Committee members

Alan is a partner in a leading West Midlands practice, Anthony Collins, where he heads the public law team. Alan began his career as a solicitor in a Law Centre and was one of the original Children Panel members. Throughout his professional life, Alan has been motivated by opportunities to use his knowledge and skills in support of the disadvantaged.

Alan has been a member of the Executive Committee of the ALC since 2006 when he immediately joined the fees sub-committee and played a major role in drafting the ALC’s response to the LSC’s consultations on legal aid funding. Since 2008 Alan has been an outspoken contributor to the Civil Contracts Consultative Group and Family Representative Body Meeting. He was key in seeking an improved advocacy payments scheme. Alan has also played a key role in successfully challenging the data on which the LSC relied in formulating their public law proposals.

Alan became Co-Chair in 2009 and has worked with numerous external bodies with which the ALC is involved and has met most of the leading players in the Family Justice arena. Alan lectures in the field.

Married to a writer, Alan has three children and his interests include the arts, walking and field mycology.

One of the foremost children law barristers in the country, Martha has been a child law specialist since 1990. Martha is Head of Chambers at Coram in London. She has extensive experience representing parents and children in cases of serious death and injury to a child, and of concurrent criminal and care proceedings. She appeared in the "Miracle Baby" case, and has a particular interest in allegations of emotional harm where children are being brought up in unusual belief systems. She also specialises in international and domestic adoption, wardship, and intractable disputes between parents over contact and residence.

Martha regularly speaks and writes on children law matters. She has written for the Times and been interviewed on radio and television to discuss adoption and the wider policy issues affecting care proceedings in the aftermath of the death of Baby P.

A member of the Executive Committee for five years, Nicola is a partner with McMillan Williams, a 9 partner, 10 office firm in South London, Surrey and Sussex. She has been a member Law Society Children Panel since 1997 and is a Resolution Accredited Specialist in the areas of Domestic Abuse and Private Law. The majority of her caseload is in Public law for both children and parents but she maintains a significant practice in Private Law cases.

Nicola has provided training to CAFCASS, SSAFA and the Institute of Child Health.

Nicola has been a member of the ALC Legal Aid sub-committee and Private Law and CAFCASS sub-committees. Over the last few years, Nicola has focussed her contribution to the ALC on drafting and responding to Legal Aid consultations.

Nicola lives in a 16^th Century cottage in Surrey with her husband and has been a Guide Guider with Girlguiding UK for over 15 years. In the limited time left, Nicola enjoys walking, attempting to keep the garden tidy, traditional crafts, fine dining and entertaining friends.

William has been a member of the Executive Committee for seven years. He took on the post of Secretary in November 2008 and has brought the constitution up to date and sought to improve governance of the Association.

Having graduated in Law from Lancaster University, William worked in family law reform at the Law Commission before specialising as a children’s lawyer. A previous member of the Law Society Children Panel, William went on to become the senior lawyer with ‘CAFCASS Legal’ where he acted for children in a number of leading cases in both the High Court and Court of Appeal. William contributed to drafting the original ‘Protocol for Judicial Case Management’ and the Law Society’s ‘Good Practice in Child Care Cases’ guidance. William now works for the Law Officers of the Crown in Guernsey as the Children’s Lawyer for the Bailiwick. This role combines case work, policy development and the implementation of a new children law and hearing system. He continues to deliver training on children law and has a particular interest in the participation of children in the family justice system

William lives in Guernsey and is married with two young boys.

Liz is a former Chair of the ALC and now a Judge with the Tribunals Service. Liz is the first, and only, person to be appointed to the honorary post of Lifetime Vice-President in recognition of her contribution to the Association.

Julia is a Senior Researcher Fellow in socio-legal studies at the Centre for Family Law and Policy, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford. She has directed several studies on public law proceedings with major awards from The Department of Health, The Ministry of Justice and the Nuffield Foundation. She sits on several advisory committees including the national Family Justice Council (Diversity Sub-Committee), Thames Valley Family Justice Council, the BAAF Research Advisory Committee and the National Youth Advocacy Service.

