Barrett & Thomson

Family

Senior Partner; Head of Family & Litigation Departments

Claire Fitzgerald specialises in: Public and Private Child Law

Claire joined Barrett & Thomson 1982 and was admitted as a solicitor in 1984. She became a Partner 1997. Claire has been a member of Law Society Children Panel since 1996 and is authorized to act for Children and Parents. A Resolution accredited specialist since 2002 in Domestic Abuse and Private Child Law. Original founding member & Treasurer of the Bucks & Berks Region of Resolution: Treasurer 1990-2000; Chairman 2000 -2007 & 2014-15; Committee member 2007 to 2017 when she retired from the committee. Member of the National Committee of Resolution for Domestic Abuse. A Resolution trained Collaborative Lawyer since 2008. Founder member of the Slough Domestic Violence Forum and Co-ordinator of Injunction Hot Line.

The Resolution National Domestic Abuse Committee is involved in consultation with the government over policy decisions.  Claire, together with other members of the National Committee, took part in recording an on-line training video on Domestic Abuse law and practice for Resolution members which is on the website.

She has close links with the local charity for victims of domestic Abuse, the Dash Charity. In 2015 she helped organise & sponsored a Charity Golf Day with the Dash Charity to raise funds for them.

Claire has set up a pro-bono advice clinic on a monthly basis for Slough Advice Centre which has a membership of over 400 small, medium and large charities in Slough following the closure of the local Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

Claire encourages and supports all her staff to volunteer their time during work hours to attend free advice clinics, give talks on law & practice to local charities and provide pro bono advice especially where there are difficulties with legal aid availability. A number of staff members for example now take part in one of the sessions of the Freedom Programme run by the DASH charity for victims of domestic abuse. Claire encourages her staff to consider it part of their civic duties to assist those less fortunate without seeking public acclaim. The firm as a whole has therefore undertaken many unpublicised fundraising events for charities with which it works including donating food, clothes, toys and toiletries to local food banks & charities.

Claire ensures close links between the family department and other departments in the firm in particular the Housing & debt department but also including the Conveyancing, Wills & Probate, Elderly Client, Employment and General Civil Litigation. Clients of the family department will often have other issues for which they need assistance. For example, a victim of domestic abuse may need assistance in relocating to a different area; or client who needs to sell a matrimonial home and purchase another; is having difficulties with their employer due to their family issues. Claire aims to ensure the firm provides the fullest service possible to its clients even if this sometimes involves doing pro- bono work or accepting reduced fees.

Claire represents children as well as Parents, grandparents & other family members in both Public & Private Law Children Act Proceedings including Residence & Contact applications, Care proceedings, Adoption & Special Guardianship applications, leave to remove from the jurisdiction especially complex cases including those requiring lengthy fact-finding hearings with allegations of non-accidental injury, sexual abuse. Clients in such circumstances come from all walks of life and

social and financial backgrounds. Claire provides them all with the same full-service attitude. She represents vulnerable adults including for example those with learning disabilities and where necessary the involvement of the Official Solicitor. She takes all steps necessary to ensure they fully understand the legal process they are going through including translating reports and documents in simple terms for them to understand. Claire also has extensive experience of protecting victims of domestic abuse.

Claire has a wide-ranging experience of divorce & related financial applications including high worth cases, complex cases, freezing of assets & jurisdictional issues, She regularly undertakes her own advocacy in Family Proceedings, County & High Courts.

Reported Cases: Court of Appeal Re G (A Minor) (Financial Provision) (1997) 1 FLR 368, Re: M (Children) 2005 EWCA Civ 1594.

Contributed an article jointly with Sue Scott to the publication 101 Questions Answered About Separating With Children.

Law Society; Law Society Children Panel ; Resolution; Association of Lawyers for Children; BAAF; Family Law Panel; Bucks, Berks & Oxon Law Society; Resolution National Committee for Domestic Abuse

Claire attended Langley Grammar School & then Trevelyan College at Durham University where she studied law.

Enjoys foreign travel to new places .Going to the Theatre & reading. Lifelong dog owner & enjoys taking them for walks to unwind. Also a community governor and now Chair of Governors of  Langley Grammar School.