Rachael Kelsey, Partner

Rachael is a founding Partner of SKO. She won 'Private Client Lawyer of the Year' at the inaugural Legal 500 Scottish Law Awards in 2023, is the only 'Star Individual' in the current Edition of Chambers and Partners, the only Scottish lawyer in band one of the UK-wide, Chambers High Net Worth Guide (2026) and was the first Scottish lawyer in the Spears 500 Family Lawyers Guide.

Rachael was elected President of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) in 2023- the first Scot and the only woman from the UK in the thirty-seven year history of the Academy- and served until 2025.

Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 have both described Rachael as, "the doyenne of Scots family law". She was The Times Scottish Lawyer of the Week in July 2020. 

The review of Rachael in the current Edition of the Spear's 500 Wealth Management Index of the best family lawyers in the UK reports, "Likeable, and razor-sharp, few Scottish family lawyers operate at her level. ‘She is a phenomenally good lawyer and is widely regarded as Scotland’s doyenne of family law,’ says one noted peer."

The current 2026 edition of Chambers HNW Guide notes, "Rachel Kelsey's strategy, thought process and knowledge of international law in multiple jurisdictions is remarkable. She is utterly brilliant."

The current edition of Chambers notes that, "Rachael is the gold standard" and quotes one of Rachael's competitors as saying, "She is hugely intelligent and fearsome on the other side of a case".  With recent previous Editions reporting that "Rachael is a pre-eminent family lawyer with a unique combination of legal brilliance and client care skills.". "Her knowledge and technical expertise are phenomenal." and noting that she is "A formidable authority on family law in Scotland.". 

Rachael has cases in both the Court of Session and the Sheriff Court. She also provides expert opinions on Scots law for courts outwith Scotland. Many of her cases have international or intra-UK jurisdictional issues, an area of specialism for which she is particularly well known and in respect of which she has built up a UK-wide practice. She has a particular interest in the issues that arise when acting for individuals in same-sex relationships.

Rachael is known as someone who is adept at using her considerable knowledge of the law to deliver novel, yet practical, solutions for clients. She is particularly experienced in acting for individuals for whom there are privacy concerns and is used to managing the issues that flow from people's private lives being in the public eye. Rachael has lectured widely- nationally and internationally- on pure family law issues as well as on dispute resolution (DR) generally. She enjoys writing, and talking, about Scots family Law, both for lay-people and other lawyers, and is widely published and regularly appears on the broadcast media.

In 2025 Rachael was re-appointed by the Lord President to the Family Law Committee of the Scottish Civil Justice Council for a fourth term of office. She participated in the Hague Conference in Private International Law Parentage and Surrogacy Project Experts' Group for 3 years and the follow-up Working Group. She is a FLAGS (Family Law Arbitration Group Scotland) Arbitrator and trainer, is the only Scottish Arbitrator on the IFLAS (International Family Law Arbitration Scheme) panel. 

Rachael is a past Chair of the Family Law Association; was Chair, a Director and Trustee of Family Mediation Lothian for eight years, until 2017 and was Treasurer of CALM (the organisation of accredited family solicitor mediators in Scotland) for nine years until 2016. She was the co-author of the Scottish Chapter of the 'Blue Book'- the most widely read international comparative family law guide) published by Thomson Reuters in both the Fifth and Sixth Editions (2021 and 2024). In 2016 Rachael was on the Scottish Law Commission Arbitration Advisory Group for the Review of Contract Law: Third Party Rights.

Rachael Kelsey on LinkedIn