Four Brick Court Chambers

Barrister 

Jacqui has over 29 years of experience in cases about children both between parents (and other family members) and involving social services.  She is trained and enthusiastic about accepting direct access instructions.

Jacqui’s practice has included cases involving: baby shaking, child abduction (including abduction from local authority care), complex or conflicting medical evidence, disability, disputes between same-sex couples, domestic violence, education law, fabricated allegations, forced marriage & ‘honour’ violence, human rights, human trafficking, incest, international law, intractable contact/residence disputes, mental health, non-accidental injuries, Official Solicitor, parallel criminal proceedings, parental alienation, placement outside the jurisdiction, sexual abuse, substance misuse & addiction, sudden infant death, transgender issues & unexplained deaths.

Jacqui regularly presents seminars on family law topics.Jacqui has her own website, Children in Law (now incorporating Bloody Relations & new blogs Paramount Considerations, Family Law Webworld & The Law Is a Funny Business). Articles on there cover:  Care and Supervision Orders, Fact-Finding in Care Cases, Final Care Orders, Interim Removal, Judicial Reasons,  Letters to Experts and Medical Abbreviations.  She also curates several online papers – Children in Law, Decree Absolute & Legal In General (Scoop It).

Recent seminars have included:

Fact-Findings and Top Tips for Managing Big Cases (for LBLA) PLO Relaunch / Wasted Costs Orders Dealing with Dodgy Experts Private Law Updater Early conclusions to Care Cases Special Guardianship Trials Within Trials: Fact-Finding in Private Law Cases (December 2019) Crossing the Threshold: Back to Basics (2018 LBLA Conference

Recently published articles include Can We Have an Early Knockout? Ending Care Proceedings Without Judicial Determination (Part 1, May 2022. Part 2 June 2022),  Special Guardianship orders: update: review, reforms and more to follow (Family Law, May 2021)  S 20 Children Act 1989: Consent not Coercion: Issue or Be Damned on Family Law Week and s17 & Child Arrangements Orders on the Local Government Lawyer.

French, Spanish (Basic)

Family Law Bar Association Association of Lawyers for Children Middle Temple

University: Oxford Law School: Westminster University

She is a keen supporter of Biking for Children In Care, which raises funds for the Become Charity through an annual 210-mile bike ride.

Jacqui tweets as @gjacqui