Expertise and experience

Mary is a highly regarded children law solicitor specialising in local authority care proceedings and other public law matters.

Mary advises and represents parents and family members at all levels of the family court, including the Court of Appeal and the High Court of the Family Division

The types of cases that Mary has been involved in include:

• where there is contested evidence of a medical or scientific nature, including metabolic bone disease, fabricated or induced illness, disputed hair strand testing, bone fragility linked to rare chromosomal abnormalities and connective tissue disorders linked to unexplained bleeding and/or bruising; and
• challenging local authorities in cases of unexplained injury to a child, securing the early withdrawal of proceedings and ensuring the children remained in their parents care.
• successfully challenging negative viability assessments carried out by local authorities on relatives of children who cannot be cared for by their parents. Mary assists family members obtain orders, such as special guardianship orders, that allow children to be raised within their families instead of being placed for adoption or in long term foster care.
• representing parents of children with additional and/or complex needs, often including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and helping the parents secure a higher level of support from the local authority.
• representing parents who are accused of Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII).
• securing the transfer of care proceedings under Article 15 (1) (b) Brussels II Revised from the jurisdiction of England & Wales to an EU member state despite initial opposition from the local authority.
• assisting a couple adopt a child who had been abandoned by his parents, despite complicating factors that arose out of the international elements in the case.
• successfully persuading the court that the child of a mother who had been a victim of domestic abuse and domestic servitude should not live with the perpetrator father.