Family law community vote

The Family Law Champion Award honours an individual (not necessarily with a background or qualification in the law) who has who has made an outstanding contribution in the family law sphere in the past year.

A shortlist of candidates has been drawn up from the entries based primarily on their achievements in the last 2 years, with the winner being decided by an online vote of the family law community.

Now you - members of the family law profession - will have the final say by voting for your preferred candidate. A brief pen picture of each is set out on the next pages. Once you have read these, please make your selection.

You will need to cast your vote by midnight on Friday 19 September and the winner will be announced at the Family Law Awards on Wednesday 20 November.
 
Karen Barham,
Mediator, Parenting Coordinator, Solicitor, Consultant
Moore Barlow LLP

Karen qualified in 1988 and for the last twenty years has practised exclusively as a mediator and parenting co-ordinator. Believing that many families can be assisted away from the court and putting Part 3 front and centre, she developed the Surrey Initiative.

The initiative proposed obligations to correspond openly on NCDR, improved Part 3 case-management by the court, and increased use of stays/adjournments, Ungley Orders, and costs orders for unreasonable refusal to engage in NCDR.

An early supporter, Mr Justice Cobb, invited her to join the Family Solutions Group. Karen’s proposed Part 3 Protocol was one of the recommendations of their report ‘What about Me?’

Nicholas Allen KC was also supportive; sitting as a Recorder in WL V HL he exercised his Part 3 duties which Mr Justice Mostyn asked to be published on Bailii.

With Rhys Taylor and Martin Kingerley KC the national Family Solutions Initiative was launched.

Karen was invited to join the FPRC Early Response Working Group, tasked with strengthening the use of NCDR.

Following an idea in 2019, an initiative and a body of work since, the Family Procedure (Amendment no 2) Rules 2023 came into force in April 2024. Since then, there have been two significant judgments: in X and Y Mrs J Knowles made clear that the court will be active in considering NCDR suitability.

On 24 May 2024, Nicholas Allen KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) used his new powers to stay proceedings in NA v LA.

It has been awe-inspiring to watch Karen’s innovations and efforts over the last few years culminate in these momentous changes. There will be enormous support for her from the family law community and she richly deserves this award.

As she says: “Let’s Get this Part 3 Started”

Annmarie Carvalho
Founder
TCC

I would love to win the Family Law Champion Award for bringing the worlds of psychology and family law closer together.

Having worked as a family solicitor and mediator myself (at Farrer & Co for over a decade), I realised that practising family law without having access to psychologically-informed training and emotional support was like trying to eat spaghetti with a spoon. So I set out to change things!

I retrained to become a therapist and trainer for lawyers and am founder of the multi-award-winning agency, TCC.

I have built a team of former lawyers turned therapists, coaches and trainers. The uniqueness of our approach is summed up in our motto: ‘because we’ve walked in your shoes’. As we believe the best placed person to support family lawyers is someone who’s lived (and worked!) through similar experiences.

We provide high-quality therapeutic supervision for family lawyers, therapy and coaching. We also provide in-house counselling (individually and in groups) for family law teams and firms. Finally, we provide corporate health audits so you can make sure your firm/chambers is looking after its people well.

In recent years, I’ve devised innovative and ground-breaking training sessions from scratch, introducing family practitioners to subjects they’ve never had training on before. These include ‘how to work with vulnerability and suicidality’, ‘how to become trauma-informed’ and ‘how to roll with resistance and influence people’. Our sessions fuse the worlds of therapy and law; combining therapeutic principles and a hefty dollop of legal practicalities. We even make the SRA and Law Society guidance fun and engaging!

I am also a respected and well-known social media commentator and public speaker. I’m at the helm of the movement making family justice mor
Serena Kaur Sandhu
Director and Solicitor
Hopkin Murray Beskine

I am making an invaluable contribution in the family law sphere as result of my past personal experience as a young professional establishing myself in this sector and now executing acts of benevolence to those going through the early stages of their legal careers as it can be extremely difficult to gain a foothold and I am keen to help those who were once in my position. I have made a significant impact of bringing legal tools to global and ethnic communities, and I am not afraid to voice an opinion in areas of law which remain a stigma within certain cultures. I am always assisting and going above and beyond to navigate and help those who are facing challenges or dilemmas.

I am known as the “go to” lawyer as I go the extra mile to help and contribute my skills to support and assist vulnerable clients. Through pro bono work, I have a practical knowledge of assisting individuals who have experienced domestic abuse and the consequential impact leading to a difficulty in exiting the relationship, compounded if there are financial disincentives. I also work very closely with various domestic abuse organisations and the Citizens Advice Bureau relationships with key stakeholders.