Julia has been an active and longstanding member of the ALC and brings with her an unrivalled knowledge and passion for family law. Her major fields of interests are public law Children Act proceedings, use of experts and the interface of clinical/health, welfare and legal practice, availability, training and accountability of expert witnesses, human rights in the family jurisdiction, voice of the child and the position of parents in care proceedings, ethnic, cultural and religious diversity in the child protection arena, interdisciplinary research and education, access to justice and specialist representation for children and parents, cross-jurisdictional issues in family proceedings, transparency and accountability in family justice systems, the developing role of judges and case management issues, socio-legal theory and methods.

Barbara is the ALC’s press officer and a longstanding member of the Executive. Barbara is often asked to give interviews to the media in respect of children’s issues and the ALC perspective. She is one of the founding partners of Hopkin Murray Beskine in London. Barbara has been a solicitor for 24 years and a long term member of the specialist Children Panel. Her expertise is primarily representing children or their parents in care proceedings brought by social services. She has worked on cases involving a range of issues from neglect, domestic violence and substance abuse to High Court issues of non-accidental injury, infant death or baby shaking syndrome. She also acts in disputes between parents about their children, including being asked to act for children in more complex cases where they are made parties to the proceedings in their own right.

Barbara is a solicitor-advocate who is extremely well regarded by advocates and judiciary alike. She is an assessor for those applying to become members of the Children Panel.

Noel Arnold is a solicitor at rights-based firm, Philcox Gray & Co in London. He specialises in all areas of children law including care proceedings, other public law proceedings initiated by local authorities, private law proceedings and adoption work. Noel has a particular interest in local authority duties towards looked after children and children leaving care.

Noel acts for parents and other family members. He has acted for children in public law cases concerning their relationships with local authorities. Noel has had conduct of cases in the High Court and Court of Appeal. He regularly writes for legal journals, has provided training to various organisations and contributed to books on the area of children law. He currently writes the ‘Family (Children) Update’ for the Solicitor’s Journal. He sits on the Law Society’s Children Law Sub-Committee.

Noel was seconded to the Ministry of Justice in November 2008 for 3 months where he focused on changes to case management of care cases. He has an interest in policy developments in children law. Noel's has three reported cases.

Maud is a partner with TV Edwards LLP the largest family law firm in London. Maud qualified as a solicitor in 1990 having already specialised in family law during her training. She has gone on to focus on children work, in particular dealing with care cases and representing parents and children in complex cases. Maud is a member of the Law Society's children panel as well as being qualified as a "Higher Rights" advocate. Maud is a member of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, Resolution, and the London Children's Solicitors Group. She is a committee member of the Interdisciplinary Alliance for Children. She is also a member of the London Designated Family Judge’s advisory group.

Maud lectures on family law to a variety of audiences, including other family lawyers and family magistrates. The Legal 500 2010 edition states Maud "is commended for her ‘knowledge of children law and clarity of thinking’. "

Caroline has been a member of the ALC since its beginning, and was Co-Chair between 2006 and 2009. Her tenure was instrumental in advancing the status and reputation of the ALC. Caroline has also played a key role in training, development of policy and promoting children’s participation in the court process

Caroline is a consultant solicitor for Hanne & Co in London and is a specialist child care Solicitor Advocate. She has been on the Law Society Children Panel since 1985. She represents children, parents and other relatives at all levels of court including in lengthy contested hearings; and children in complex private law proceedings. Caroline assesses and interviews applicants to the Children Panel.

Caroline sits on the Safeguarding and Voice of the Child subcommittees of the Family Justice Council.

A partner with Derby firm, Moody and Woolley, Martina is a Solicitor and member of the Law Society children panel. A former teacher, Martina moved to Derby in 2005 to join the Family Department at her present firm. Martina chairs the local charity Children First and is a Trustee and singer with the Derby Bach Choir. Prior to coming to Derby, Martina worked as a solicitor as a Legal Aid preferred supplier in Manchester and is now primarily responsible for the supervision of her firms publicly funded work and has special expertise in advising clients as a member of the Child Care Panel. Martina is an experienced and passionate children’s lawyer.

