3PB

Family

Overview

Kara is a specialist family practitioner, focussing on all aspects of child law.

Family

Kara Cann has a growing specialism in family law and maintains a busy practice across a broad range of cases.

Care and adoption

Kara has extensive experience across the full spectrum of public law proceedings, representing parents, intervenors, children through the children’s guardians and local authorities. She is also regularly instructed to represent young people directly who have been deemed competent to instruct their own representatives.

Her case load includes proceedings involving:

Non-accidental injury, including child death Factitious or induced illness Sexual abuse of both adults and children Chronic neglect Deprivation of liberty and secure accommodation orders

Kara has particular expertise in cases involving learning disabled parents (including those involving the instruction of the Official Solicitor), or parties with other learning or cognitive needs.

In adoption proceedings, Kara acts for prospective adopters, birth parents and children. She has considerable experience in leave to oppose applications and in non-agency or ‘private’ adoptions, the latter including applications involving concerns as to trafficking and the free giving of birth parent consent.

She acts in injunction applications in both the care and adoption arenas, as both applicant and respondent.

Private law children

Kara’s private law practice encompasses all aspects of child arrangements and other section 8 orders, with a particular emphasis on the representation of child parties to such applications (either through their children’s guardian or directly).

Her work includes proceedings involving complex allegations of domestic or other forms of abuse, including those involving alleged alienating behaviour. Many of her cases necessitate the instruction of experts.

Kara has additional expertise in wardship proceedings and in applications pursuant to the inherent jurisdiction, including in cases of international abduction.

In injunction proceedings, Kara represents both applicants and respondents in applications for both forced marriage and female genital mutilation protection orders.

Recent reported cases 

Re S and T (care - final hearing – s91(14)) [2023] EWFC 194 

S and T (care - fact finding - FII - emotional abuse) [2023] EWFC 195 

A County Council v A Mother & Ors (Refusal to make a DOLS order) [2021] EWHC 3303 (Fam) 

Y and Z (Separation of siblings) [2020] EWFC B59 

E (care and placement orders) [2019] EWFC B13

Year of call 2012

Family Law Bar Association (FLBA) Association of Lawyers for Children (ALC) Women in Family Law (WiFL)

BPTC, The College of Law (Outstanding) LLB with Transnational Legal Studies, King’s College London (First Class Honours)