I face challenges and I have the determination to get things done, hence within a space of 3 months, I was offered directorship. I am driven, fearless and committed in making a difference. I am a strong believer in making a difference in the lives of my clients and I have a desire to making a challenging process clearer for my clients.

I push for excellence and I strive to be a role model and inspiration to many in the legal field, and I take this role very seriously.

Lizzie Keogh
Office Manager
Corbett Le Quesne

Since the birth of Corbett Le Quesne in 2017, my role has grown and changed but one constant has been my involvement with the conferences. What started as a small dinner with a speaker has grown into a sell-out international date in all family law calendars - which is incredible. I’m passionate about these events and from the feedback (and flowers!) I’ve received over the years our guests feel this too. I love organising and I think this is reflected in my many lists (always wear a dress with pockets!) and the seamless way the events appear to happen. Hopefully everyone enjoys coming over to Jersey and it’s a pleasure to show our beautiful island off, be it at the drinks reception overlooking St Brelade’s Bay or the boat trip to blow away the cobwebs the following morning. My conference work is often likened to “herding cats” according to some of our guests and I try to make their visit as stress-free as possible, organising everything from food to the glorious weather (and sometimes dolphins!) My information emails are legendary with weather updates, taxi information and dress codes. I think a sign on how relaxed and happy everyone feels when here is reflected in the huge amount of regulars who return every year. When I walk out to the drinks reception each year and all I could hear was laughter and happy chatting, it was a rather emotional feeling that everyone was here because I sent out an email with a lovely Jersey photo.

I draw on my previous life as a nanny and hopefully provide a nurturing environment as my role as office manager, keeping everyone in hot drinks and homemade cakes, not least an award winning carrot cake for our work anniversary each year.
Ceri Parker-Carruthers
Family Law Clinic Manager
Dads House

I am a family lawyer, called to the bar and hoping to be a family barrister.

Most importantly I am member of Dads House Family Law Clinic. This is my greatest accomplishment in my career and for that I thank William McGranaghan, Dads House CEO and Founder.

The 14th of September 2022 was the was the first day I volunteered at Dads House Family Law Clinic. I volunteered for just under a year mostly twice a week.

On the 1st of August 2023 I became Dads House Family Law Clinic Manager. I am the first and only Family Law Clinic Manager.

Every day since, I help Dads House Family Law Clinic, our volunteers and pro bono clients by:

· Organising volunteer students and lawyers to advise our clients.

· Briefing the volunteers about the cases before the clients arrive.

· Organising over the last year 22 pro bono barristers to represent clients, including a renowned KC.

· Mentoring our law students to build their case management and advocacy skills through in-house programs.

· Organising emotional support coaches to support our Family Law Clinic’s clients.

· Organising pro bono mediations.

· Creating partnerships with Legastat, who produce reduced rate and/or pro bono court bundles.

Between, 14th of September 2022 to date, being 1 year, 11 months and 11 days (23 months), I have attended roughly 80 Dads House Family Law Clinics.

I have helped roughly 480 pro bono clients protect and spend more time with their children.

This is my contribution to pro bono and this is what I shall continue to do to the best of my ability. Where I hope to live up to Simon Bruce’s (Dads House Family Law Clinic Legal Director and Partner at Dawson Cornwell) words where he described me as "a true Champion of disadvantaged clients".

Christina Warner
Barrister
33 Bedford Row

Christina Warner is a barrister at 33 Bedford Row and specialist in private family cases particularly, those involving parents or children with disabilities.

Having been diagnosed with Stargardts Disease – a progressive condition which causes sight loss – she uses her experience to support those challenged by disability access the justice system. One of only a handful of barristers with a disability in practice and one of even fewer practicing at the Family Bar.

Christina’s started her PhD at Leiden University’s, Van Vollenhoven Institute, the Netherlands in September 2024. Her provisional PhD thesis title is ‘Are there sufficient strategies in place for the International Criminal Court to prosecute cases involving disabled victims of crimes under the Rome Statute?’ which questions whether the ICC’s approach to prosecuting cases involving disabled victims is sufficient within the court’s governing legislation, the Rome Statute. Christina will research whether greater guidance and formal policies are needed in prosecutions brought by the ICC involving victims and witnesses with disabilities who are impacted by war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

In October 2023, she was invited as a panel speaker at the All-Party Parliamentary Group in the House of Commons, discussing the link between human and animal violence, drawing on her knowledge of disabled victims of domestic abuse.

She was also invited to participate at the International Criminal Court Bar Association’s first panel discussion on international humanitarian law and disability in January 2024.

Christina was a keynote speaker in July 2024 during a collaborative talk with the Association of Disabled Lawyers, speaking on the World Health Organisation’s comments as to the need for f

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