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I am a public childcare lawyer by background, with 10 years of experience representing a number of local authorities across the South East and West of England. I have considerable experience of advising and representing local authorities in a wide range of applications concerning children and complex fact find hearings involving serious injuries and sexual abuse. I am also experienced in adoption work.
I have managed complex international cases and have worked cooperatively with partner authorities and agencies including Embassies and High Commissions, as well as CFAB and ICACU, to ensure legal and effective cross border assessments, care planning, placements and mirror orders.
I also have considerable experience in a range of High Court applications concerning children, including Forced Marriages Protection Orders, Deprivation of Liberty, Secure Accommodation Orders, Recovery Orders and Port Alerts.
I managed pre-proceedings caseloads and guided local authorities’ compliance with the PLO framework and helped clients with the overriding objective in early child protection / CIN support and intervention.
I have worked for the Welsh Government Legal Services in the Primary Care and Mental Health Team and have a particular interest in the Mental Health Act Reform Bill. I am currently working on concurrent Inherent Jurisdiction DoLS proceedings and care proceedings with mental health aspects, including cases with children transitioning from children to adult services.