Stephen was admitted as a Solicitor in January 1982, and in the same year conducted his first care case. At that time he practised in his home city of Hull. In February 1985 he became, and remains, a member of the Law Society Children Panel, moving to Nottingham in July of that year. From January 1987 to October 2009 he was a Partner in a medium sized Solicitor’s practice, conducting general family and criminal litigation with a strong emphasis on advocacy. For the last twelve years or so he has specialised exclusively in acting for children or parents in care and private law proceedings appearing regularly in the Family Proceedings, County and High Courts.

Stephen is committed to making an effective contribution to furthering the aims of the Association in repelling the current threats to the family justice system and in ensuring that children involved in family proceedings are properly represented and their welfare promoted and secured. He is a member of the Nottinghamshire Family Justice Council.

Stephen joined TV Edwards LLP as a Consultant in November 2009, in order to concentrate on and expand upon advocacy in children cases.

Stephen is married with three sons. He enjoys music, reading, football (particularly Hull City) and absorbing the finer points of public house architecture whilst increasing his knowledge and experience of real ale.

Claire has been an active member of the Executive Committee since 2002 when she was co-opted as Student Co-ordinator. Claire is a Solicitor Advocate with Blackfords LLP in Woking having obtained her Higher Rights of Audience (Civil) in 2009.

Claire was instrumental in the development of the student membership of the ALC and has arranged a number of joint conferences with Brunel University aimed at encouraging students and young practitioners into this area of work. Claire is sub-editor of the bi-annual ALC Newsletter and is also the Website Co-ordinator.

Claire specialises in law relating to children and is passionate about her work. Claire has particular skill representing people with learning difficulties and mental health problems having previous experience which gives her a particular approach to working with parents who have these difficulties.

Claire is married and in her spare time enjoys reading, travelling and scubadiving.

Ian was called to the Bar in 1971, took Silk in 1992 and has been a Recorder (Criminal/Family/Civil) since 1993. He specialises in family and criminal cases.

Ian is recognised as one of the leading family law silks in the country. His family law practice covers all aspects of family law, with particular emphasis on issues relating to children. He is instructed in public and private law proceedings, including care proceedings, child protection issues, adoption and abduction, (national and international).

He has acted on behalf of children, parents, grandparents, nannies, carers, local authorities, Guardians, the Official Solicitor and the N.S.P.C.C. He has appeared in all tiers of Courts up to and including the House of Lords, (now the Supreme Court), and in most Court centres in England and Wales. One of Ian's strengths is in the rigorous cross-examination of experts, both medical and scientific

Ian is also Vice Chair of the Legal Services Committee of the Bar Council.

Hannah is an Associate Solicitor within the children and childcare team in the Bristol office of Lyons Davidson.

Hannah qualified as a solicitor in 2005 and became a member the Law Society Children Panel in 2010. Hannah is also a Resolution Accredited Specialist in the areas of Children Private Law and Domestic Abuse. The majority of Hannah's work is representing parents and children within care proceedings, but she also handles a significant number of private law children and domestic abuse cases and has a particular interest in forced marriage protection.

Hannah joined the ALC executive committee in 2010. Hannah is also a member of the Resolution Standards Committee and her local Bristol Resolution Committee.

Debbie has specialised in family law since she qualified in 1994. She joined the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS), a UK charity providing children's rights and socio-legal services in 2003 and has been a Director of Legal Services since 2008. Debbie extensive experience of representing children in private law proceedings. She is committed to promoting the rights of children and ensuring that the voice of the child is heard in all matters affecting them both inside and outside the court arena.

Debbie is a member of the Children Panel and a member of the Cheshire Family Justice Council. She joined the ALC Executive Committee in 2009 and is Student Co-ordinator.

Debbie lives in Cheshire wiht her partner and four cats. She is a keen football fan and reluctant biker.

Julia became the Administrator of the ALC in January 2001 when the Association had only 400 members. It now has 1200 members and has become a full time job.

Julia is married and has two daughters. In her spare time she enjoys spending time at their house in Bordeaux, walking and raising money for research into men’s breast cancer as both her father and uncle died of the disease.

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