than automatically beginning with two opposing solicitors.
This does not mean separate legal representation is unnecessary in every divorce. Where there is significant disagreement, coercion, safeguarding concerns or a need for individual legal advice, independent representation can be essential.
The distinction is that Easy Online Divorce does not believe an adversarial structure should automatically be the starting point before establishing whether there is actually a dispute to resolve.
As James explains:
“People have been conditioned to think that when they divorce, the first question is, ‘Which solicitor do I need?’ I think the first question should be: ‘Do we actually have anything to fight about?’”
Helping more than 15,000 people across England and Wales
Since James founded Easy Online Divorce in 2020, the firm has helped more than 15,000 people through divorce and financial separation.
Easy Online Divorce estimates that its services have saved clients £8.7 million in legal fees compared with the cost of using traditional solicitors.
These figures reflect the model Easy Online Divorce has developed: fixed fees, online case management and regulated legal support designed around agreement rather than conflict.
Recognition from the legal industry
The British Legal Awards win has been followed by further recognition from the legal profession.
In 2026, Easy Online Divorce was shortlisted for Best Client Service Initiative at The Lawyer European Awards, alongside international law firms including Bird & Bird and Morgan Lewis.
The recognition is significant because Easy Online Divorce was established outside the traditional solicitor-against-solicitor model but now operates as an SRA-regulated law firm within the regulated legal sector.
Easy Online Divorce’s approach has also been featured by Business Insider, which examined the firm’s challenge to the assumption that divorce must start with two opposing solicitors.
For James, the awards and media recognition are evidence of a broader change in the conversation about how divorce legal services can be delivered.
“When I started Easy Online Divorce, what we were doing sat well outside the traditional model. What’s exciting isn’t the awards themselves. It’s that the idea behind the business is increasingly being recognised — that where couples can reach agreement, divorce doesn’t automatically need to become adversarial.”
A different starting question for divorce
Easy Online Divorce does not argue that every separating couple should follow the same route.
Instead, its approach starts by asking what legal support a couple actually needs.
Where there is a genuine dispute, separate legal representation may be necessary. Where couples are able to reach agreement, Easy Online Divorce provides a regulated, fixed-fee alternative for completing the divorce and turning agreed financial arrangements into legally binding court orders.
That distinction remains at the heart of the business James founded in 2020:
Instead of automatically asking, “Which solicitor do I need?”, first ask: “Do we actually have anything to fight about?”
Easy Online Divorce Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under SRA number 8008631 and provides divorce and agreed financial order services across England and Wales.
